Mt Earnslaw Pikirakatahi East Pk

No mountain view could be more majestic and tantalising than that of the Earnslaw massif on a clear day, as one rounds the Bennett’s Bluff on the Queenstown to Glenorchy Road. The Earnslaw massif features the twin peaks of Mount Earnslaw, the second and third highest peaks of Otago. Mt Earnslaw consists of two major peaks, the East Peak and the West Peak. The massif can be approached from either the Rees Valley via Kea Basin, or from the Dart, via the Bedford Valley.
The East Peak was first climbed by guide Harry Birley alone on 16 March 1890. The first traverse from the East Peak to the West Peak was by Scott Gilkison and A. Jackson on the 11th January 1933.