5-day backcountry skiing in Mt. Cook and Westland Tai Poutini, NZ

Enjoy this unique ski touring trip around Mount Cook and Westland National Park with Taichiro Naka, a local certified mountain guide.

Southern Alps

5 Days

Jul - Nov

High

Intermediate

Description

Do you want to explore the most amazing ski touring areas in New Zealand? I offer this 5-day trip in Aoraki/Mount Cook and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks, skiing on top-quality snow away from the crowds.

Mount Cook (3,754 m.) is New Zealand’s highest mountain. Its name in Mahori is Aoraki, which means “clouds piercer”. Located in the Southern Alps, this peak is part of the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, which has almost 20 peaks over 3000m. During the winter this becomes a spectacular ski touring area.

In this amazing 5-day trip we will also enter the Westland Tai Poutini National Park, which borders Aoraki/Mount Cook. It covers 1,320 km² and has imposing glaciers, scenic lakes, and dense forests. Here we will find spectacular powder runs surrounded by beautiful landscapes.

In both parks we can also do some glacier skiing: Tasman and Murchison in the east, and Franz Josef and Fox in the west. There is so much to explore in this area!

We will sleep in different mountains huts, suchs as Kelman, Murchison or Centennial, to live a real mountain adventure. Every morning, after a nutritious breakfast, we will go out to New Zealand's best high alpine terrain.

So, if you are up for this wild skiing experience in the largest mountains and glaciers of New Zealand, please contact me! I am sure this trip will be unforgettable for you!

And if you want to fly into the heart of the Southern Alps for another unique skiing experience, I recommend you my Mount Cook heliskiing day trip.

Price includes

Accommodation included
Guiding fee
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Transport during the trip

FAQs

What are some recommended accommodations near our adventure location?

We understand that finding the perfect place to stay is an essential part of your adventure experience. To help you with this, we’ve curated a list of three highly recommended hotels that offer comfort, convenience, and a touch of local charm. These accommodations are well-suited for adventurers looking to relax and rejuvenate after an exciting day of exploration

Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina

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Alvear Palace Hotel Buenos Aires Argentina

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Hotel Pulitzer Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina

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About the guide

Taichiro

Mountain Guide

I grew up skiing in Hokkaido, the island of ‘Japow’ in Japan. I moved to New Zealand in 2001 and I live in Mount Cook village, where the centre of Southern Alps lies.

Since then I'm deeply in love with the natural environment that New Zealand can offer.

I'm an IFMGA-certified mountain guide and a member of New Zealand Mountain Guides Association. I guide all over the Southern Alps of NZ, especially rock climbing, alpine climbing, instruction courses in summer, heliskiing, ski touring, ice climbing in winter.

Please contact me if you are looking for an adventure in NZ both during the summer and during the winter.

Languages

Japanese | English

Certificates

NZMGA

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What people are saying about Explore-Share

Man

Climbing with guide Guillaume was absolutely a highlight of my 2-week Europe vacation. Originally, we were planning on climbing in the Calanques, but the park was closed due to wind and fire danger. Guillaume chose another amazing location (Pic de Bretagne) based on my climbing abilities and preferences and kindly offered train station pick-up and hotel drop off, which I appreciated very much. The multi-pitch route we did was not only fun but also the right amount of challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The communication from the team (Gauthier) was prompt and clear—highly recommend!

Maxine

Luis Silva was a great climbing guide and belayer! He taught me how to do moves that were difficult and encouraged me to try routes that were challenging for me! Because of his encouragement, I managed to complete these routes! I really enjoyed the climbs and completed 8 routes in the Sesimbra/Azoia area. The weather was perfect, no direct sun and cool enough to enjoy the climbs. Explore-Share made booking an outdoor climbing experience in Lisbon extremely easy. Luis, our guide, was fantastic, and the platform’s organization was flawless.

Valeriya

You’re simply the best!!! :))) Explore-Share made everything easy and stress-free. Will definitely use again.

Joshua

We had Léo as a guide for our day climb in Fonty. We were blessed with a knowledgeable, warm, and instructive guide. Communication with Léo and Ivan was smooth and swift. Explore-Share was excellent in arranging everything for our day climb. The communication was quick, and the platform was easy to use, making our adventure stress-free.

Cami

Patrick was a great guide. He took us on an intermediate Via Ferrata at Passo Sella. Renato was quick to respond with any outreach on the Explore-Share platform. The booking process was straightforward, and once Patrick was confirmed, all went well. It was a wonderful experience, and I’d highly recommend the platform.

4.8