Aoraki / Mt. Cook
Trip Guide & 3D Map
Southern Alps · Difficulty, season, and access — then explore the 3D terrain
Planning snapshot
Aoraki / Mt. Cook is a 12,218 ft summit in the Southern Alps (New Zealand). PeakAtlas rates it alpine technical (Alpine ice / rock); best season is Nov–Mar. No special summit permit. Typical staging is Mount Cook Village (5.0 mi). PeakAtlas lists 3 OpenStreetMap lodging pins near the summit — coverage is often thinner outside well-mapped regions. Use the 3D map and trip checklist before you go.
- Elevation
- 12,218 ft
- Prominence
- 12,218 ft
- Difficulty tier
- Alpine technical
- Best season
- Nov–Mar
- Permits
- No special summit permit
- Staging
- Mount Cook Village · 5.0 mi
- Mapped lodging
- 3 OSM places
- Listed trails
- 2
As of 2026-07-31 · Figures come from the PeakAtlas3D catalog: surveyed elevations and prominence, curated difficulty tiers, best-season windows, permit notes, staging-town distances, trail lists, and OpenStreetMap lodging near each summit. Not live weather, quotas, or prices.
How hard is Aoraki / Mt. Cook, and what do you need before you go?
Aoraki / Mt. Cook is listed as Alpine ice / rock with a best season of Nov–Mar. Use the difficulty, permit, and staging details below before you commit to a date.
- Difficulty
- Alpine ice / rock
- Best season
- Nov–Mar
- Access / staging
- Mount Cook Village, Canterbury
How tall is Aoraki / Mt. Cook, and where is it?
- Location
- Canterbury, New Zealand
- Elevation
- 12,218 ft
- Prominence
- 12,218 ft
- Mountain range
- Southern Alps
- Difficulty
- Alpine ice / rock
What makes Aoraki / Mt. Cook notable?
New Zealand’s highest peak and the heart of the Southern Alps.
Aoraki, the highest peak in New Zealand, a glaciated Southern Alps icon above the Hooker and Tasman valleys.
After you check trip readiness for Aoraki / Mt. Cook, explore the summit on PeakAtlas3D’s interactive 3D topographic map in the Southern Alps, Canterbury, New Zealand.
Closest places
- Mount Cook Village — Canterbury via SH80
- Aoraki / Mount Cook — New Zealand
- Fox Glacier — New Zealand
Notable trails & routes
- Hooker Valley
- Linda Glacier