Heli-hiking on the Tasman Glacier

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

The Tasman Glacier fills the valley east of Aoraki for about 27 kilometres, longer than any other glacier in New Zealand. On a heli-hike a helicopter lifts you to a remote part of the ice, where a guide leads you around for about two hours before the flight back. The whole outing takes around three hours, including the safety briefing and fitting boots and crampons.

The Glentanner tour on this page goes somewhere else entirely, to a high-country station at Glentanner with views over Lake Pukaki, and suits people who want a walk with a short flight rather than ice underfoot.

What happens on the ice

After landing, the guide fits crampons and sets off across the glacier, cutting steps where the surface gets steep. You walk in a line behind the guide. Several reviewers walked through recently formed ice caves, but the glacier changes all the time, the guide decides on the day where the group goes, and no tour promises caves. One guest wrote that what she loved most was hearing the ice crack and groan in the silence.

The 3-hour tour by Mt Cook Glacier Guiding, with up to two hours on the ice, starts at 08:45 or 10:45. Leather boots, wool socks, crampons, a walking pole and a waterproof jacket are part of the package, and you bring warm clothes, sunglasses and a hat. Food and drinks are not included.

The Helicopter Line runs a similar tour with pickup from accommodation in Mount Cook Village. You need to allow at least 45 minutes after check-in for the briefing and gear, then fly over the Tasman Lake to the landing site, about 1,200 metres above sea level according to the operator. The return flight passes close to the Hochstetter Icefall.

Pace and fitness

The word hike oversells it a little. Reviews of the 3-hour tour describe a slow loop of roughly 3 kilometres, with most of the time spent taking photos, and one guest said the whole outing finished after a little more than two hours. On the Helicopter Line tour one reviewer wished for a harder, faster walk, and another felt processed as part of a crowd. If you are a strong walker hoping for a workout, this is the wrong product. If you are unsure about your legs, it is reassuring.

The limits are clear on the tour pages. One glacier tour does not take children under 9, the other starts at 10, and the Helicopter Line version asks for moderate fitness and hiking ability, sets a weight limit of 150 kg and is not recommended during pregnancy. The 3-hour tour is not suitable for people with mobility impairments.

A shrinking glacier

The lake you fly over on the way up is young. The Tasman Lake did not exist until 1974 and grows quickly as the glacier melts. NASA reported in 2008 that NIWA scientists had measured a retreat of 5 kilometres over the previous three decades. In summer, icebergs float on the lake; in winter it freezes over.

You can see the lower glacier and the lake without flying. The Tasman Glacier View Track starts at the Tasman Valley car park, about 10 minutes’ drive from the village, and climbs more than 300 steps to a viewpoint in 30 to 40 minutes return. Our page on the Tasman Glacier covers the walks in the valley.

Glentanner Station on foot

The Glentanner High Country Heli Hike uses the family-owned Glentanner Station near Glentanner Park, 20 minutes’ drive from the village. Guests check in at the Glentanner Holiday Park reception 30 minutes before departure. An 8-minute helicopter flight drops you on station land, and a guide walks the group down a well-kept 4x4 track of about 7 kilometres, with views over the lake and the Tasman delta and a stop at a restored historic field station with a small exhibition. The tour takes about 3.5 hours, or 4 with check-in.

Groups have up to 15 guests. Poles, sunscreen, insect repellent, tea, coffee and snacks are supplied, but you need proper walking shoes and clothes of your own. The operator says most healthy people with everyday fitness enjoy it, and advises against it for people with spinal injuries or a weak heart.

A glacier landing without the walk

If two hours on the ice is more than you want, several scenic flights land on the upper Tasman Glacier for 10 to 15 minutes. The ski plane sets down on the wide upper glacier, the combination flight lets you go up by ski plane or helicopter and come back in the other, and the 40-minute helicopter flights follow the full length of the ice before landing on snow. Our page on scenic flights compares them all.

Weather, season and booking

Heli-hikes run all year, and the reviews come from every month. What stops them is weather: Mount Cook Village gets more than 4,000 mm of rain a year and about 14 rain days in each month, and low cloud grounds the helicopters. Most one-star reviews of the Helicopter Line tour are about flights cancelled shortly before departure. The operators offer another slot or a refund when they cancel, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

A booking early in your stay leaves room to move. In winter, the morning slot is the better bet for light: on 21 June the sun rises at 08:14 in the village and sets at 17:09. On snow and ice, UV is strong all year. One guest in June 2026 reported a fuel surcharge collected on the day, so read the booking conditions carefully.