Mount Sparrman
mountain in Fiordland, New Zealand
Mount Sparrman is a 969-metre-elevation (3,179-foot) hill in Fiordland, 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.
Description
Mount Sparrman is a hill south of Cook Channel, which is part of Tamatea / Dusky Sound. This peak is located in Fiordland National Park 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 1,026 metres (3,366 ft). Topographic prominence is 128 metres (420 ft).
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 second voyage of James Cook. Three of the party's names are known: Anders Sparrman (1748–1820), Richard Pickersgill (1749–1779), and Joseph Gilbert (1732–1831). It is believed that the fourth person was an able seaman who may have acted as a porter.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Mount Sparrman” is mountain in Fiordland, New Zealand. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Mount, Sparrman and mountain, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “mountain in Fiordland, New Zealand” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q31644455. Authority coordinates are -45.803, 166.638. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1773, 1748, 1820 and 1749.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Mount Sparrman” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.