Ruapehu climber: 'Tell my parents I love them' (+photos)

Dome Shelter was almost completely submerged by mud and debris from the eruption. Photo / Alan Gibson

In a lonely hut on the edge of Ruapehu's crater, William Pike and James Christie heard the eruption as a "massive boom".

The door of the hut was blown from its hinges and mud and rock poured inside. One huge rock smashed into Mr Pike, crushing his leg.

Waikato DHB this afternoon said he was stable and awake - and had been communicating with his family.

As the 22-year-old lay in agony, he felt his life ebbing away. He asked his companion to tell his parents he loved them.

It was 21-year-old Mr Christie's first time on the mountain.

Before the eruption on Tuesday night, he, Mr Pike and two other companions had two days of "wicked weather, some great climbs and a lot of fun", he said yesterday.

The two men were in the Dome Shelter, 700m from the crater, when the eruption occurred.

Mr Christie said Mr Pike's right leg was trapped under a rock, and no amount of digging would free him.

"I put my hand down to move him; I couldn't move him. I thought I felt a piece of wood, but I'm pretty sure it was bone sticking out of his calf."

During the terrifying ordeal, the men talked, trying to reassure each other they were going to make it through the night.

Mr Christie said the conditions were freezing and everything in the hut was wet. He knew he needed to get help for Mr Pike.

"So we put his down jacket on and chucked some clothes around him like scarves - it was quite difficult because everything was wet and we weren't quite sure what to do.

"As I left, he said 'Tell my parents that I love them', and I said, 'You'll be able to tell them that yourself'."

Mr Christie said he ran as fast as he could down the mountain towards Whakapapa Village.

He ran into snow cat driver Shane Buckingham, who had just had a narrow escape from a lahar.

Mr Buckingham said he saw a "thick, dark, black thing" rushing towards him.

He realised it was a lahar, and that he was in grave danger.

He drove his vehicle at full throttle to higher ground, and the 8m-wide river of mud and debris missed him by about a metre.