Mt. Ruapehu to collapse within weeks

I was hiking ("tramping" in New Zealandese) here last year -- almost a year to the day:

Any day now, a massive torrent of mud and rocks is going to roar down the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, on New Zealand's North Island, engulfing everything in its path.

... The volcano, used as a setting in the Lord of the Rings films, last erupted 11 years ago, leaving a wall of tephra - a mixture of ash, sandy particles and heavier material - on top of the crater rim. The barrier is already springing leaks as the lake rises, and unless an eruption or earth tremor triggers the lahar first, scientists expect complete collapse within a few weeks from mid-March. The later the rupture, the bigger the lahar will be: the lake is already deeper than the levels that caused floods in 1953 and 1975, and this time more than a million cubic metres of mud and rocks will career down the mountain. TV companies are fighting for exclusive rights to film the spectacular event.

I had no idea that a cataclysm was that imminent or I probably wouln't have been there.

Update:

Thought I'd include one of my photos of the place: