underestimating Mt Ngauruhoe and rescues

[wayno]

there have been quite a few rescues on MT Ngauruhoe recently, a lot of them related to people getting lost
its a deceiving mountain, its smooth relatively featureless shape makes it appear a lot smaller than it is, a lot of people are running out of daylight and getting caught out after dark, they are also getting confused on which side they are coming down and then dont know where they are.
its slow going climbing it because its mainly loose rubble and ash underfoot.
it's nearly a 1200m ascent from the carpark and its seven k's away. in good weather , it can all look like a fraction of that.
in colder weather there can be rock hard ice on the mountain.
don't attempt a mountain like this late in the day and take enough gear to get you through the night in case something goes wrong. I saw a couple of near misses with loose rocks nearly hitting people.
make an early start. doing it in conjunction with the Tongariro crossing is only advised for very fit walkers. it will add several hours onto the normal time to walk the crossing

[JohnStrider]

Sounds advice which I really appreciate. Myself and my crew will be heading out on that trail on Jan 4th early in the morning. We'll be taking the shuttle from the Tongariro Holiday Park.

Got my Topo map sorted, but do you think I'll need a GPS as well?

[wayno]

Not if you can use a compass and navigate in zero invisibility.