|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The day started off cloudy but gradually started to clear and greatly improved as we drove out to Whakapapa to checked at the DOC office that there wouldn't be any problems in climbing Ruapehu. We were told that there was a possibility of showers in the late afternoon but otherwise everything was OK.
|
|
Drove up excellent Bruce Road, with a cloudless Ruapehu in front of us, to the Iwikau Village ski area. From there, even through it was summer, two chair lifts were operating to take visitors to the cafe at the top and to give climbers an easy access to the Ruapehu Crater Rim. First we ascended on a double seater lift and then transferred to the Waterfall Express Chairlift.
|
|
At 10.20 we were off. The route was not marked, other than by the foot prints of previous walkers on the soft damp pumice. But we had a leaflet with us with a description and an illustrative map which said not suitable for navigation.
|
|
Made our way across to Knoll Ridge T-bar and between the 4th and 5th pylon veered off right to climb over boulders and rocks along Restful Ridge. Patches of snow lay in the gullies with melt water running from the bottom of them. The climb was quite easy, the base rock having a gentle slope and a good rough surface, the boulders being firm and not too large and the black volcanic sand was damp so that it clung together. The only difficulty was the lack of markers.
|
|
As we neared the ridge a chill breeze could be felt but the effort of climbing kept us warm in T-shirt and shorts.
|
Dome Ridge
|
At 11.45 we reached Dome Ridge from where we were able to walk round the crater rim. Cloud was starting to form obscuring some of the views. In the crater below snow and ice still lay, some of the ice had turned yellow with the sulphur fumes which hung slightly in the air. Continued around until we came to Dome Shelter 10 minutes later. This is not the highest point on Ruapehu but the highest that can be climbed without technical equipment.
|
|
The mountain is composed of a number of craters the newest one contained a lake whose temperature can vary between 10 and 40 degrees Celsius depending on the volcanic activity below it. It last erupted in 1995. We sat looking over the lake whilst we ate our sandwiches, watching a light cloud of steam swirl over the surface.
|
|
At 12.20 we set off back down in the route we came up, or as near to it as we could find. Although cloud was now covering the peaks the way down was clear and so we were able to select any route we felt suitable. As it was we veered a little to the left but had no trouble regaining our line. At 1.20 we were back at the ski lift and soon after that in a cafe at Whakapapa enjoying a hot drink.
|
Ruapehu Crater Lake
|
|
|
