In 1882, Ulrich Kaufmann, a Swiss guide, attempted the first ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook with Emil Boss and the Reverend Green. This was New Zealand’s first professionally guided climb.

In 1894, the impending arrival of another Swiss guide, Mathias Zurbriggen, prompted a successful ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook by Tom Fyfe, Jack Clarke, and George Graham. Along with Peter and Alex Graham who were based at Franz Josef, they went on to found a New Zealand guiding tradition that adapted to our unique mountain environment.

During the decades before and after World War II, the guiding profession worked almost entirely in the Mt Cook area. The guides taught many mountaineers, one being Edmund Hillary. However, by the 1960s, guiding was almost at a standstill. A mountaineering school at Mt Cook brought new life to the profession and, in the 1970s, companies established in Wanaka and Fox Glacier.

The New Zealand Mountain Guides Association (NZMGA) formed in 1974 to establish a quality training programme. In 1981, we became just the eighth member of the International Union of Mountain Guides Associations (UIAGM), alternatively known as the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA). IFMGA membership recognises the ability of qualified New Zealand guides to work anywhere in the world.

Many New Zealand guides work overseas, including Alaska, Canada, Europe, Antarctica, and Nepal. We have guided many of the great peaks of the world from Denali to Everest.