Introducing "1800m" a limited edition fine art print from the Cairns Crystalbrook Bailey Featured Artist Exhibition "HONEST" held in November 2024.
 
The climb to Muellers Hut on Mt Oliver (Aoraki / Mt Cooke New Zealand) was 9 months in the planning. Having visited three times previously in different seasons for some reason I had not heard of it. When I did, I made an immediate plan to get there in the winter season as this was the only season I had yet to visit New Zealand in.
To prepare for the trip I had to do some training back home in Cairns. Hiking with about 10-12 kg of overnight gear up Earl Hill, Glacier Rock, Stoney’s creek etc. All hikes here in the high 20’s so a completely different ball game to the below zero temperatures encountered in August 2024.
To say the hike was hard is an understatement. There are approximately two thousand steep steps on the beginning of the climb of 1000m to Muellers Hut. This gets you up to Sealy Tarns, a magnificent resting spot and lookout over Hooker Valley and the village of Mount Cook, far down below.
After Sealy Tarns it was time to strap on the crampons and get the ice axe out for the second half of the steep track, knee to thigh deep up through the snow.
The determination to keep going was palpable despite the terrain and the cold. The views are just spectacular and are a driver to keep going up higher and further.
This is quite possibly the most demanding photographic hike I have ever taken on. But at no point did I ever think or consider turning back.
Its certainly a hike to test one’s steel, especially with overnight gear and camera gear along with 3 days of food (if required due to poor weather and an extended stay).
At the top in the late afternoon, I arrived at the hut and settled in and rested for a while before venturing out mid evening to see how the skies were looking. I took this shot of the hut during a clear spell and had hoped to set the camera up overnight to take a timelapse. However high cloud was persistent, and I ended up taking a few single exposures instead. I will save the timelapse shot for next year…
 
Printed on luxurious 260gsm Satin Photo Paper using the professional CANON LUCIA PRO pigment inks which offer accurate colour reproduction and enhanced print longevity.
 
Prints can last approx. 200 years in the photo album, 80-years on display behind glass (light fastness) and 50-years without the glass (gas fastness). 
 
This exclusive piece by landscape photographer Steve Cooke embodies both elegance and authenticity. Each print is carefully delivered free worldwide in a protective cardboard tube, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, confirming its edition number as x of only 50 per limited edition.
 
Elevate your space with this exceptional artwork and own a piece of photographic history.