Aoraki means "Cloud Piercer" in the Ngā;i Tahu dialect of the Mā;ori language. Historically, the Mā;ori name has been spelt Aorangi in the "canonical" Mā;ori form.

While the mountain was known to Mā;ori centuries before, the first European known to see Aoraki/Mount Cook was Abel Tasman, on December 13, 1642 during his first Pacific voyage. The English name of Mount Cook was given to the mountain in 1851 by Captain John Lort Stokes to honour Captain James Cook who first surveyed and circumnavigated the islands of New Zealand in 1770. Captain Cook did not sight the mountain during his exploration.

Lake Ohau is a glacial lake in the Mackenzie Basin of New Zealand's South Island. It is fed by the Hopkins and Dobson rivers, which have their headwaters in the Southern Alps, and has its outflow in the Ohau River, which itself feeds into the Waitaki River hydroelectric project.

Ohau is the smallest of three roughly parallel lakes running north-south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin (the others are Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo). It covers 60 km².

The Ohau ski field is located close to the southwestern shore of the lake.

The lake forms part of the traditional boundary between Otago and Canterbury regions, Otago's northernmost point being the headwaters of the Hopkins River. Officially the lake lies in the northwestern part of the Waitaki District within the southern part of the Canterbury Region.

Aoraki/Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, reaching a height of 3,754 metres (12,316 ft). It lies in the Southern Alps, the mountain range which runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite challenge for mountain climbers. Aoraki/Mt Cook consists of three summits lying slightly south and east of the main divide, the Low Peak, Middle Peak and High Peak, with the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier to the west.