Expert / expedition
NZ Grade 3+ — serious ice and mixed climbing with high objective hazard
Sustained technical terrain or extreme-altitude expeditions.
3–5 days
No permit
No permit, but hut bookings and (for most) a guide or ski-plane approach are standard.
Mount Cook Village
Crowds: low · most parties climb guided
The southern summer (November–January) is the main season. Maritime weather is the defining feature — storms arrive from the Tasman with brutal speed, and parties routinely wait days in huts.
Don't let 3,724 m fool you: Aoraki rises from near sea level through some of the most active glaciation and worst weather in alpinism. The Linda Glacier route weaves through crevasse fields and under ice cliffs to a summit ridge of genuine ice climbing. Kiwi grades are earned — a Grade 3+ here outclasses many Alpine AD routes. This is Sir Edmund Hillary's training ground, and it still trains hard.
The Seven Summits' wildcard — real rock climbing on a jungle island's improbable limestone crest.
Once voted the most beautiful mountain in the world — a flawless ice pyramid demanding real ice-climbing skill.
The most beautiful mountain in the Khumbu — and a genuinely technical prize for experienced alpinists.