Mount Sparrman is a hill in

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

, New Zealand. The hill is notable as the first peak in New Zealand climbed by Europeans; this happened in 1773 as part of the

second voyage of James Cook The second voyage of James Cook, from 1772 to 1775, commissioned by the British government with advice from the Royal Society, was designed to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible to finally determine whether there was any great s ...

Description

Mount Sparrman is a hill south of Cook Channel, which is part of

Tamatea / Dusky Sound Tamatea / Dusky Sound is a fiord on the southwest corner of New Zealand, in Fiordland National Park. Geography One of the most complex of the many fiords on this coast, it is also the largest at 40 kilometres in length and eight kilometres wi ...

. This peak is located in

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...

and Te Wahipounamu. Precipitation runoff from the hill drains north-west to Tamatea / Dusky Sound and south-east to a lake that eventually flows into Taiari / Chalky Inlet via Lumaluma Creek. The Mount Sparrman–South Peak is an informal name for a nearby hill at an elevation of .

Topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

is .

First ascent

The hill is notable as the first peak in New Zealand climbed by Europeans – it was scaled on 23 April 1773 by a party of four who belonged to the

. Three of the party's names are known:

Anders Sparrman Anders Sparrman (27 February 1748 – 9 August 1820) was a Swedish naturalist, abolitionist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography left, Miniature of Sparrman at the time of his travels with James Cook. By unknown artist. Born in Tensta ...

(1748–1820), Richard Pickersgill (1749–1779), and Joseph Gilbert (1732–1831). It is believed that the fourth person was an

able seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

who may have acted as a porter.

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German geography, geographer, natural history, naturalist, ethnology, ethnologist, travel literature, travel writer, journalist and revol ...

and his father

Johann Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Graciou ...

were supposed to be part of the trip, but they were both sick that day. The '' Resolution'' had already been in Tamatea / Dusky Sound for five weeks before the ascent.

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

had decided to give his crew a rest period. They anchored in what they called Cascade Cove based on "a large magnificent waterfall", and that waterfall was later painted by William Hodges. The route chosen to Mount Sparrman was beside this waterfall. When the party reached the top, which was above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

, they set fire to the dry grass to signify the occasion. For many years, it had been believed that the first significant European climb of a New Zealand mountain was John Bidwill's ascent of

Mount Ngauruhoe Mount Ngauruhoe () is a volcanic cone in New Zealand. It is the youngest vent in the Mount Tongariro, Tongariro stratovolcano complex on the Central Plateau, New Zealand, Central Plateau of the North Island and first erupted about 2,500 y ...

in 1839, but the degree of difficulty between Mount Sparrman and Mount Ngauruhoe is similar. The mountain's toponym honours Sparrman (1748–1820), who was a scientist on the ''Resolution''.

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 Sparrman is located in a marine west coast climate zone (Cfb). Prevailing westerly winds blow moist air from the Tasman Sea onto the mountains, 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. 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 19 January 2025.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparrman, Mount Mountains of Fiordland Fiordland National Park