Mount Tasman and More: Westland Alpine Climbs

A warmup route and then an 8 day adventure through the huge glaciers and onto the peaks which tower above the villages of Franz Josef and Fox Glacier.

Alpine Climbing, Hiking Easy, Moderate, Difficult

Description

Just to the north of the (rightly) famous Aoraki/Mount Cook lies Mount Tasman and a series of huge, sweeping glaciers which drain down into the rivers of New Zealand's Westland region and then on to the Tasman Sea. This guidebook will take you across these glaciers and onto 6 incredible summits, including Tasman itself. En route you'll see every type of mountain landscape and stay in 5 stunning mountain huts.

Fittingly, Tasman is the hardest of the peaks described here but Westland's notoriously wild climate and the objective hazards which characterise New Zealand alpinism make every day a serious undertaking. We've included here the classic route on Mount Sefton to serve as a warmup (only in New Zealand would this be considered a warmup (!) - it's a pretty major undertaking), and then you're on to an 8 day mega-adventure around Mount Tasman.

The 8 day trip starts and ends at high mountain huts which can be accessed on foot (if you are truly sadistic and enjoy multi day jungle bashing expeditions) but are almost always reached by helicopter from either Franz Josef or Fox Glacier. Flights are easily arranged and surprisingly reasonably priced.

If you complete this trip you'll have earned a few calories at one of the excellent restaurants on the West coast and will likely have whet your appetite for more New Zealand alpinism. If that's the case, check out our guidebooks to the 2 most famous peaks in the country, Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Aspiring.

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