43-603: The Hooker Valley Track is the most popular short walking track within the Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand . At only 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) length and gaining only about 100 m (330 ft) in height, the well formed track can be walked by tourists with a wide range of level of fitness. The track is maintained by the Department of Conservation and has views of Aoraki / Mount Cook and access to
86-496: A glacier terminus as measured from this fixed position at different time intervals provides a record of the glacier's change. A similar way of tracking glacier change is comparing photographs of the glacier's position at different times. The form of a glacier terminus is determined by many factors. If the glacier is retreating, it is usually mildly sloping in form because a melting glacier tends to assume this shape. But there are many conditions that alter this typical shape, including
129-449: A small path leads down to the shore of the lake. During the summer months, icebergs can be seen floating in the lake, and the lookout also offers views across the lake to the terminus of Hooker Glacier. Download coordinates as: 43°41′42″S 170°05′48″E / 43.6949°S 170.0968°E / -43.6949; 170.0968 ( Hooker Valley Track - nominal location ) Aoraki Aoraki / Mount Cook
172-587: Is also access to the shore of the glacial lake. The vegetation around the track is open alpine tussock, and as such the track offers clear views of the mountains surrounding the wide valley floor of the Hooker Valley. The geographic Hooker items were named by the Canterbury provincial geologist, Julius von Haast , after the English botanist William Jackson Hooker . The Hooker Valley Track starts at
215-403: Is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality they are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating. The location of the terminus is often directly related to glacier mass balance , which is based on the amount of snowfall which occurs in the accumulation zone of a glacier, as compared to
258-586: Is the highest mountain in New Zealand . Its height, as of 2014 , is listed as 3,724 metres (12,218 feet). It sits in the Southern Alps , the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island . A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite challenge for mountain climbers . Aoraki / Mount Cook consists of three summits: from south to north, the Low Peak (3,593 m or 11,788 ft),
301-666: Is the only one of these names where the Māori name precedes the English. Under the settlement the Crown agreed to return title of Aoraki / Mount Cook to Ngāi Tahu, who would then formally gift it back to the nation. Neither transfer has yet occurred, and Ngāi Tahu can decide when this will happen. The Southern Alps in the South Island were formed by tectonic uplifting and pressure as the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates collided along
344-707: The Papatūānuku , the Earth Mother, their canoe became stranded on a reef and tilted. Aoraki and his brothers climbed onto the top side of their canoe. However, the south wind froze them and turned them to stone. Their canoe became the Te Waka o Aoraki, the South Island , and their prows, the Marlborough Sounds . Aoraki, the tallest, became the highest peak, and his brothers created the Kā Tiritiri o te Moana,
387-409: The Southern Alps . Ngāi Tahu, the main iwi (tribe) of New Zealand's southern region, consider Aoraki as the most sacred of the ancestors that they had descended from. Aoraki brings the iwi with its sense of community and purpose, and remains the physical form of Aoraki and the link between the worlds of the supernatural and nature. Glacier terminus A glacier terminus , toe , or snout ,
430-522: The Tasman Sea with them. Annual precipitation around the mountain ranges varies greatly as the local climate is dominated by the eastward movement of depressions and anticyclones from across the Tasman Sea. The Aoraki / Mount Cook massif is a major obstacle to the prevailing westerly winds as they push depressions and associated cold fronts of moist air from the subtropics in the northwest against
473-605: The UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The park contains more than 140 peaks standing over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) and 72 named glaciers , which cover 40 percent of its 700 square kilometres (170,000 acres). The peak is located at the northern end of the Mount Cook Range , where it meets with the main spine of the Main Divide, forming a massif between the Hooker Valley to the southwest and
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#1732779635784516-534: The proglacial Hooker Lake , typically with icebergs floating in it. Hooker Valley Track has been named one of the 'best day walks in New Zealand'. The lookout point at the end of the Hooker Valley Track is the closest any walking track comes to Aoraki / Mount Cook, and reveals completely unobstructed views of the highest mountain in New Zealand, with Hooker Glacier in the valley below. There
559-686: The 14th century CE. The first Europeans who may have seen Aoraki / Mount Cook were members of Abel Tasman 's crew, who saw a "large land uplifted high" (probably some part of the Southern Alps) while off the west coast of the South Island, just north of present-day Greymouth on 13 December 1642 during Tasman's first Pacific voyage. The English name of Mount Cook was given to the mountain in 1851 by Captain John Lort Stokes to honour Captain James Cook who surveyed and circumnavigated
602-418: The 1890 ascent attempt by Mannering and Dixon. The first known ascent was on 25 December 1894, when New Zealanders Tom Fyfe , John Michael (Jack) Clarke and George Graham reached the summit via the Hooker Valley and the north ridge. Despite an earlier failed attempt on 20 December, the local climbers were spurred on by their desire for the first ascent to be made by New Zealand mountaineers amid reports that
645-606: The Alpine Memorial, a memorial to the mountaineers who have died in the Mount Cook National Park over the years. The memorial site overlooks the proglacial lake of Mueller Glacier . The plaque on the Alpine Memorial reads: "To the memory of mountaineers and guides lost to the hills" Shortly after the memorial site, the track crosses Hooker River downstream of the Mueller Glacier lake on
688-491: The American mountaineer Edward FitzGerald had his eye on the summit. The party reached the summit at approximately 1:30pm after bounding up the last leg of the mountain full of excitement at reaching the top. The route they had successfully traversed was not repeated again until the 100th ascent over 60 years later in 1955. Swiss guide Matthias Zurbriggen of FitzGerald's party made the second ascent on 14 March 1895 from
731-909: The Middle Peak (3,717 m or 12,195 ft) and the High Peak. The summits lie slightly south and east of the main divide of the Southern Alps, with the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier to the southwest. Mount Cook is ranked 10th in the world by topographic isolation . The mountain is in the Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park , in the Canterbury Region . The park was established in 1953 and along with Westland National Park , Mount Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park forms one of
774-528: The South Ridge was renamed as Hillary Ridge in August 2011. Aoraki / Mount Cook is a technically challenging mountain with a high level of glaciation. Its level of difficulty is often underestimated and can change dramatically depending on weather, snow and ice conditions. The climb crosses large crevasses, and involves risks of ice and rock falls, avalanches and rapidly changing weather conditions. Since
817-466: The Tasman Glacier side, via the ridge that now bears his name. This is credited as the first solo ascent, although Zurbriggen was accompanied part of the way up the ridge by J Adamson. After Zurbriggen's ascent it was another ten years before the mountain was climbed again. In February 1905 Jack Clarke with four others completed the third ascent following Zurbriggen's route. Clarke therefore became
860-539: The Tasman Valley east of the mountain. These two valleys provide the closest easily accessible view points of Aoraki / Mount Cook. A lookout point at the end of the Hooker Valley Track located only 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the peak has views of the entire mountainside. The settlement of Mount Cook Village , also referred to as "Aoraki / Mount Cook", is a tourist centre and base camp for
903-528: The White Horse Hill camping ground, which can be reached from Mount Cook Village by either a 4 km (2.5 mi) sealed road, or a walking track of similar length connecting Mount Cook Village with the camping ground. The walking track starts near the Hermitage hotel . Adjacent to the camping ground, there is a car park, toilets, and a large modern shelter with informative panels. In winter,
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#1732779635784946-429: The access road to the White Horse Hill camping ground can sometimes be closed to vehicles following snowfall, but can be walked along from Mount Cook Village to get to the start of the track. Alternatively, the connecting track from The Hermitage Hotel across the valley to the starting point of Hooker Valley Track is usually passable. The start of the Hooker Valley Track leads through open grassland, as it passes close to
989-406: The amount that is melted in the ablation zone . The position of a glacier terminus is also impacted by localized or regional temperature change over time. Tracking the change in location of a glacier terminus is a method of monitoring a glacier's movement. The end of the glacier terminus is measured from a fixed position in neighboring bedrock periodically over time. The difference in location of
1032-610: The difficult climbing conditions on Aoraki / Mount Cook. Temperatures at the mountain's base in the Hooker Valley around 800 metres (2,600 feet) range from −13 °C (9 °F) to 32 °C (90 °F), and generally fall just over 1 °C (1.8 °F) for every 200 metres (656 ft) of altitude. From about 1,000 m (3,280 ft) and higher, semi-permanent snow and ice fields exist during winter. Winter and spring are usually less settled than summer and autumn. Anticyclones often bring days of settled weather in summer, or clear cold conditions in winter with severe frost. In
1075-467: The early 20th century, around 80 people have died attempting to climb the mountain, making it New Zealand's deadliest peak. The climbing season traditionally runs from November to February, and hardly a season goes by without at least one fatality. According to Māori legend, Aoraki was a young boy who, along with his three brothers, were the sons of Rakinui , the Sky Father. On their voyage around
1118-569: The first obstacle the winds encounter after South America, having moved east across the Southern Ocean . The height of Aoraki / Mount Cook was established in 1881 by G. J. Roberts (from the west side) and in 1889 by T. N. Brodrick (from the Canterbury side). Their measurements agreed closely at 12,349 feet (3,764 m). The height was reduced by 10 metres (33 ft) when approximately 12–14 million cubic metres of rock and ice fell off
1161-427: The first of three solidly built large wooden suspension bridges (Lower Hooker Suspension Bridge), that were upgraded in 2015. As the track leads around the moraine wall damming Mueller Glacier lake, it crosses Hooker River again, this time upstream of Mueller Glacier lake. After this second bridge (Hooker Bluff Bridge), the track continues north further into the wide Hooker Valley, gradually revealing an open view towards
1204-421: The first person to do a repeat ascent. The first woman to ascend the mountain was Australian Freda Du Faur on 3 December 1910. Local guide George Bannister, a nephew of another guide, Butler Te Koeti of Ngāi Tahu, was the first Māori to successfully scale the peak in 1912. A traverse of the three peaks was first accomplished in 1913 by Freda Du Faur and guides Alec and Peter Graham . This 'grand traverse'
1247-476: The island's western coast. The uplifting continues, raising Aoraki / Mount Cook an average of 7 millimetres (0.28 in) each year. However, erosive forces are also powerful shapers of the mountains. The severe weather is due to the mountain's jutting into powerful westerly winds of the Roaring Forties which run around approximately 45°S latitude, south of both Africa and Australia. The Southern Alps are
1290-553: The islands of New Zealand in 1770. Captain Cook did not sight the mountain during his exploration. Following the settlement between Ngāi Tahu and the Crown in 1998, a number of South Island place names were amended to incorporate their Māori names by the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 . The name of the mountain was officially changed from Mount Cook to Aoraki/Mount Cook to incorporate its historic Māori name. It
1333-409: The last of the suspension bridges (Upper Hooker Bridge). The track crosses Hooker River a third time, just below the moraine walls of Hooker Lake. A short track leads off the main path to small tarn, before the track skirts around the moraine wall as it climbs gently to the height of the moraine wall, reaching a lookout point with picnic tables, overlooking the proglacial Hooker Lake. From the lookout,
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1376-410: The mountain range. As the air rises towards the peaks, it expands and cools, and forms clouds. Rain and snowfall are often heaviest around the 1,200 m (3,900 ft) level and can last for several days if the front is slow-moving. As a result of the local weather patterns, the western slopes of Aoraki / Mount Cook can receive well over 10,000 mm (394 in) of annual precipitation, whereas
1419-619: The mountain's three summits forms a distinctive blocky shape when viewed from an eastern or western direction. Another popular view point is from Lake Matheson on the West Coast, described as the "view of views", where on calm days, the peaks of Aoraki / Mount Cook and Mt Tasman are reflected in Lake Matheson. Aoraki / Mount Cook receives substantial orographic precipitation throughout the year, as breezy, moisture-laden westerly winds dominate all year-round, bringing rainclouds from
1462-419: The mountain. It is 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the end of the Tasman Glacier and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Aoraki / Mount Cook's summit. On clear days, Aoraki / Mount Cook is visible from the West Coast as far north as Greymouth, some 150 km (93 mi) away, and from most of State Highway 80 along Lake Pukaki and State Highway 6 south of Lake Pukaki. The near horizontal ridge connecting
1505-406: The nearby Mount Cook Village, only 15 km (9 mi) south of the mountain, receives 4,484 mm (176.5 in) of rain or snowfall. While the weather on the eastern side of the mountain is generally better, rain or snow can quickly become widespread on that side as well if the wind turns to the south or southeast. This brings with it a rapid drop in temperature and poor visibility, adding to
1548-458: The northern peak on 14 December 1991. Two decades of erosion of the ice cap exposed after this collapse reduced the height by another 30 m to 3,724 m, Aoraki / Mount Cook lies in the centre of the distinctive Alpine Fault , a 650 km long active fault in the Southern Alps. It is responsible for the uplift of Aoraki / Mount Cook and is believed to move every 100 to 300 years. It last moved in 1717. The average annual rainfall in
1591-474: The peaks of Aoraki / Mount Cook, which remain visible for the entire second half of the track. The vegetation in this section of the track changes to snow tussock, spear grass , large mountain daisies, and Mount Cook Lily . All of these alpine plants flower in the summer months between December and February. At times, the track leads close to the Hooker River, its water a bluish light grey colour due to
1634-566: The snowline, only lichen can be found amongst the rock, snowfields and ice that dominate the highest parts of Aoraki / Mount Cook. The first recorded attempt on the summit was made by the Irishman Rev. William S. Green , the Swiss hotelier Emil Boss and the Swiss mountain guide Ulrich Kaufmann on 2 March 1882 via the Tasman and Linda Glaciers. They came within a few feet of the top, as did
1677-403: The surrounding lowlands, in particular to the west, is around 5 to 10 metres (200 to 390 in). This very high rainfall leads to temperate rainforests in these coastal lowlands and a reliable source of snow in the mountains to keep the glaciers flowing. These include the Tasman Glacier to the east of the mountain and the smaller Hooker Glacier immediately to its south. The vegetation in
1720-431: The suspended glacial rock flour in the meltwater. At Stocking Stream, crossed by the track on a small footbridge, there is the concrete base which is the only remains of a previous hut at this location, as well as two self-composting toilets, the only toilets along the Hooker Valley Track. North of Stocking Stream, the wide flat valley floor becomes swampy and the track continues on a wooden boardwalk before it reaches
1763-603: The traditions of the Ngāi Tahu iwi an early name for the South Island is Te Waka o Aoraki ('Aoraki's Canoe'). In the past many believed it meant "Cloud Piercer", a romantic rendering of the name's components: ao (world, daytime, cloud, etc.) and raki or rangi (day, sky, weather, etc.). Historically, the Māori name has been spelt Aorangi , using the northern dialect. Aoraki / Mount Cook became known to Māori after their arrival in New Zealand some time around
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1806-399: The valleys to the east, in particular the Tasman Valley, is noticeably less lush than that on the western slopes of the mountain. Forest would normally grow to about 1,300 m in this area, but a lack of soil due to scree, rock falls and the effects of glaciation prevent this in most localities around the mountain. Snow tussock and other alpine plants cling to as high as 1,900 m. Above
1849-471: Was repeated in January 1916 by Conrad Kain , guiding the 57-year-old Jane Thomson , considered at the time "a marvellous feat unequalled for daring in the annals of the Southern Alps". Sir Edmund Hillary made his first ascent in January 1948. In February 1948 with Ruth Adams, Harry Ayres and Mick Sullivan, Hillary made the first ascent of the South Ridge to the Low Peak. To celebrate the life of Hillary
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