The Glacier Hike

Wednesday July 1st I went on a day trip from Bergen to Hardangerfjord and on to Folgefonna glacier for a guided hike across the ice. I had no idea what to expect, except that I was a bit nervous and unsure of what I was getting into.

Getting there was a long-winded exercise involving 2 buses and a 15 minute ferry. Arriving at the meeting point about 10:30, I suddenly find myself next to a ski lift and hundreds of Norwegian snowboarders (who, incidentally, have adopted what I understand might be the universal snowboarding look of extremely baggy clothing and pant waists at about mid-thigh) and a surreal landscape of distant fjord views and snow across the ski field. The hike guide, Osmond, introduces me to the rest of the crew and we get our first instruction in the gear - putting on harnesses and helmets, checking for proper footwear and gloves, and being handed various ropes and axes.

I had checked the website the previous evening and saw at the last minute that we should bring gloves, which I needed anyway for Nepal, and went to a couple sporting goods stores (no shortage of those in Norway!) to search them out...hard to find in summer, even in Norway. This is how I end up with The World's Most Expensive Pair of Gloves at 450KR (so, if you're following the conversions...about AU$90). These things purport to be waterproof, windproof, warm and have grips so...nothing's getting through these babies, which at $90 each it'd better be the case*

*you can be sure that I scanned the receipt and have taken photographs for insurance purposes.

Anyway we reach the glacier via a 'sledge' which Osmond assures us 'is not scary' which makes me think that maybe, if he's saying that, it actually is. Turns out, no, we're just sitting on a sled ("sledge") hooked by a rope to a ski lift that pulls us up the hill so we can walk to the glacier from there. It was a little wacky and quite fun!

The walk was 4 hours in total and we reached our amazing view over the lake fairly early on. Osmond told us a bit about the geological formations and behaviour of glaciers, which I admit I only half paid attention to because, as previously mentioned, I find geology only a little bit less interesting than Roman ruins (refer Ephesus, Turkey entry). The views, however, were breathtaking and I loved every minute of the tredging through snow and around boulders to get to the glacier. About 50 minutes into the walk we put crampons on and are instructed on how to use the ice axe - then tied together and down we go on the steep slope towards the crevices below.

It was about 2 hours all up on the ice, though we didn't have a chance to try our hand at climbing the ice properly. The blue ice was stunning, but evidently gets bluer as the snow continues to melt (and late July is the best time to see it). I felt completely secure and comfortable the whole time despite my unfamiliar equipment and surroundings. An unforgettable experience!

**Side note: I did, however, learn there's a reason that corporate motivational posters use ice climbing photos to promote TEAMWORK. The people in my group seemed to have a great deal of difficulty following simple, specific instructions such as "ensure the rope is always tight," "use your axe like this as we walk across this slope" and, importantly, "only step EXACTLY where the guide steps". In our group of 5, 3 of the people decided that it wasn't important to follow these instructions to the letter and naturally drove me around the bend as a consequence. This is how I end up firmly talking to a 14 year old Norwegian teenager who kept walking right up behind me (loosening the rope) and getting exasperated with the French/Israeli couple ahead of me who just decided to step in the same general area as the guide and not exactly in his tracks...which meant I couldn't see where to step and could well have ended up falling down a crevice in a glacier pulling the 14 yo Norwegian girl with me because she didn't keep the rope tight.

Seriously, people! There's no "I...will just do whatever I damn well feel like, bug*ger what the leader says" in team!