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New Zealand

Extinct volcano located on the Northern island. Sacred mountain of the Maoris.
Mount Cook Area >

Barron Saddle is located in upper Mueller glacier between Scissors and Mount Spence.

The highest peak of Sealy range.
South west Face
  • Mueller hut
South west Face. NZ 1; 830m.
North Face
North Face. NZ 2.

The last peak of Sealy range, located to the south of Mueller hut.
Mount Cook Area >
Mount Cook Area >

Pass separating Mouynt Cook ridge from Main divide between Mount Cook and Mount Dampier. Can be reached both from Hooker valley and Grand Plkateau (Tasman valley).

Mount Cook (or Aorangi, Maori for "cloud piercer") is the highest mountain of New Zealand's wild Southern Alps. Mount Cook is a complex mountain with several summits, ridges and faces. Highest summit is North or High Peak (3754m with Middle Peak (3717m) to the south of main peak and Low Peak (3593m) further south being the two other main summits. 2000m high Carolina Face (SE) between East Ridge (of Middle Peak) and Zurbriggen (main NE Ridge) is probably the most striking feature. On the other side of the mountain Sheila (NW) and Hooker (SW) Faces are also very impressive. Its European name was bestowed in 1851, in honour of Captain James Cook. The true summit collapsed in 1991, thus the mountain is now few meters lower than it used to be (which tells a lot about the quality of the rock in the area).

  • High Peak (3754m)
  • Middle Peak (3717m)
  • Low Peak (3593m)
1894-12-25
First ascent
 George Graham, Jack Clark & Tom Fyfe via North Ridge
Sheila face
Hooker face
  • From Upper Empress Shelf. To there from Empress hut or Gardiner hut/Hooker valley
Porter col. Ice, ; 1200.
Challenging climbing through steep gullies on the south Face to Porter's Col (3545m, NZ3), the low point between the Low Peak and Middle Peak. Then traverse over Middle Peak to high summit (NZ 4-/4). Often combined with a descent via Linda Glacier to Plateau hut.
Earles route. Ice, ; 50; 1200m. Barcham, Herron, McCallum & Tornquist, 1956.
Access to Upper Empress Shelf via Earle's Gap. 2-3 pitches of mixed climbing at the bottom, then 50 degree ice field directly to the high peak.
Grand traverse via NW Couloir. Ice, NZ 5; 2000m.
Long, classic ridge traverse starting from Gardiner Hut (1760m) on Hooker glacier (SW side). To the summit ridge via Nortwest Couloir of Low Peak (3593m). From there traverse of the entire summit ridge over Middle Peak (3717m) to main summit and descent over Linda Glacier route to Plateau Hut (2200m).
West Ridge. ; 2000m. Peter Graham & Henrik Sillem, 1906-03.
South face
  • Noeline glacier
South Ridge. Mixed, . Harry Ayres, Ruth Adams, Ed Hillary & Mick Sullivan, 1948-01.
Rock often very loose.
South Face Original. .
White Dream. .
Carolina Face (SE Face)
  • Caroline hut/Tasman valley
Carolina Face Direct "Denz". Ice, ; 60-65; 2000m. Bill Denz, 1972.
Left side of the face. Ice fall danger.
Carolina Face "Clit". Ice, ; Sco III; 1800m. John Glasgow & Peter Cough, 1970.
On the buttress in the middle of the face. Ice fall danger.
Northeast face
  • Plateau hut/Tasman valley
Linda glacier. Ice, ; 40-45; 1700m 15-18 . Jack Clarke, Jim Murphy, Hugh Chambers, & Hugh Wright, 1912.
Normal route. Linda Glacier route is the easiest way to the summit. The route ascends Linda glacier between Zurbriggen's and the North Ridges. It skirts beneath ice cliffs known as the "Gun barrels" (and joins Zurbriggen's ridge at the last band of rock known as the summit rocks (crux). The route sports over 3000 vertical metres from the road end. It has significant objective hazards, i.e. several corridors of ice avalanches have to be negotiated. Same route.
East Ridge. Mixed, ; 1550m. Dan Bryant & Lud Mahan, 1938-01.
Popular technical route on snow, ice and rock. Leads from the Grand Plateau via East Ridge up the Middle Peak (3717m), from where a traverse along summit ridge to high peak and down via Linda Glacier route.
  • Mount Cook. Photo report of ascent of East Ridge.
North Ridge. Mixed, ; 1700m. Jacke Clarke, Tom Fyfe, & George Graham, 1894.
From Plateau Hut (2200m) along Linda glacier to the Green's Saddle (3348m) between Mount Dampier (3409m) on the north and High Peak of Mount Cook on the south. From the saddle difficult climb along north ridge (loose rock) to summit. It is also possible to climb from Hooker valley to Green saddle.
Zurbriggens Ridge. Ice/mixed, ; 50-55; 1200m. Edward Fitzgerald & Mattias Zurbriggen, 1895.
The rocky main NE ridge leading from Tasman Glacier to the high peak. Starting point is Plateau Hut. The first solo ascent of Mt Cook was made via this route.

Popular pass providing access from

Peak located at the end of Mount Cook ridge between Hooker and Tasman valleys.
Mount Cook Area >
Mount Cook Area >
Mount Cook Area >

Classic peak located opposite of Mount Cook on the east side of Tasman glacier. There are both rock and mixed routes and the rock is better than on most other mountains.
North face
  • ruins of Beetham hut (1100m) in Malte Brun Pass
North Face. Rock, NZ 3+ (AUS 14); 2400m. A.C. Rattray & J.C. Stamers-Smith, 1958-12.
Rock route along direct line to summit.
North ridge. Rock, 3-4; 2400m.
West face
  • Tasman valley
West Ridge. Rock, NZ 3; 2400m. Hugh Chambers & Jack Clarke, 1912-12.
Classic. Classic ascent, predominantly a rock climb but involves a traverse across the classic 'cheval' part of the ridge to the final summit slopes.
West Face "Fyfe's Couloir". NZ 3. F.McMahon, A Simpson & R.Yates, 1964-12.
From Bonney Glacier. Fast descent route but a natural funnel for rock fall and avalanches.
South face
South Face. Ice, NZ 4; 700m.
Ice route with only one or two steep pitches
Mount Aspiring National park >

Located some 150 km south of Mount Cook, Mount Aspiring is a classic pyramid shaped peak, sometimes referred to as the Matterhorn of the Southern Alps. Bishop Graham: The Mount Aspiring Region. New Zealand Alpine Club. First ascent by Clarke, Head and Graham 23.11.1909 via West Face.

North side
  • Colin Todd Hut (1220m)
Northwest Ridge. Snow/ice, NZ 2+/3; 1800m, 10-12.
Normal route. There are two variations in the lower section; "The Ramp" on snow/ice (40-50°) and "Shipowners Ridge" (moderate mixed climbing).
SW side
  • Colin Todd Hut (1220m)
Southwest Ridge. Snow/ice, NZ 3+ with ice up to 60-65°; 14-16h. Harry Stevenson, Doug Dick & David Lewis, 1936-12.
Classic. More difficult than the Northwest route. Long arete that finishes with steep gully (2 pitches) followed by two pitch ice face.
Mount Aspiring National park >

New Zealand South Island Southern Alps Forbes range Highest peak in the Forbes range.
North side
NW Ridge. 2.
Through main gully and NW ridge.

Remote Darrans are located in Fiordland national park in the the SW part of South Island. Darrans have good quality rock (granite), the area is known to have the best multipitch rock climbing in the New Zealand. By far the best known climbing objective is Tutoko (2746m). Other notable peaks include Christina (2502m), Sabre (2167m) and Talbot (2110m, East Ridge) on Darrans and Pembroke (2000m) in Fiordland. Because of its its approximity to Tasmanian sea, the weather is problematic enough, as the area has very wet climate, annual precipitation is a staggering 7,5 meters! Some areas can be reached from the road with a reasonable hike. More remote parts are accessed with helicopters.

New Zealand South Island Southern Alps Darran mountains Highest peak in the Darran mountains.
South side
  • Turners Bivy
SE Ridge. ; 14; 1500 .
North side
  • Donne Glacier
NW Buttress. ; 14/5.7.
Easier than SE Ridge

South of South Island, the smaller Stewart Island is also mountainous, and is topped by Mount Anglem.

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