Avalanche Peak Track/Route
Steeper visitor-centre approach; DOC describes a circuit descending Scotts.
Oceania / Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana
Avalanche Peak
New Zealand · 1,833 m
Photo credits and licence
Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Avalanche Peak, Arthur's Pass National Park, New Zealand. Preview cropped from the top.Source credit: Own work
Any adaptation of a ShareAlike image remains under its linked licence.
Source-linked route information · coverage incomplete
About Avalanche Peak
Avalanche Peak has two exposed, marked summit approaches above Arthur’s Pass: Avalanche Peak Track/Route and Scotts Track/Route.
DOC · Avalanche Peak tracks and routes
Geographic source notes
Wikidata description: mountain in New Zealand. Imported context (CC0); retrieved 2026-10-05, not independently reviewed.
This overview is assembled from the geographic records cited below; it has not been independently field-verified.
Mountain facts
- Elevation
- 1833 metres above sea level
- Country / territory
- New Zealand
- Mountain range
- Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana
- Range assignment
- Source-linked Wikidata statement · 2026-10-05
- Summit coordinates
- -42.943, 171.536 · View summit on OpenStreetMap
Routes and variants
2 source-linked entries · research checked 2026-10-05. The inventory remains incomplete.
Documented information and open research
Starting point: 2 of 2 · Difficulty with grading system: 0 of 2 · Elevation gain: 2 of 2 · Duration: 2 of 2 · Season: 2 of 2
0 historical entries. These counts describe published entries, not all possible routes. Current access is not established.
See route research coverage and priorities →Compare 2 routes
Grades retain their published rating system; different systems and historical grades are not equivalent. Elevation gain means climbing metres, not summit altitude. Missing figures are not estimated.
Scroll sideways to compare all columns. Select a route name for its details.
| Route | Activity / direction | Difficulty / system | Starting point | Elevation gain | Duration | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche Peak Track/Route | HikingAscent | Not documented | Behind Arthur’s Pass Visitor Centre | About 1,100 mDOC village-to-summit climb | 3–3½ hAscent: sum of DOC’s 1½ h and 1½–2 h sections; descent excluded | Source 1 ↗ |
| Scotts Track/Route | HikingAscent | Not documented | SH73, near Punchbowl car park | About 1,100 mDOC village-to-summit climb | 3–3½ hAscent: sum of DOC’s 1½ h and 1½–2 h sections; descent excluded | Source 1 ↗ |
Choose an activity to see its entries. Ascent, descent, approaches and historical climbing lines are labelled separately.
Hiking (2)
Avalanche Peak Track/RouteHiking · Ascent
- Activity
- Hiking
- Direction / role
- Ascent
- Starting point
- Behind Arthur’s Pass Visitor Centre
- Difficulty
- Not established from the checked source
- Elevation gain
- About 1,100 m · DOC village-to-summit climb
- Duration
- 3–3½ h · Ascent: sum of DOC’s 1½ h and 1½–2 h sections; descent excluded
- Season
- Summer/autumn · DOC; conditions dependent
- Current access
- Not checked for current use
DOC · Avalanche Peak tracks and routes · source checked 2026-10-05
The source establishes a route listing. Detailed navigation, current protection and conditions require the original reference.
Scotts Track/RouteHiking · Ascent
- Activity
- Hiking
- Direction / role
- Ascent
- Starting point
- SH73, near Punchbowl car park
- Difficulty
- Not established from the checked source
- Elevation gain
- About 1,100 m · DOC village-to-summit climb
- Duration
- 3–3½ h · Ascent: sum of DOC’s 1½ h and 1½–2 h sections; descent excluded
- Season
- Summer/autumn · DOC; conditions dependent
- Current access
- Not checked for current use
DOC · Avalanche Peak tracks and routes · source checked 2026-10-05
The source establishes a route listing. Detailed navigation, current protection and conditions require the original reference.
Route questions, answered
Specific planning questions, with the scope of each source kept visible.
Which Avalanche Peak route does DOC recommend for returning the same way?
DOC recommends Scotts Track/Route for an out-and-back because it is less steep than Avalanche Peak Track/Route. This is a relative comparison: the upper route remains exposed alpine terrain, and the recommendation does not establish suitable weather or snow conditions.
Does the Avalanche Peak 3–3½-hour estimate include the return?
No. It is the sum of DOC’s two ascent sections: 1½ hours below the bushline and 1½–2 hours above it. The descent is separate. Treat the section estimates as planning references rather than a guaranteed total tour time.
How long does the Avalanche Peak ascent and Scotts descent take?
Adding DOC’s published sections gives 3–3.5 hours up Avalanche Peak Track/Route and 2.5–3 hours down Scotts Route/Track: 5.5–6.5 hours of section estimates. This is an editorial calculation, excluding pauses and transfer between the different endpoints. DOC says the main highway is unsafe to walk on; arrange the return connection separately.
Do Avalanche Peak Track and Scotts Track start at the same place?
DOC places Avalanche Peak Track behind the Arthur’s Pass visitor centre and Scotts Track about 700 metres west, near the Punchbowl car park. The two approaches are distinct, although their upper routes meet near the summit. Keep the chosen ascent, descent and endpoint logistics together when planning.
Climbing Chronicle Redaktion · Sources checked · Source research; current route conditions are not confirmed.
Avalanche Peak route or Scotts route?
Compare gradients on two approaches to the same summit.
Scotts Track/Route
Less steep; DOC favours returning this way. Summit exposure remains.
Planning at a glance
Access and starting point
Starts on SH73 near Arthur’s Pass Visitor Centre and Punchbowl car park.
Difficulty and required experience
DOC requires back-country experience; steep drops and visibility matter. Winter needs alpine skills.
Season and restrictions
DOC favours summer/autumn; avalanches commonly occur May–November and sometimes outside that period.
Sources for current information
- DOC · Avalanche Peak tracks and routes
Arthur’s Pass access, route timings and hazards; consult DOC for latest track conditions.
Regional weather and warning resources
Selected by the recorded country. Check geographic coverage and elevation; these links do not confirm access or conditions on this summit.
- MetService · New Zealand warnings
National weather warnings; not a summit-specific route report
This page stores reference sources, not live conditions. Check the provider’s publication date and route coverage before use.
Research still needed
For Avalanche Peak, this atlas does not yet document first-ascent history. Missing first-ascent evidence does not mean a mountain is unclimbed.
Use the linked sources as starting points; summit coordinates do not describe a climbing route or public access.
Sources and coverage
Imported geographic data from Wikidata (CC0); not independently field-verified. Data snapshot: 30 September 2026. Elevations and boundaries can differ between sources. Mountain-range membership follows explicit Wikidata relationships or a coordinate match against published GMBA v2 standard polygons. GMBA: Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (2021), CC BY 4.0; methodology: Snethlage et al. (2022). Missing evidence remains open.
Explore the surrounding regions
Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana · Mountains in New Zealand
Editorial responsibility
Responsible publisher and editorial author: Climbing Chronicle Redaktion. AI-assisted source research; no on-site inspection or professional route approval is claimed.
- Route listing source check
- 2026-10-05 · partial inventory; current access remains open
- Planning source check
- 2026-10-05 · only the individually cited planning additions
- Earlier profile review
- Open · no complete editorial review recorded
- Imported context retrieved
- 2026-10-05 · automated retrieval, not an editorial review
How sources, authorship and review dates work
Further reading about Avalanche Peak
Links discovered through the Wikidata record. These articles have not been checked as evidence for route, difficulty or access claims.
Mountains nearby
Recorded mountains, ordered by straight-line distance. This does not describe a route or accessible connection.
1–2 of 2 recorded mountains within 25 km
- Mount Rolleston · 4.0 km
- Mount Murchison · 14.6 km