Tracks
View up Whitcombe from Meta Range Feb 2011
Route Guide: Otira to Mt Cook Village (pt 1)
Track
• 12 – 21 days. Hard. One way.
One possible route down the main divide from Otira on the Arthur's Pass road to Mt Cook Village.
Otira Hotel to the Mountaineer's Bar - file this one under 'tramps starting and ending at a pub'.
Whitcombe Pass
Track
• 5 – 7 days. Medium/hard. One way.
This route follows the famous journey by John Henry Whitcombe and the Swiss guide Jakob Lauper across the Main Divide in 1863. Whitcombe and Lauper were not the first across the pass: it was alread...
Track grades
- Easy
- Unusually smooth, well-marked track, easy gradients. Up to about 4 hours per day.
- Easy-medium
- Typical lowland track. Generally easy walking and well marked. Ascents of up to 1000m. Some easy river crossings, unmarked travel along rivers.
- Medium
- Typical tops track. Experienced trampers only. Rough, muddy and poorly marked or unmarked. Ascents of up to 2000m. River crossings, open tops, passes. Up to about 8 hours per day.
- Medium-hard
- Navigation and snow skills (use of ice axe and crampons) required. Glaciers, exposure to falls.
- Hard
- Rough or non-existent tracks. Following ridges, bush spurs, and rivers. Steep ascents, arduous travel, hazardous conditions, snow and navigation skills essential.