On 23 November 2013, a team of four alpinists including geographers and surveyors climbed to the top of Aoraki/Mt Cook to capture GPS points to be used towards a new estimation of the elevation of this iconic mountain. This achievement was the culmination of a project that took advantage of a new photogrammetric model created initially to characterise the demise of Haupapa/Tasman Glacier. At this time the elevation of Aoraki/Mt Cook was known to be 3,754m amsl, 10m less than the original elevation of 3,764m amsl calculated in 1881 via traditional resection by surveyor G. J. Roberts (1848-1910) of the Westland Survey. The 10m reduction in elevation was estimated subsequently to the massive rock avalanche that affected the summit on 14 December 1991. However, the new model indicated an elevation of 3,724m amsl, 30m less than the official elevation. Despite the expected reliability of the model, the large magnitude of the discrepancy and the importance of this national landmark justified the need for a validation of this result via GPS technology. Nevertheless, the cultural importance of Aoraki/Mt Cook to Ngāi Tahu, recognised by the tapu (sacred) status of the mountain, required that climbers stay away from the summit. In this context, photogrammetry became crucial to estimate the new height while the GPS points close to the summit provided unquestionable validation of the reliability of the model. In addition to this approach, an independent survey was also conducted that involved a traditional trigonometric resection. In this context, GIS and geovisualisation technologies proved to be valuable tools for the preparation and planning of the survey. This paper presents the contribution of photogrammetry, GIS, and geovisualisation to this successful survey.