A walker suffered serious injuries to her spine and pelvis after she fell into a gorge near Pontneddfechan waterfalls.
Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team and Western Beacons Mountain Rescue Team were called to assist the woman who had slipped down a river bank in the Glynneath area at around 1.30pm on Tuesday.
A Central Beacons MRT spokesman said: “The lady was initially attended to by our mountain rescue team members alongside the Welsh Ambulance Service paramedic and, when more resources arrived, mountain rescue paramedics and a team doctor.
“The lady has suspected spinal and pelvic injuries that gave the medics considerable cause for concern.
“She was packed with great care into a vacuum mattress and onto a stretcher.”
The voluntary mountain rescue teams made a request to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency from St Athan for her to be airlifted.
However it was later told to stand down due to the conditions in the area and so the woman was transported via road ambulance.
The spokesman said: “Having arrived on scene and landed, there was some discussion with the crew which concluded that, due to the lady’s location and the lack of wind within the gorge, an airlift was not in the best interests of the patient.
“She was then evacuated on a mountain rescue stretcher by foot back out to the roadside to an ambulance and for onwards transfer to hospital.
“We wish the lady a successful and speedy recovery and hope she is back on her feet soon.”
A Western Beacons Mountain Rescue Team spokesman said the rescue went into the early hours of the evening.
He also said that she had suffered “a variety of serious injuries” to her spine and pelvis.
Both of the teams have thanked members of the public that helped guide the emergency services to the woman’s location initially.
They also thanked members of the local community who gave the vehicle drivers tea and biscuits while other members of the teams looked after the woman.