for bigger images, which show the details described.
(John Wattie Photographs)
In 1996, the mountain suddenly erupted: silently, with no warning, just after the ski field had been closed at 4pm.
A large number of skiers had just left the slopes, and those who had cameras were able to obtain spectacular pictures. Gavin Ruijne and Chris McKee took these shots.
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The mountain had been steaming quietly ever since the eruption of 1995 | |
| Press the thumbnails -> for bigger images, which show the details described. |
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Suddenly it erupted, rocks being flung high into the air, even above the dust and steam cloud. The eruption column rolled down the mountain slopes. |
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The crater lake emptied and two lahars streamed down the ski slope. You can see the line of the ski lift, just missed by the smaller lahar on the left. By now the eruption cloud was dispersing, leaving dark ash to stain the summit snow. | |
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As the amazed skiers drove home, they looked back at the drifting eruption cloud. The classical cone shaped volcano in the foreground is Mt Ngauruhoe. Ruapehu is behind it, to the left. | |
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(John Wattie Photographs) |
1995 eruption sequence (Mark Ayres)
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