This FAQ covers the key details to help you prepare for your trip, from transport and fitness to weather, snow conditions, insurance, accommodation, and aircraft use. Looking for a packing list? Each trip page includes a link to a detailed gear list.
Everything you need to know ahead of arrival.
We provide technical climbing gear. You need to bring personal items; like warm clothing, sunscreen, and sunglasses. Check the webpage for your trip, here on the site, to find the specific, detailed, gear list.
Yes, if you are on an Alpine Guides' experience we offer a range of gear for hire, including boots, sleeping bags, and backpacks. We also provide all essential safety and climbing equipment free of charge. You can request the gear you need using the equipment forms before you arrive.
The following resources (old-school books) may be useful for your Alpine Guides mountaineering trip. None are “required reading”.
Climbing
Technical References
Winter-specific / Avalanche Safety
Please let us know about any relevant medical history when completing your booking questionnaire. There is no pharmacy at Mount Cook (the nearest one is 70 kms away). Bring any personal medication you require.
First Aid Kit
Toiletries
When going into the mountains we keep toiletries to the absolute minimum. Please bring along:
Before you go into the hills, we can store your larger items and luggage at our office. Smaller items of value (wallets, passports, etc.) can be placed in our office safe.
Vehicles can be parked at our office car park, or at Unwin Lodge.
Occasionally trips can be disrupted by bad weather. This is usually because aircraft cannot fly, delaying your flight into the mountains. If possible, please allow an extra day in your travel plans so that your program can be extended, if necessary.
If your trip is seriously affected by bad weather we may offer credit on a future program with Alpine Guides. This is at the company’s discretion.
With all of our courses and mountaineering trips involving flights, we aim to fly into the mountains at the first opportunity.
However, due to weather in an alpine situation, we are sometimes delayed. In these cases we will make effective use of your time, working on training, theory, and rope work.
Tips on how to physically prepare for alpine adventures.
Mountaineering is a demanding activity. The fitter you are, the more you will enjoy your time with us. Unless you regularly climb, bushwalk/hike, and are used to long days carrying a pack, you will need to train for mountaineering.
Mountaineering is primarily an aerobic activity. Strength is important for lifting a pack, but it is more important to build up your aerobic fitness level and stamina for long climbing days.
Aerobic fitness can only be improved over months - so start your training program now.
Closer to your trip, introduce some days (8 hours) with a pack load of 7-10 kg, preferably uphill, to work on your endurance.
Don’t underestimate how rigorous mountaineering can be. It is always better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.
A personal training regime is beyond the scope of our advice, but there are many resources online. At the professional level, you can consult an exercise physiologist to help set up a conditioning program.
Look for types of exercise that improve aerobic fitness.
The most obvious weakness in training regimes is that exercise sessions are not long enough. It is not unusual to experience a 15-hour day on major New Zealand peaks.
Select activities you enjoy doing. You are more likely to continue with your program.
Start slowly. Build up to aerobic exercise at an intensity level where it is difficult to hold a conversation. Schedule a time during the day for exercise and aim for 4-5 sessions per week at 30 to 45 minutes each.
Try to hit your peak fitness immediately before your trip. This will greatly improve your enjoyment and appreciation of the mountains.
As a rough gauge for fitness, you should be able to:
The ability to carry a backpack over an 8 to 10-hour day is vital.
Where you'll stay and what’s provided during your trip.
Except for a couple of specific trips, Alpine Guides provides all accommodation during your mountain trip. For nights not spent in the mountains, we use a variety of lodges.
At Mount Cook, we normally use Unwin Lodge. Unwin is operated by the NZ Alpine Club and is a focal point for alpinists coming into the Mt Cook area.
Bedrooms at Unwin are shared, bunk-style. The lodge has a spacious lounge with a log fire and excellent kitchen facilities. Please bring your own sleeping bag, towel, and toiletries (we rent sleeping bags for our guests).
Before and after your trip, you need to find your own accommodation.
Over the summer months, bed availability may be limited. It is a good idea to book in advance.
During winter it is quieter and you may get a better rate for accommodation.
Mt Cook Village Accommodation
Camping Option
There is a DOC camping ground 2 km from Mount Cook village. $20 per person/night. Contact the Mt Cook Visitor Information Centre for details:
Ph: +64 3 435 818
Email: mtcookvc@doc.govt.nz
Glentanner Park
Glentanner Park is located a 20-minute drive from Mount Cook Village. They offer affordable cabins and camping options.
Ph: +64 3 435 1854
Email: info@glentanner.co.nz
If you are travelling via Christchurch, the best source for accommodation info is the Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism site.
For Mount Aspiring Expeditions and other trips in the Mt Aspiring region, we recommend these establishments:
Methven Township is a busy place during winter. We advise booking in advance.
See Methven/Mt Hutt Village website for more accommodation options.
Fueling your body is important in this demanding environment. Alpine Guides provides high-quality fresh food for every trip we run. Your guide will order food in advance of your trip and will plan tasty, enjoyable meals.
Please make a note of what you like (or don't like) to eat on your booking questionnaire. If you have a specialised diet, please be detailed. Most dietary regimes can be catered for. If we can't, we'll let you know.
We provide snacks and energy bars. Dehydrated meals are used infrequently - usually only in bivouac and camping situations, where we need to go “light”.
How and why we chose to fly
There are no cable cars or roads to high elevations, providing easy access to the remote mountains of New Zealand. Walking into many mountain venues can use up to 2 days of your trip, across very rugged terrain.
To make the best use of your time, a number of Alpine Guides trips use aircraft access. When you arrive, the scale, and nature of the terrain, will make the logic for flying obvious.
Building in the cost to cover all possible scenarios would result in increasing base trip prices. It also lets people who want, and are fit enough, to walk out. Flying out is included in the price of most, but not all of our trips. Please check the details for your program.
Walking out from your mountain venue may be possible, but flying out is by far the more popular choice. Walking out may be beyond your fitness, especially at the end of a long trip. Conditions and weather may dictate that a flight out is the safer choice.
No. During your trip your guide will call AGL base to arrange this. If flight costs are additional, our base staff will work to provide the best price available on the day. When possible we always try to combine flights with other users, to reduce costs, and to reduce aircraft turnarounds.
Combining with other parties, flying in or flying out, can reduce the relative cost per person. During summer, we often combine with other climbing parties. During winter we work in with our Ski The Tasman and Heliski operations. This provides more cost-effective flight options for our guests.
It is not possible to give a fixed price in advance, due to the number of variables involved. These variables can include:
Potential costs are discussed for those trips where flights are not built in.
Hut "etiquette", alpine weather, and communications when in the mountains.
One of the great advantages of climbing in the Mt Cook region is the Himalayan vertical scale, at relatively low elevations. Mt Cook Village is at 760 metres (2,500 ft.). 29 mountains in the area rise above 3,000 metres (approx 10,000 ft.).
Aoraki Mount Cook is the highest at 3,724 metres (12,217 ft.). Acclimatisation for climbing at these altitudes has usually not proved necessary. However, some people can experience initial breathlessness for a few hours after landing on one of the high glacier nevés, and occasionally above 3,000 metres.
We base most of our trips out of mountain huts maintained by the Department of Conservation, or the NZ Alpine Club. Huts are typically bolted down to rock outcrops above vast glaciers.
Alpine huts are fitted with a water supply, bunks, mattresses, blankets, benches, cooking utensils and VHF radios. Most huts have solar powered lighting. Some huts have LPG gas.
Most alpine huts in New Zealand are not heated. Warm jackets are recommended, even in summer evenings, and you must be prepared for cold conditions during winter!
Alpine Guides provides all stoves and fuel for cooking, if required. Fuel is carried into the mountains at the start of each trip. Plates and cooking utensils are supplied, as is all cooking equipment.
Most huts have a small library of magazines and books, and you are welcome to bring along a book or lightweight reading device (with a dry-bag container).
All participants are expected to assist with basic cooking and hut cleaning duties.
Personal hygiene in the hut
Your guide will take you through “hut etiquette”. Bathroom facilities are limited to an outside toilet. Toilet paper is supplied.
Care must be taken with hygiene, and water supply. There are no showers or formal washing facilities in the huts. When washing most people use hand basins and (their own) washcloths. Use of antibacterial hand sanitiser is recommended. Clothes can be hand-washed.
In the mountains, 2-way communication is possible, but can be limited at times. Think carefully about your trip; if you are required to contact home or work regularly - this is not always possible.
You will be trained how to use radios, satellite phones, and EPIRB devices in the event that your guide is not able to call out.
VHF Radio | Mount Cook and Westland Areas
All guides carry handheld FM/VHF radios and regularly keep in touch with Alpine Guides base. Mountain Huts also have Department of Conservation radios installed. Messages can be relayed to you through your guide or the hut radio system.
Satellite Phone | In Other Mountain Areas
Outside of the Mt Cook region our guides carry a satellite phone and/or EPIRB. Satellite phones are usually only switched on when the guide needs to talk to base. This can mean a delay in communication. The guide will check regularly for TXT messages from base.
Cell Phone Coverage
Cell phone communication is limited in NZ Mountain areas. On many high peaks (especially around the Main Divide) there is usually coverage to send txt/sms and some potentially limited 4G data. At lower elevations, and in valley systems, signals are patchy (at best) or nonexistent.
Latest cell phones, in combination with some cellular network providers may offer a cell to satellite text service, check with your provider for details and connectivity options. Mount Cook Village has excellent coverage on all NZ cell networks on 4G.
If choosing to walk out, fitness and endurance are major factors
Many of our climbing and ski touring trips include the cost of the flight out of the mountains. If you do have the option to walk out from mountain locations at the end of your Alpine Guides trip, it is an arduous undertaking. It will test your fitness and stamina. Your guide is the final arbiter on whether the walkout will go ahead.
In NZ there are no cable cars, or road to high elevation, so approaches to climbing venues from road ends are typically long. You must always be prepared and fit enough to walk out if weather conditions will not allow for aircraft pick-up. Weather must also be suitable to allow safe travel on foot.
The option to walk out is based on:
Slower parties, poor conditions underfoot, and poor weather will affect travel times.
This is an extremely rugged trip with 1 - 2 hours walking on nevé. The steep glacier descent is followed by approximately 300 metres of scree, 1,000 metres of boulder stream, and finally (at least) 2 hours walking over moraine before reaching the climb of the moraine wall to Ball Shelter site. From here, it's about 2.5 hours hike to a 4WD pick up.
It is possible, but a long and commiting journey.
• Day 1: 5 km, 4-5 hours of glacier travel through West Hoe Pass to Centennial Hut, staying the night.
• Day 2: 8 km, 1,000 vertical metres descent. 8-10 hours crossing Graham Saddle and descending De la Beche ridge (a moderately difficult route) to bivouac close to the old De la Beche bivy rock site - the rock has fallen into the Tasman! Good weather is required for this crossing.
• Day 3: Either a 1-hour walk out to the Tasman Glacier white ice for a helicopter pickup, or 7-8 hours of walking (10+ km) over the glacial moraine to the road end for a 4WD pick up.
The changes expected between seasons; weather, temperature, conditions underfoot
Weather at Aoraki Mount Cook is best described as "variable and vigorous", with considerable precipitation at times. There is also marked seasonal variation.
For details on specific gear and clothing selections, for different seasons, see the Gear Guide.
The winter mountaineering period extends from July to mid-October (approximately). During winter, daylight hours are shorter, the weather is colder, and snow cover is at its maximum extent. Deep snow is common.
Travel on foot is difficult at times unless aided by skis, snowshoes, or split snowboards. All AGL parties carry avalanche transceivers. Avalanche awareness and rescue are a focus of winter trips.
Winter Period (July/August)
Early winter offers a greater likelihood of powder skiing. Days are short and temperatures are coldest – perfect for keeping your powder dry. Less terrain may be accessible due to snow stability/avalanche conditions.
Spring Period (September/October)
It is not uncommon to ski powder after a spring storm, but you are more likely to find corn snow. Corn is better suited for first-time backcountry skiers. Daylight hours are longer and warmer. Snow cover is at its maximum. More terrain can be accessible due to better stability/avalanche conditions.
The summer climbing period extends from mid-October to early-April. You must be prepared for a wide range of conditions, from very warm, to cold snowy days. As the summer season advances, access on to climbing routes will change.
Summer Temperatures and Daylight Hours:
Changing Snow Conditions
During November and December access on to routes is usually easier, due to fewer crevasses.
From January onwards, the snowpack will consolidate (shallower foot penetration). Crevasses are larger. Crevasse bridging is weakest. Less chance of snowfall. Rockfall hazard increases.
Late Season - March onwards: Conditions are typically "hard" underfoot. Crevassing is at its greatest extent. Night temperatures are dropping. Greater chance of snowfall.
Choose your mountain wardrobe around the time of year you visit. Alpine huts in NZ are not heated. Temperatures are colder at night, even during summer. If your trip involves camping out go for the warmest possible combination of clothing.
Summer Gear (November - April)
There is a wide range of temperatures through summer. Be prepared for cool, to cold temperatures during storms and at night. Choose:
Through January and February especially, bring "cooling" garments that will reflect UV. For example; glacier shirts (light colours/quick drying), legionnaire hats, scarves, and neck gaiters (e.g. "Buff").
Winter Gear (July - October)
Choose:
Avoid using drinking bladders with hoses/tubes during winter - they are prone to freeze even when insulated.
Travel to our Mount Cook base, Wanaka, or Methven, using public transport
Intercity Coaches
Intercity Coaches provides direct daily services to Aoraki Mount Cook from Queenstown and Christchurch. Visit the Intercity website here.
We recommend buying a FlexiPass to make considerable savings on your bus fare.
The Cook Connection
Transport from Twizel to Mt Cook can be booked with the Cook Connection Shuttle to Mt Cook via Cycle Journeys.
If you have a mountaineering trip booked with us and are unable to coordinate transport from Twizel, please check in with us. We can help arrange transport from Twizel to Mt Cook.
Cheeky Kiwi Travel
Get a shuttle directly to Mt Cook with Cheeky Kiwi Travel. They operate out of Christchurch and Queenstown.
Tekapo Shuttles
Tekapo Shuttles offer one-way, return, and day tours to Aoraki Mount Cook from Tekapo.
By Air
Air New Zealand offers daily domestic flights to Queenstown. International visitors can fly directly to Queenstown.
Bus Travel From Queenstown
Ritchies Wanaka pick up and drop off at Queenstown Aiport.
Methven Travel provides regular transport from central Christchurch and Christchurch Airport to Methven and return. They also will not charge you for ski or snowboard bags.
Insurance recommendations and ACC explanation
To safeguard your investment, we advise all guests secure travel insurance immediately after booking.
Insurance protects you against losing your deposit due to unforeseen cancellations or travel "hiccups."
Our Commitment: Once a trip is booked, we commit to paying our guides. If you cancel and we are unable to rebook the guide, the deposit is used to honor that commitment. Insurance ensures you aren't out of pocket.
What to Look For: Ensure your policy includes "Loss of Deposits." While specific mountaineering insurance is optional, deposit protection is essential.
Where to Buy: You can find coverage through travel agents, brokers, or credit card providers. Members of the New Zealand Alpine Club (NZ/AU) have access to specific local coverage options.
The Accident Compensation (ACC) system extends to all visitors to New Zealand. ACC covers most (if not all) costs in the event of an accident, including evacuation and/or medical treatment, and rehabilitation.
The ACC system is based on a “no-fault” principle. There is a complete bar to legal action for damages as a result of any accident.
Visit the ACC website for information about how ACC covers visitors to New Zealand.
Most insurance policies have a total bar for mountain activities. Extra insurance cover for mountaineering/adventure activities is made at your discretion.
With New Zealand's unique ACC system, most Alpine Guides guests do not take an extension for "adventure activities" on their insurance.
We strongly reccommend travel insurance. Insurance for adventure sports/mountaineering is optional.
Here is a list of insurance providers we know who provide mountaineering-specific insurance. Alpine Guides has no affiliation with these providers, and does not endorse any particular provider.
Standard travel insurance often excludes "technical mountaineering" (activities involving ropes, ice axes, or crampons).
For Australians & NZ Residents: New Zealand Alpine Club (NZAC). By joining the NZAC, members can access specialised "Plan C" travel insurance designed specifically for technical climbing in New Zealand.
For International Travelers: World Nomads. Their Explorer Plan is a popular choice that can be purchased from almost anywhere and explicitly covers mountaineering with ropes and specialist equipment.
For UK & Global Residents: Worldwide Insure. They offer flexible "Activity Packs" that include high-altitude and technical alpine climbing.
Check the "Fine Print"
Many standard policies (including those provided by credit cards or companies like Allianz and Cover-More) often have a "No Specialist Equipment" clause. This means they may void your coverage if you are using ropes, ice axes, or crampons.
When choosing a policy, ensure it covers:
• Loss of Deposits / Trip Cancellation.
• Mountaineering (specifically mentioning the use of ropes and technical gear).
• Medical Evacuation and repatriation (also, see our FAQ about ACC).
