Mount Castor is a mountain in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Description

Mount Castor is located 1.5 kilometre northeast of

Mount Pollux Mount Pollux is a mountain in New Zealand. Description Mount Pollux is located 1.5 kilometre southwest of Mount Castor on the crest or Main Divide of the Southern Alps. The summit is set on the boundary shared by the Otago and West Coast Regi ...

on the crest or Main Divide of the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) are a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand, New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The n ...

. The summit is set on the boundary shared by the

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

and

West Coast Region The West Coast () is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island. It is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller Distri ...

s of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. It is also within

Mount Aspiring National Park Mount Aspiring National Park is in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, north of Fiordland National Park, situated in Otago and Westland regions. The park forms part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. History Moun ...

which is part of the

Te Wahipounamu Te Wāhipounamu ( Māori for "the place of greenstone") is a World Heritage Site in the south west corner of the South Island of New Zealand. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990 and covering , the site incorporates four national par ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains southeast to the North Branch

Wilkin River The Wilkin River is a river in the Otago region of New Zealand, flowing into Lake Wānaka. Makarora is a natural conserved place. It has a wide variety of natural features, from iced mountains to rivers and pristine rainforest. Local tourism off ...

and northwest to the

Drake River The Drake River is a river of New Zealand. It is located in southern Westland, and flows entirely within the Mount Aspiring National Park. The river follows a southerly course for seven kilometres before turning northeast to flow another five k ...

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises above Lucidus Lake in less than two kilometres. The nearest higher neighbour is Mount Pollux, 1.5 kilometre to the southwest. Mount Castor and Mount Pollux were named by

Charlie Douglas Charles Edward Douglas (1 July 1840 – 23 May 1916) was a New Zealand surveyor and explorer, who came to be known as Mr. Explorer Douglas, owing to his extensive explorations of the West Coast Region, West Coast of New Zealand and his work for ...

after the

twin peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

in the Swiss Alps, which in turn were named after

Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of ...

of Greek mythology.

Climate

Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Mount Castor is located in a

marine west coast An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

climate zone, with a

subpolar oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

(Cfc) at the summit. Prevailing westerly winds blow moist air from the Tasman Sea onto the mountain, where the air is forced upwards by the mountains (

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

), causing moisture to drop in the form of rain and snow. This climate supports the Pickelhaube and unnamed glaciers on the mountain's slopes. The months of December through February offer the most favourable weather for viewing or climbing this peak.''The Best Time to Visit the South Island''
nzpocketguide.com, Retrieved 8 February 2025.

Climbing

Climbing routes with first ascents:''Mt Castor''
New Zealand Alpine Club, Climbnz.org, Retrieved 8 February 2025. * Pickelhaube Glacier via Chasm Pass – C.C. Benzoni, R.R. Edwards, G.L. Edwards, L.W. Divers, D.C. Peters – (1937) * East Ridge – Ian Baine, Graham McCallum – (1963) * South East Face – Margaret Fyfe, Graham McCallum – (1975) * Pickelhaube Glacier via Drake River – Matt Warwick, Geoff Spearpoint – (1979)

Description

Climate

Climbing

See also

References

External links