Earth & Sky Ltd., P.O. Box 112, Lake Tekapo
7945, New Zealand. E-mail:
info@earthandsky.co.nz
Phone: +64 (0)3 6806960 Fax: +64 (0)3
6806950
Mount
Cook
To the Nga Tahu Maori, Aoraki (Aorangi), meaning
Cloud Piercer, is a sacred ancestor. Rising to 3754
metres (12,313 feet), is the highest peak in New Zealand.
Mt Cook is just one in the long chain of mountains called
the Southern Alps which runs almost the entire length of
the South Island. First conquered in 1894, the triple
peaks of Mount Cook remain a challenging ascent to
climbers, even after the mountain lost 14 million cubic
metres of rock and ice and 10 metres in height in a 1991
avalanche.
Many visitors come each year to Mount Cook Village and
the Hermitage at the foot of Aoraki/Mount Cook to enjoy
the awe-inspiring view and majesty of the mountain and
its ancient glaciers, river plains, and rock outcrops
pushed up by the Pacific Plate encounter with the
Austro-Indian plate. The mountain is flanked by four
immense flowing fields of ice, the Tasman, Murchison,
Hooker and Mueller glaciers.
See our
links page for local websites.
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