The Ascent of Mount Doom :)

The first part of the tramp is a one hour leisurely tramp/climb up the valley floor across lava flows and boardwalk covered wetlands. The leisurely nature of the trail ends here… At the beginning of the ‘Devils Staircase’, which is a steep set of steps climbing up a HUGE lava flow (like a ten story building) revealing some fantastic views back down the valley and granting a first site of mount Ngauruhoe (Mnt Doom from LOTR)... It is amazing to see the active volcano this close… but we now had the opportunity to climb this behemoth… hmm… a two hour return climb could be attempted - but it was rated has ‘very challenging’ and had no route indication markers - in effect it would be a free climb up to the summit at over 2800m using no climbing equipment… So of course we had to try ;) You only live once so make the most of it…
From the moment I made this decision I knew I was about the attempt a challenge at the limit of my abilities… Mnt Doom looks fairly small from the bottom - but believe me when I say - It is MASSIVE!!

Heading off towards the base of the volcano I find a couple of other guys also heading up so decide to head up with them… The slope of the volcanic cone is Steep - Extremely STEEP… and covered in loose rocks, ash and solid lava blocks… After half an hour of climbing we reach the lava outcrop and begin to climb over it, finding hand holds while seeking a solid footing - it is dangerous as on two occasions rocks are set loose and begin bouncing down hill (to calls of ‘heads up - rock fall’ to warn those below… the rock only just misses another climbers head!!), the slope is so steep that the rocks do not come to a rest and continue to bounce their way almost to the base of the volcano speeding up all the time!! 0_0 By the time you reach the top of the lava outcrop you are about ½ way to the summit… But there is a greater challenge to follow - the red lava area above the outcrop has more loose rock, scree and fewer hand holds, while the slope is even more steep!! To say I was a little worried at this point would be an understatement - but we had come to far to go back and so climbed on all fours clinging to rocks and keeping centre of gravity as low to the rocks as possible, I aimed to always have three points of contact on the climb and after another 30mins of climbing made it over a lip onto suddenly lower grade slope as I arrive at the ridge leading to the snow capped peak (my relief at this point is palpable as I slipped on several occasions ascending through the red lava section). From here it was a relatively calm climb up to the central volcanic cone and a final assent (15mins) up ice covered areas of scree and rocks (Stick to the edge of the ice on the way up as the ice is too slippery without crampons and the scree is too loose to go up - but the edge, between lava and ice has damp scree which supports your weight much more efficiently). Arriving at the peak I look around to see the other climbers who have arrived already - we are six in number with others following behind - it is an AMAZING experience. We look over the cone into the crater and across to steaming vents (after all we are on top of an active volcano!). From here the views across the surrounding landscape is stunning… no - I mean to say… jaw dropping ;) I am treated to a 360 degree view of the valleys surrounding the volcano, the cloud layer far below, lava flows and the other two volcanic craters… I am lost for words here - just check out the photos…