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canterbury: general info
· city links
· history
· things to do
· read reviews
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MT COOK NATIONAL PARK
Calling Code: +64 3
Mount Cook National Park is part of a World Heritage area that forms one of the most
amazing sights anywhere in New Zealand. The showcase is the majestic Mt Cook (Aoraki) which stands a might 12,316ft
but far from dwarfed are the 140 other peaks in the park that stand over 7000ft high.
The first attempt to reach the summit of Mount Cook was made in
1882 but the weather in this region is notoriously bad and their
efforts to find a good route to the top where thwarted. The mountain
is very difficult to climb and avalanches are a constant hazard.
One such avalanche in 1991 trimmed a neat 60 feet off the top.
The national park is equally as confronting with a third of it constantly buried under snow and ice. Still, the area is a hive of activity
with people scattered all over the place in pursuit of the perfect view or track. Trekkers can conquer the Wakefield Track and Hooker Valley
while longer walks are available up to the Mueller huts.
Mt. Cook was used by the greatest of all NZ climbers, Sir Edmund Hillary, as a practice ground before he launched his assault on Mt Everest,
but it has claimed the lives of more than 160 people.
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