Mount Ruapehu
Mount Ruapehu is with 2797 m the highest volcano of New Zealand and the highest point of the North Island. He stands in the Volcanic Plateau of the island and is part of the Tongariro National Park.
There are seven small glaciers on the slopes of Ruapehu. Its crater harbors a crater, as a mudslide ( Lahar ) lacked the content in March 2007 into the valley.
Volcanic activity
The Ruapehu is of the three neighboring volcanoes of the National Park ( Ngauruhoe, Tongariro ) the one with the greatest activity of recent times. The worst of it was a mudslide on 24 December 1953 at a railway bridge collapsed when a train crossed it. 151 people were killed in the Tangiwai - train accident.
Larger eruptions took place in 1895, 1945, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1988, held in September 1995 and in June 1996. Although it was estimated to have reached these outbreaks to the most violent since the settlement of New Zealand by Europeans, no one was injured.
The most recent eruption took place on 25 September 2007: It began without warning and was accompanied by a seven-minute earthquake. The eruption column of gases and ash reached an altitude of 5,000 meters. The active at this time and numerous ski accommodation had to be evacuated acute. A hiker was seriously injured when a boulder crashed through the roof of a hut.
Ski Resorts
Three of the four New Zealand ski resorts are on the North Island on the slopes of Ruapehu.
- Whakapapa Skifield (16 lifts ). This was built from the year 1952 by the Swiss Walter Haensli on behalf of the New Zealand government.
- Turoa Skifield (11 lifts)
- Tukino Skifield (2 cables )
The mountain is accessible from Ohakune on a road that ends at 1600 m altitude at the foot of a ski resort.
Others
March 18, 2007 burst after days of heavy rains the rim of the volcano crater lake, with a tidal wave with thousands of tons of water, mud and debris triggered. The mass of water rushed out of 2,500 meters above sea level in the valley of the river Whangaehu and past the village Tangiwai. The up to four meters high waves tore at numerous trees. The authorities had blocked roads in advance and the nearby railway line. According to reports no people were harmed. Only the monument to the victims of the train accident in 1953 was damaged in the process, which was then triggered by such a tidal wave.
The Ruapehu was the third part of the film adaptation of the novel Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien venue for the Roman land of Mordor.