The Tippy Top (Central Plateau) Traditional Cache
The Tippy Top (Central Plateau)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Welcome to the highest cache in NZ!
Dome shelter has generally been the destination of choice for those climbing Ruapehu in the summer. Provided you know where you're going, it offers relatively safe travel up to the summit plateau with views across the crater lake and some of the higher summits beyond. It's generally seen as the unofficial summit of the mountain and I'm sure it will continue to remain that way even now that the shelter has been removed. Especially since there's still a geocache up there! :)
For those even more hard-core, who would like to bag the true summit itself though - this is for you! Tahurangi is the highest peak on the mountain, which makes it officially the highest point in the north island. It's the one you look up at across the other side of the lake from Dome. It offers stupendous views over the crater lake and the little ants scuttling over the much more commonly ascended Dome summit off in the distance below.
Enjoying the view from the tippy top of the north island
The quickest and easiest way to bag this one is from Turoa carpark. The peak itself is easily seen the whole way up, so it's pretty difficult to get lost. As it's such a direct climb up, it's actually a shorter walk than from Whakapapa to Dome too, and there's not much in the way of bluffs to speak of that you can fall off if you do find yourself lost in the clag. The route up is to generally follow the highest chairlift up, veering out right towards Skyline ridge as you gain altitude. This is the obvious ridge to the right side which drops dramatically down to the Mangaehuehu Glacier below. More or less follow this ridge up all the way until you abruptly come to the summit ridge itself. Take care if visibility is poor as you may step off the other side! Turn left here and enjoy the last awesome section to the summit itself. Instead of the ridge, a variation is to follow a faint track up the face of the final steeper section. This tops out in a slight saddle on the summit ridge.
There are one or two things you need to be aware of if this all sounds a bit like you. This is a serious, unmarked climb and it is essential that you are well prepared and have the correct equipment before attempting this. The timeframe in which the conditions required to climb this side without alpine gear are pretty tight. Every year's different, but I would generally only attempt this climb in February or March in hiking gear. And even then it is advisable to carry an ice axe. There is always a ribbon of ice which runs down past the top chairlift, and you need to get on the RHSide of this to gain the ridge. Depending on the conditions encountered, this could be traversed below, or above, or possibly even across the occasional rock bridge that may appear very late. Carrying an ice axe gives you the option of cutting steps across it if all else fails. On this cache placement trip, I took my brother and daughter up with me. We crossed the stream just above the waterfall which placed us on the RHSide of the ice above. We went up Skyline ridge and then back down the saddle track. We found a rocky bridge half way down across the ice band which made it quicker travel down. With 1200m vertical ascent, we had a very leisurely 7 hour day with lots of rests and photos on the way. GPS trail of that trip is attached.
Unless you have alpine climbing experience and equipment (including ice axe and crampons) do not attempt this walk outside of the very short summer season. The cache will be well buried then anyway. The terrain rating is based on summer conditions - in the winter it would be 5 stars due to the specialist equipment required.
Cache is a 1 litre Sistema with notebook and pencils. Spoiler photos attached.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
N srj zrgerf gb gur evtug (ARnfg) bs gur fhzzvg, uvqqra haqre ebpx. Ergevrir sebz fbhgurea fvqr