The peak's altitude of 3,033 metres (9,951 ft) makes it the country's highest outside the Aoraki / Mount Cook region.

[3] It was named Aspiring in December 1857 by the Chief Surveyor for the Otago Province, John Turnbull Thomson.

[5] Head's party climbed to the summit ridge by the west face from the Bonar Glacier, a route not repeated until 1965.

[6] The most used route to Mount Aspiring is up the West Matukituki Valley, which is at the end of a 50-kilometre road from Wānaka at Raspberry Flat.

Both require good route finding skills and knowledge of rock climbing techniques and glacial travel.