Aoraki / Mount Cook Explained

Aoraki Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand standing in the Southern Alps on the South Island

Aoraki Mount Cook has three summits The High Peak stands above the Middle Peak and the Low Peak

Aoraki Mount Cook juts into powerful westerly winds.

Tectonic plates push the Southern Alps upward Aoraki Mount Cook rises seven millimetres each year growing like a slow teenager

Westerly winds hit the massif and dump moisture. Western slopes receive well over 10,000 mm of precipitation annually.

Captain John Lort Stokes named the peak in 1851 to honour Captain James Cook.

Tom Fyfe, Jack Clarke and George Graham reached the top on 25 December 1894 via the north ridge.

Aoraki Mount Cook ranks tenth globally for topographic isolation