As part of our Wild Kiwi Southern Island Voyager tour, we were on a mission to get on a chopper and see some snow, which is when we found a Mount Cook helicopter for a snow landing!

To tell you the truth, our first choice was absolute a Glacier Heli Hike in Franz Josef, but unfortunately, we had terrible weather and this wasn’t possible. If this happens to you, Mount Cook is definitely a good alternative!

We were booked on the first flight for the day, and boy were we lucky! We had perfect weather, blue skies, light wind and plenty of snow on top of the peaks.

Mount Cook Helicopter with Snow Landing

If you’re going to see Mount Cook, what better way to do so than in a helicopter. There is a range of tours available with The Helicopter Line, but we chose the 40-minute snow landing option. It isn’t the cheapest activity they offer, at a price of $450 NZD per person (as at September 2017) but that seems to be the going rate for these sorts of activities anywhere. Head over to The Helicopter Line website for information and current pricing.

The views getting to our snow landing were spectacular!

The beauty of this experience is that you fly through the rugged face of the Tasman Glacier which is pretty impressive. The views appear to be never-ending as you stare out of your window at Mount Cook and the upper Tasman Glacier.

Did you know that the Tasman Glacier is the longest glacier in New Zealand?

Our pilot came in over the landing spot, did a quick loop before coming back to make our snow landing. We’ve been in many helicopters before, but there’s definitely something spectacular about a snow landing!

We jumped out of the helicopter and stepped onto the snow… knee deep in spots!

But, unfortunately there were other tourists waiting for their turn on the helicopter so it was time to head back. During the flight, our pilot pointed out an overnight cabin for hikers. It appeared to be in the middle of absolutely nowhere on the mountain!

I am not sure I could ever convince Jenna to do that hike, but if anyone is keen to join me- let me know! We then continued back via the Burnett Mountains and Mackenzie Basin. It really doesn’t matter which way you look, the views are stunning from above.

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“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller