Mitre Peak

Mitre Peak is the mountain in the picture most people carry of New Zealand's fiords. It rises straight out of the water of Milford Sound, in Fiordland National Park on the south-west coast of the South Island, climbing close to 1,700 metres from sea level in a single sweep of rock. What reads from the water as one sharp point is in fact a tight cluster of five summits, stacked so that from most angles they merge into a single spire. Captain John Lort Stokes of the survey ship HMS Acheron gave it its English name for its resemblance to a bishop's mitre; its Māori name is Rahotu.

The drama comes from the fiord itself. Milford Sound, known in Māori as Piopiotahi, runs about 15 km inland from the Tasman Sea between walls of granite that drop almost sheer into water nearly 300 metres deep. The area is one of the wettest inhabited places in the country, with more than six metres of rain in an average year, and after heavy rain the cliffs around Mitre Peak run with temporary waterfalls, while on still mornings the peak doubles itself in the dark surface of the sound. It has long drawn painters for exactly that setting. Milford Sound and the surrounding mountains are part of Te Wāhipounamu, the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area.

The first recorded ascent was made on 13 March 1911 by Jim Dennistoun, who was accompanied for part of the way by Joe Beaglehole and finished the climb alone. His claim was confirmed three years later, when the second party to reach the top found the handkerchief he had left in a cairn on the summit. The climb remains a serious undertaking on steep ground; climbers usually cross the sound by boat to Sinbad Bay to begin it. For almost everyone else, Mitre Peak is seen from the water, from the foreshore near the visitor terminal, or from the air.

Getting there

Milford Sound is at the end of State Highway 94, which crosses the mountains through the 1.2 km Homer Tunnel. Te Anau, the nearest town on the road, is about 121 km away; Queenstown is about 291 km, roughly four hours' drive, and Invercargill, the nearest city, is about 278 km by road. The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), about 83 km away in a straight line but much further by road; Milford Sound Airport receives scenic flights. Boat cruises of one to two hours leave from the Milford Sound visitor terminal and pass directly beneath the peak.