Climbing The Ice Glacier!
Franz Josef, 1st December 2001.
 We were up early today to peer out of the window and check the
weather. If it was raining and we didn't want to do the Ice Glacier
climb then we could cancel it and get a refund if we phoned before
8:30am. Of course, it was raining. Heavily. We're on the West Coast
and it's rare to find a sunny day. The adverts for climbing Franz
Josef would have you believe it's always sunny here. But, after a
quick debate, we decided to do the glacier climb anyway. After all,
it's only rain, and being English we should be able to cope with
that! Also, there might not be a sunny day for weeks!
At about 9am, a rickety red bus with 'Franz Josef Climbs' scrawled
on the side pulled up. We all bundled on quickly, trying to stay
dry. Looking around the bus, quite a few people appeared to have
pulled out because of the weather. Phaw, softies. After a few
minutes of waiting, the bus trundled off down the road.
 On arrival at the Glacier Walk HQ, we all rushed in. We went around
and gathered all of our gear up, and dressed quickly. Along with the
standard clothes I decided to hire a thermal top (recommended) and
waterproof trousers (to prove essential).
After 20 minutes of scrambling around & trying to find the best
sizes, we were all ready. We were all dressed in heavy navy blue
rain jackets, waterproof trousers, woolly hats & gloves. We were
also all wearing old, well-worn, brown walking boots and carrying
small red & blue bags around over our shoulders, containing the
essential Ice Talonz. (Ice Talonz are crampon type things that you
wear on your boots so you can grip the ice). On the way out, we also
picked up a small, lightweight ice pick.
Striding through the door, I looked like a hunchback because, like a
few others, I decided to wear my waterproof over my backpack so I
could keep my stuff dry. Walking to the bus, I pulled my hood up &
zipped up my jacket to try and keep myself dry. We all boarded the
bus and after meeting the guides, who were all wearing bright red
raincoats we were off. Well, after the lady driving stalled the bus
twice, we were off.
We reached the car park at the top of the trail & bundled off into
the rain. Luckily, the waterproofs were top quality, so we all
remained dry, for now.....
 We walked down a marked path for a few minutes, then our guides took
us under the barrier onto a rocky area next to the river. We walked
over rocks & streams, slowly growing in size as we get further from
the marked track. At first, the streams we crossed were shallow,
then they got deeper but had stepping stones. Then we reached a
huge, deep river by a waterfall with no stepping stones.
Reluctantly, we all waded through the river with help from the
guides.
Less than 1 hour into the walk, and my boots were flooded like small
swimming pools. After getting through this river and because of the
huge spraying waterfall we were all soaked. But we loved it! It was
like an expedition through wild terrain. It was absolutely great!
 We walked along a narrow, rocky path next to the river and crossed
one more raging river before we stood at the foot of the glacier.
We divided into groups which depended on what speed we wanted to go
at. As we had the vitality of youth, we decided to join the 2nd
fastest, and then our group of 9 headed up a rocky trial that
steadily became icier. After a short ascent, we stopped to strap on
our Ice Talonz. These things proved to be essential on the ice.
Wearing them we slipped a little. Without them, we would have had no
grip at all, making climbing quite difficult.
 Some guides started really early in the day and had carved out huge
steps in the lower parts of the ice glacier. Convenient! Now heading
up the ice, we closely followed our guide who was armed with a huge
pick-axe, making our little axes look quite pathetic.
As we walked, our guide, a small but strong looking lady with a
beaming smile, hacked at the ice. Chiselling in small steps, carving
footholds and roughing up the surface to make it easier to grip the
ice.
We climbed steadily up. Sometimes flat, sometimes steep, always hard
& uneven. A problem was, is that the ice looks like snow so we
expected it to give as we stood on it, but it stood resolutely
making it hard work on the ankles & legs.
After an hour or two, we stopped and were given the one & only
chance to turn back if was proving too difficult. All but 5 of our
group turned back. Only the 4 of us & an Irish guy remained. And off
we headed, the others now with a guide who led them back to the
base.
We passed through some amazing terrain and walked up huge, bumpy ice
flats. Passing by beautiful blocks of pale, clean, blue ice, we then
entered huge ice caverns & wandered inside them. We squeezed through
thin crevices in the ice, just wide enough for us to stand in and
then crossed long, thin sections with deep crevices either side.
 We also crossed huge crevices with bridges over them. Well, if you
can call a single plank of wood or a plank of wood on a ladder a
bridge. When crossing these we took one step out, then grabbed hold
of the guide's wrist in order to cross it safely.
A good thing about the glacier walk is that we forgot about the rain
very quickly. Thanks to the waterproofs and the fact we had other
things to concentrate on (not slipping over, sore legs etc). The
time flew past and by the end we'd conquered a lot.
After about 6 hours on the ice, with 1 brief stop for lunch, we
managed to ascend the glacier to a good height, seen some amazing
views and descend it again.
When we got back to the hostel, there was a huge queue for the
showers and for the tumble-dryers, everyone was cold & soaked
through! After getting through the queues and after making ourselves
a much needed hot meal, we headed to bed, passing out almost
immediately
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