The Sleeping Giant or the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Chapter 5: Ruapehu

Ruapehu at sunrise from Waihohonu Hut, Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand The imposing Ruapehu presents itself as peaceful and alluring. Proud of its strength and size, it cloaks itself in the pristine white of the snow, lulls our ears with the gentle gurgling and splashing of streams, and enchants us with its soft glow in the evening sun. And people flock to it, climbing its rock faces, in winter skiing and snowboarding down its snow-covered slopes, and hiking through forests, scree fields, and even over glaciers right up to its peaks. Yet, it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Not only do the steep slopes have their dangers, with several mountaineers having fallen, or a bad weather front creating life-threatening conditions within minutes; lahars, avalanches of rock, water, and ice, have killed the most people to date.

Cloudy mood in Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand Triggered by heavy rainfall, eruptions beneath the crater lake, or the sudden melting of ice and snow, devastating floods rush down into the valley. State-of-the-art monitoring techniques, including seismic measurements and chemical analyses, are now intended to prevent harm to people. Early warning systems and disaster plans, for example, give staff at the visitor centre in Whakapapa village fifteen minutes to evacuate the area and direct people to higher, safer ground. However, on Christmas Eve 1953, there were no warnings whatsoever that could have prevented the greatest accident tragedy in the park’s history.

Tangiwai, site of the 1954 railway accident on Ruapehu, Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand Around 10 PM, a bewildered Cyril Ellis stopped his vehicle in front of the Whangaehu River bridge. In the dim light, he could just make out that the bridge was being engulfed by a raging flood, making passage impossible. He wondered about the enormous volume of water, as the day had been fine and rain-free. While pondering this, he noticed the lights of the Auckland-Wellington express train approaching the railway bridge at full speed. He ran to the embankment, waved a torch, and finally tried to shout a warning to the driver over the noise of the engine and the river. But it was in vain. The train continued relentlessly onto the bridge. Halfway across, the locomotive plunged nose-first over the southern riverbank and seemed almost to reach the other bank before crashing into the water. The first carriage followed.

“…The noise was indescribable, as if the boiler had exploded. The second carriage reared up at the front and was more or less thrown into the air by the mass of the three behind it. Then I noticed how the three subsequent carriages seemed to break into three separate parts. They hit the water, and I saw them drift down the river with their lights still burning. After they had travelled about forty metres, they disappeared, and I no longer saw their lights.”

Five carriages followed the locomotive into the flood, the sixth hung at a steep angle from the broken edge. Ellis rushed there and climbed into the carriage himself to help the people before it, too, plunged down.

“…I grabbed a seat and then the luggage rack to enable myself to stand. Some people were screaming, but I shouted, “Don’t panic, don’t panic! Hold onto the luggage racks.” Meanwhile, water poured into the carriage and the lights went out. The carriage continued to shake and bounce violently. At this point, I was standing on a seat, with water up to my armpits. Next, I noticed a terrible jolt and the carriage tipped sideways to the left. The coupling broke and we plunged over the edge. I still had my torch and yelled at people not to panic, even though we were being spun around like in a barrel of water. When the cabin light failed, I continued to hold onto the luggage rack. The carriage overturned several times and then came to rest on its side, with water flowing through it. It was incredible. Some women clung to me, but I managed to smash a window with my elbow and enlarge the opening by kicking it with my shoe…”

With him, 26 people climbed out of the wreckage and endured over an hour in the wet and cold before rescuers brought them to safety. But many struggled in vain in the muddy floods. 151 people died. An investigation into the disaster attributes its cause to the collapse of a natural dam of ice and ash, which had blocked the outflow of the crater lake for an extended period, causing a catastrophic build-up of water. Tangiwai, “weeping waters,” remains for future generations a place of sorrow, remembrance, and a warning of the mountain’s dangers.

Even on a smaller scale, lahars have caused many threatening situations. Ski resorts were also affected. Yet, precisely because of the risk and thrill, many visitors were drawn to the vicinity of the mountain and its ski areas. Where else could one ski on an active volcano, as was possible in 1995/96 with the sight of towering ash clouds? As long as the wind blew the ash in the other direction!

Ruapehu in the first light of day, Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand How do you wake sleeping giants? Or, to put it better, how do I avoid doing just that? Because before me yawns the deep hole where the beautiful crater lake once was. Steam rises into the sky with a mighty roar and hiss. It smells of sulphur. The surrounding glaciers lie beneath a thick layer of ash and have consequently melted significantly. Black and white, frost and heat, the volcano and I. Right at the summit, 2797 m above sea level. Enthusiasm, joy. “Joy, beautiful spark of the gods” comes to mind, how fitting. The spark ignited. An aeroplane circles above me. I wave to it. Unrelatedly, I remember people who feel the need to communicate with friends and relatives from mountain peaks via mobile phones. Not me. This, at this moment, is a matter between the mountain and me. Unlike me, it leaves lasting traces. I don’t mean the scars on my foot; that’s another story, one that tells more of my recklessness. I perceived the mountain with all my senses, smelled it, touched it, observed it, and felt it. Through this, I was finally able to solve an essential secret of life: … but you’d better find that out for yourself!