MOUNT
COOK - THE CLOUD PIERCER
by
Bruce Burnett
If
I should bow my head let it be to a high mountain.
Maori proverb.
And
there is surely no mountain more worthy of being bowed to than Mount
Cook, at 3,766 meters (12,349ft), the tallest peak in New Zealand. Known
to the Maori people as Aorangi, the Cloud Piercer, it was formed
according to their legend, along with the surrounding peaks, by the
grounding of the canoe of the ancient Maori explorers. Sailing on the
great ocean of Kiwa (the Pacific), the grounded canoe became the South
Island and Aorangi and his brothers were turned to stone and became
the Southern Alps.
Mount Cook gives its name to a national park of nearly 70,000 hectares
(170,000 acres) and boasts the most spectacular peaks and glaciers in
the Southern Alps. The longest glacier is the Tasman at 28.9 kilometers
(18 miles), followed by the Murchison at 17.7kms.
To the north in Westland National Park and skirted by the Pacific Ocean
are the Fox Glacier at 15kms and the Franz Josef at 13.7kms.
These glaciers are the setting of what surely must be the most spectacular
skiing in the world. On the Tasman for example all skiers are organized
in groups of six to nine and are led by a professional guide. They fly
from the Hermitage airfield at Mount Cook village with their skis strapped
to the wing of the aircraft and after 15-20 minutes land near the Tasman
saddle at 2,500 meters (7,725ft) above sea level. They then explore
the longest ski run in the southern hemisphere, 12 kilometers (seven
miles) of undulating bowls with both easy and demanding slopes, past
ice falls and towering ice and snow formations.
The
ski-plane's retractable skis were the invention of Harry (later Sir
Henry) Wigley, who piloted the little Auster Aiglet plane on the inaugural
landing on the Tasman Glacier in 1955.
For non-skiers there are scenic flights in ski-planes around Mount Cook
and Mount Tasman and, weather permitting, brief landings are made on
the snowfields at the head of the glaciers.
Other activities offered by the park and surroundings include cross-country
skiing, mountaineering, climbing, hunting (outside the park), rafting
on the Tasman River, hiking and easy, sign-posted and guided walks.
An example of a hearty hike close to Mount Cook village is a two hour
trek up to Sealy Tarns. This is a steep, rough trail that climbs 500
meters up the Sealy Range to a group of scenic tarns (small mountain
lakes) nestling in alpine meadows about halfway to the crest of the
range. Rich gardens of herbs and alpine shrubs ease the sweat of the
scramble up and the view from the tarns is ample reward for the effort.
At the height of summer, the tarns can provide a tingling dip after
a steep, hot climb.
For
those with the time and energy to climb above the tarns the rewards
are some of the finest views in the park. Stark mountains encircle the
head of the Mueller Glacier. Mount Cook lords it over the northern horizon
and Mount Sealy dominates the south. Between the two stretches the precipitous,
ice-ribboned flank of the Main Divide, with sub-tropical rain forest
meeting the Pacific to the west and the dry, tussocked-hills stretching
to the Canterbury Plain to the east.
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Mount
Cook National Park is a top spot for spectacular alpine scenery.
All but one of its 29 peaks is over 3000 meters, so the park has
become New Zealand's mountain climbing mecca. Non-climbers can
enjoy a selection of challenging alpine walks – from the
one hour Red Tarns stair-climb to the relatively flat hike to
Kea Point.
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These
slopes are prone to avalanche and the ridgecrest is exposed and subject
to sudden changes in weather. Hikers venturing up here should be fit
and well equipped with survival gear and protective clothing.
The grandeur of Mount Cook, the Cloud Piercer, draws visitors back to
New Zealand like no other attraction. Wrote Lord Byron:
