The story behind Ruapehu’s smashed summit stone

The story behind Ruapehu’s smashed summit stone

An edited excerpt from Hazel Phillips’ book, Fire & Ice: Secrets, histories, treasures and mysteries of Tongariro National Park. When we ascended Girdlestone Peak in 2023, the skies above Ruapehu’s massif stretched clear and starkly blue above us. Sun reflected off the volcanic rocks around us as we sweltered up the black hill. When a group of mountaineers ascended Girdlestone over a century earlier, they needed three attempts to carry out their…