A glimpse of what I have been battling the last 30+ hours in the Waikato and King Country region of Te Araroa, New Zealand. This clip was taken at the summit of Mt Pirongia, an extinct volcano located in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island. It rises to 959 metres and is the highest peak in the Waikato region. 150kph gusts were blowing me off my feet. Summited and descended successfully. Testing conditions are putting Dan and me to the ultimate test.
View from the summit of Mt Pirongia along the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand, an extinct volcano located in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island. It rises to 959 metres (3146 ft) and is the highest peak in the Waikato region. The mountain creates weather of its own. The mountain allowed me to summit but not to descend. Hailstorm, 170kph wind gusts, freezing rain, all day and all night. The North Island is really putting me to the test.
I summited Mt Pirongia on 5 October at 3 pm, but it didn’t give me permission to leave. Insane fog with zero visibility, heavy gusts, hail and rain all day and night. I was holed up in a hut, cold and without sleep, and finally descended at 6 am. Mt Pirongia humbled me, totally and completely!