Mount Ngauruhoe 4.46

Mount Ngauruhoe is an active stratovolcano or composite cone in New Zealand, made from layers of lava and tephra. It is the youngest vent in the Tongariro volcanic complex on the Central Plateau of the North Island, and first erupted about 2,500 years ago. Although seen by most as a volcano in its own right, it is technically a secondary cone of Mount Tongariro.The volcano lies between the active volcanoes of Mount Tongariro to the north and Mount Ruapehu to the south, to the west of the Rangipo Desert and 25 kilometres to the south of the southern shore of Lake Taupo.Māori traditionsThe volcano was named by Ngātoro-i-rangi, an ancestor of the local Māori iwi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Local traditions say that Ngātoro-i-rangi called volcanic fire from his homeland Hawaiki which eventually emerged at Ngauruhoe. The name either commemorates his slave, who had died from the cold before the fire arrived, or refers to the insertions (ngā uru) of his hoe (paddle-like staff) into the ground.Recent activityNgauruhoe erupted 45 times in the 20th century, most recently in 1974. Fumaroles exist inside the inner crater and on the rim of the eastern, outer crater. Climbers who suffer from asthma may be affected by the strong sulphurous gases emitted from the crater.