Historic Hooker Hut
Management
Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, Aoraki/Mt Cook Area Office, Canterbury Conservancy, Department of Conservation.
Fabric
The hut is situated beside the Hooker Glacier some 16m from the moraine wall. The building is timber framed, with corrugated iron clad walls and roof. The floor is tongue and groove. The hut has two rooms, two entrances and an internal door between the two rooms.
As with most other structures in this park this hut occupies an outstanding site, just below the Hooker Glacier.
Turn of the century climbers outside the
Historic Hooker Hut
History
Hooker Hut was built to a plan by Mt Cook chief guide Peter Graham, and guides Jim Murphy and Darby Thompson. Its purpose was to provide a base for climbing in the area by providing shelter for parties crossing the divide or making trips to the upper reaches of the Hooker Glacier. First a track had to be completed so building materials could be carried seven miles up the Hooker Valley by packhorse. In the winter of 1910 an avalanche blocked the track and for the last two miles materials had to be carried by Peter Graham and his team. In 1948, when the hut was partly rebuilt, the materials were dropped onto the site by aeroplane. As a result of glacial retreat the moraine on which the hut was sited has progressively collapsed, threatening the hut. In 1963 it was moved back 40m onto new foundations, and it was shifted again in 1994.
Fabric significance
Hooker is the oldest surviving hut in Mount Cook National Park. Although altered and shifted twice, these changes can be viewed as part of the evolution of hut management and use. This hut complements two other similar but unaltered huts in neighbouring Westland National Park.
Historic significance
From its original site the hut was visible from The Hermitage and was considered a landmark. The hut has sheltered climbers and trampers for nearly 90 years and is the oldest purpose built hut in the Mt Cook National Park. It is the "home" of a famous alpine ghost, as recounted by Peter Graham (in Peter Graham: Mountain Guide) and others.
A booklet is provided on site detailing the history of the Hooker hut.
Future management
The hut in its current location is difficult to reach, because of collapsing morraine walls. The Aoraki Mt Cook National Park Management Plan outlines proposals to move Hooker Hut to a site further down the valley.
It will be maintained at this site to protect its historic fabric and minimise deterioration, as per the conservation plan prepared by C. Cochran, 1988.
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