ASCENT OF NGAURUHOE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19390, 27 July 1926, Page 10

ASCENT OF NGAURUHOE.

AWE-INSPIRING SPECTACLE. SULPHUROUS FUMES EMITTED. RUMBLINGS HEARD FOR MILES. A number of Aucklanders who ascended Ngauruhoe last Tuesday report that the volcano still remains fairly active, belching forth thick volumes, of sulphur smoke and steam. Irregular rumblings were heard daily, pointing to some igneous disturbance beneath the earth's surface.

The party which made the ascent consisted of Messrs. Paul Cropper, Noel (iibson and C. E. Tomlinson. Mr. Cropper's father, the Dean of Gibraltar, wjio is on a visit to New Zealand, accompanied the party nearly to the top. Climbing was extremely difficult owing to the steep and smooth character of the face. In view of the fact that a cloud of sulphuric smoke was pouring from the crater and spreading over the plains, it was found necessary to make the ascent on the windward side.

On reaching the top, the lip of the crater was so hot that it was impossible to sit down and the southerly wind so strong and biting that it was too cold to stand up without shelter, a dilemma which placed the party in a most unpleasant predicament. In fact, it was not long before their hair was frozen stiff with a coatingMf hoar frost. The ice on the windward side of the crater was vellow with sulphur, while on the other side the hot sulphur fumes and steam had thawed the iee clean away from the lip. The interior of the crater was completely obscured' by a mass of steam and fumes, rendering it impossible to see more than a few feet inside it. Tho crater lip was riddled with tiny vent holes through which sulphuric steam was at all times leaking. Altogether) it was a fearsome spectacle, to witness which demanded a considerable degree of nerve and caution.

The party spent 12 days altogether at the National Park, making the Whakapapa huts their headquarters. The trip to Ngauruhoe was accomplished in a little over 13 hours. The members of the party set out from the huts at 5.30 a.m., walking ten miles across country to the Mangatepopo huts before starting tlie four-mile climb up the volcano.

The rumblings of Ngauruhoe were heard from the Whakapapa huts and from Ruapehu once or twice every day.