Best Peaks to Climb in January
32 catalog summits list January in their published season window.
January in this catalog is a Southern Hemisphere and equatorial window: Aconcagua and Ojos del Salado sit in their high season, New Zealand’s volcanoes and Southern Alps are in austral summer, and Kilimanjaro plus Kenya still show as in season.
Mexican volcanoes (Orizaba, Iztaccíhuatl, Popocatépetl) and a handful of USA winter-access peaks round out the list. Antarctica’s Vinson season is already open from the November start in the catalog — treat it as an expedition calendar, not a casual hike.
Use the groups below as planning filters, then open each peak for permits, staging, and the 3D map. Always confirm the current season on the official land-manager page.
Countries in season
Day hike (6)
- Mauna Kea — USA · 13,796 ft · High-altitude drive / hike · Year-round; summit can be cold or snowy in winter
- Haleakalā — USA · 10,023 ft · Drive / Class 1–2 hike · Year-round (summit is cold; storms year-round)
- Guadalupe Peak — USA · 8,751 ft · Class 1 hike · Oct–Apr
- Mt. Kosciuszko — Australia · 7,310 ft · Class 1 hike · Dec–Mar
- Mt. Townsend — Australia · 7,242 ft · Class 1 hike · Dec–Mar
- Table Mountain — South Africa · 3,563 ft · Class 1 hike · Nov–Mar
Strenuous hike (8)
- Ojos del Salado — Chile/Argentina · 22,615 ft · High-altitude hike · Dec–Mar
- Popocatépetl — Mexico · 17,802 ft · Restricted / volcanic · Nov–Mar
- Ras Dashen — Ethiopia · 14,901 ft · Class 2 hike · Oct–Mar
- Mauna Loa — USA · 13,679 ft · High-altitude hike · Year-round (weather dependent)
- Mount Cameroon — Cameroon · 13,255 ft · Strenuous day / overnight · Nov–Feb
- Volcán Acatenango — Guatemala · 13,041 ft · Strenuous day / overnight · Nov–Apr
- Mount Roraima — Venezuela/Brazil/Guyana · 9,219 ft · Strenuous day / overnight · Dec–Mar
- Mount Taranaki — New Zealand · 8,255 ft · Strenuous day hike · Dec–Mar
Scramble (1)
- Mount Ruapehu — New Zealand · 9,156 ft · Snow / scramble · Dec–Apr
Snow / glacier (6)
- Chimborazo — Ecuador · 20,549 ft · Glacier climb · Dec–Jan or Jun–Jul
- Cotopaxi — Ecuador · 19,347 ft · Glacier climb · Dec–Apr
- Pico de Orizaba — Mexico · 18,491 ft · Snow / glacier climb · Nov–Mar
- Iztaccíhuatl — Mexico · 17,159 ft · Snow / glacier climb · Nov–Mar
- Margherita Peak — Uganda/DR Congo · 16,763 ft · Technical alpine / glacier · Dec–Feb, Jun–Aug
- Volcán Villarrica — Chile · 9,383 ft · Snow climb · Nov–Mar
Alpine technical (6)
- Mt. Kenya — Kenya · 17,057 ft · Technical rock / ice · Jan–Feb or Aug–Sep
- Aoraki / Mt. Cook — New Zealand · 12,218 ft · Alpine ice / rock · Nov–Mar
- Mt. Tasman — New Zealand · 11,475 ft · Alpine ice · Nov–Mar
- Cerro Fitz Roy — Argentina · 11,171 ft · Elite big-wall · Nov–Mar
- Mt. Aspiring — New Zealand · 9,947 ft · Alpine climb · Nov–Mar
- Cerro Paine Grande — Chile · 9,462 ft · Technical rock · Nov–Mar
Expedition (5)
- Aconcagua — Argentina · 22,838 ft · High-altitude trek · Dec–Feb
- Kilimanjaro — Tanzania · 19,341 ft · High-altitude trek · Jan–Mar or Jun–Oct
- Mount Vinson — Antarctica · 16,050 ft · Polar expedition · Nov–Jan
- Mt. Meru — Tanzania · 14,980 ft · Trekking peak · Jun–Feb
- Mt. Sidley — Antarctica · 13,717 ft · Polar expedition · Nov–Jan
Permits
All peaks · All months · Permit calendar · Open the 3D atlas