This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 94, no 10, November 2022
Tongariro alpine trip
23-25 September 2022
Someone said, ‘tramping is learning how to suffer’. We could all agree as we set up camp at 8:00 p.m. in the dark, in below-freezing temperatures. This was our first night and we were camping outside Mangatepopo Hut at the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. But on our second night we ditched the tents and slept under the stars, and that was the furthest thing from suffering I could imagine.
Tramping isn’t for everyone, mountaineering is for even fewer but, with awesome teachers like Stu Hutson and Mr Pancha, and if you and the rest of your group are more than willing to jump off icy slopes and slide down cliffs, it’s for you. We all had an awesome time in the South Crater of the Tongariro Crossing learning new skills like how to use ice axes and crampons.
After a freezing night, many of the students were up early and decided to walk up to the SW ridge behind the hut to see the sunrise over our maunga.
This kind of thing is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I was more than lucky to be in a group who were eager to get out there and give everything a go.
Thanks everyone for such an amazing experience!
- Party members
- Greta Smith (scribe).