Pourangahau / Mount Robert is a 1,421m high mountain in the Nelson area of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. It is within the Nelson Lakes National Park. For many years Mt Robert formed part of landowner and politician John Kerr of Nelson's Lake Station, but was returned to the crown in the years following his death in 1898. The partially unsealed Mt Robert Road, just west of the town of Saint Arnaud leads to a car park that is the start of tramping tracks into the Nelson Lakes National Park, and also a 5-hour loop walk up the mountain: The Pinchgut Track zigzags steeply up to near the top of Mt Robert, then continues along a ridge to Bushline Hut, before descending via the more gentle Paddy's Track. The track offers view over Lake Rotoiti and St Arnaud. The treeline on the northeastern slopes of Mt Robert is unusually low due to erosion following the loss of the original beech forest by fire in 1887 and subsequent grazing. Mature beech forest remains on the western and southern sides of the mountain. On its northern side is an abandoned

skifield A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

. In 2005 the rope tows were removed and shifted to the nearby

Rainbow Ski Area Rainbow Ski Area is a ski resort in New Zealand's South Island. Located close to Saint Arnaud, the ski field is just across the regional boundary in Marlborough District Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), c ...

. A lack of snow was cited as one of the reasons for removing the tows. At times a helicopter shuttle was used for access to the skifield. In August 2014, the official name for Mount Robert was altered to Pourangahau / Mount Robert, following the Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the Crown.

References

{{Tasman District Robert Robert Nelson Lakes National Park