The Franz Josef Glacier ice climb was amazing! When we first arrived we fearded it would be too easy and that we would not get to see much of the glacier, as from a distance, on the ground, it doesn't look that impressive. It also looks a lot smaller and closer than it is. I thought the walk would be about 300 metres to the base, but in fact it was over 2 kilometres! Apparently 40 metres of snow lands on the top of the glacier each year, and this gets pushed down to form the glacier, so the glacier is ever changing, as the front snow/ice gradually melts. There are only 3 glaciers that shift like this in the world. Two are in NZ and the other is in Argentina.
As part of the trip we were given boots, socks, coats, waterproof trousers, etc, so we formed an army of 26 blue coated explorers! They then split us into 2 groups according to speed, so we went in the fast group. We then spent 2 hours on the ice, climbing up the glacier, (we were also given crampons which we attatched to our boots) exploring some of the many crevases, then climbing back down again. The sun was so warm that we both got a little sunburnt, and were quite warm in all the layers they had told us to put on. The guides had carved out steps to help us in the climb up and down, and the crampons were great for gripping the ice. They carve all the steps by hand, using a pick axe - see the picture of Graham having a go! Some of the passageways we walked through were so narrow, but it was fantastic to be enclosed in ice like this.
We just did the half day tour, due to time and money, but it was such an amazing experience that I would definately recommend. It cost us about 50.00GBP each for the 4 and a half hour tour with 2 hours on the ice and all equipment included.
The actual town of Franz Josef looked like it had been built purely to accommodate the tourism that the glacier generates. There were just a couple of streets filled with hotels, campsites, tour offices and cafes, but it was quite a pretty place. As we drove out later that afternoon, we passed through the town of Fox, which is located about 15k away, at the foot of the Fox glacier, and this town looked exactly the same as Franz Josef. So, on the road again.....
Maggie x