Ice climbing at Margaret's Leap, Tukino, Ruapehu

Lodge at Tukino

A favourite spot of mine, at a particular time of year (the start of winter), is a waterfall called Margaret's leap which freezes to form a great place for ice climbing. There are a couple of fantastic little club huts only about 20 minutes walk away that are great to stay in. While most of Ruapehu is absolutely bustling with skiers during winter, the Eastern side of Ruapehu sees few visitors, in a large part due to the bumpy 4WD track and non-commercial nature of the area, which is sometimes referred to as 'the wild side'. These are all things I like about the Eastern side of Ruapehu. Things were getting colder and so I decided to organise a group to go Ice climbing. 

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Ngauruhoe in the distance

We had a great time. We set up an anchor at the top of the waterfall and I rappelled over to set it up at the base.

The ice on Margaret's Leap had formed up well

Climbing up the well formed ice

Theo looking happy after his climb!

Ngauruhoe in the sunset