A few months ago when I first got word of the job down here in NZ I immediately started scouring the internet for some info on ski touring in the area. Within minutes a peak called Ngauruhoe was in first place on my to do list. Its a proud little volcano on the northern end of Tongariro NP, beautifully symetrical and with a relief of around 1400 metres above the surrounding plateau its a local icon. It might just have become the world's most recognized mountain profile since being used as the filming location for Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings films.
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| Ngauruhoe as seen from the slopes of Ruapehu a few weeks ago. |
After over a month of waiting for a day off work to coincide with the right conditions (ie. winds less than gale force, visibility more than 20 metres), I headed up yesterday. Its been a few weeks since the last snowfall, and in the interim we've been enjoying spring like temperatures and a blazing sun, so conditions were a little "summery".
After a little over an hour of walking from the trailhead along a nicely maintained track (apparently
the most popular day hike in NZ), past the Soda Springs and up most of the Devil's Staircase I reached a continuous band of snow and swapped out running shoes for ski boots and booted straight up. The ascent was uneventful save for one close call with a falling rock the size of a small canteloupe. About 2:15 after having left the car I was on the summit rim, I took my time wandering around admiring the wildly rimed up snow surface and spying a few ski lines for the next time I come back when conditions are a little better...
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| The crater |
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| More summit crater |
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| Rime in all shapes and forms on the upper slopes |
The skiing was teeth chatteringly firm on the upper slopes and dissuaded me from vague plans I had for doing a few laps. Instead I went to Turangi for a meat pie. It was good to have finally made it up this iconic peak and scoped a few lines which I look forward to skiing in the next few months.
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| Post ski: snus in lip, and hiking towards a meat pie. |
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