Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand
Tuesday, January 09 2007 @ 09:36 PM | Contributed by:
Oliver | Views: 1,413
 | Mount Ruapehu is the highest Vulcano in New Zealand and a World Heritage National Park. Located on the North Island it rises to 2'670 meters. In winter, this is a very attractive Ski resort with over 5'000 people daily on the slopes. In summer, its a perfect place to hike. You tate a chairlift to the height of 2'000 meters and walk the remaining 600 meters up the mountain, first over rocks and then through the snow. On the picture to the right you can see the mountain from the north side and the "Chateau"-Hotel below. |
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| The mountain has several smaller peaks on the top, some of which were used as "Mordor" (Pic3) during the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy. From the mountain you can also see the cone-shaped Mount Ngauruhoe which was used as "Mount Doom" (Pic2) |
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| If you take a guided tour, you start around 9:00 and the trip can take more than 6 hours until you are back home. On the top, you can see the crater lake that descends towards the south. There is also a hut up there, which might need some violence to be opened (Pic 3) since its covered in ice.. |
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| During the climb, prepare to get some heavy rocks and steep, icy slopes below your feet. Proper equipment can be rented at the lift station in the valley. Once you are up and saw enough of the view, you can slide down most of the way you took up, which is a lot of fun. Be prepared for strong winds, VERY strong sunlight (even with clouds) and low temperatures up there. |
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| The rock formations alone are already worth the trip, but there is something new every couple of years. The vulcano was last active in 1996, and the craterlage was about to collapse in end 2006. |
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| This is a panorama of the view from the middle of the mountain (about 2100 m high) towards the north-west. The grey spot on the center bottom is the carpark for the ski lifts |
