THE BIG ADVENTURE: Franz-Josef Glacier

This was the one activity I was so very looking forward to in New Zealand. It seemed everyone was talking about climbing this glacier (after they’d raved about their most recent skydive or bungy jump). Even the girl trying to sell me travel insurance before we left England used this as the reason I needed to buy the super-duper expensive option. Apparently, I WAS going to climb this glacier and if I didn’t get the super-duper expensive travel insurance, I wouldn’t be covered if I broke a leg while there. So, we just had to do it, even if I ended up with a broken leg. I’d paid for the extra insurance after all. We parted with our money only slightly grudgingly as we both agreed that this activity probably was worth it.

The glacier was named in 1865 after the Austrian Emporer Franz Josef I by a German explorer named Haast who proceeded to name all sorts of things after himself: there's a town called Haast, a river, trees... you name it, it's got Haast all over it.

We arrived at the visitor center to be kitted out with every piece of warm clothing under the sun including waterproof over-trousers, some serious hiking boots and crampons for use on the ice. Exiting. As we approached the glacier, the guide explained that the ground we covered during the 45 minute walk to get to it was once underneath the glacier itself. This is a moving glacier: it both advances and retreats depending on the snowfall feeding the neve at the top and also the amount of meltwater at the bottom.

The 'mouth'. The fact that there is meltwater running

from it means this is a 'wet glacier'

Apparently, in 2008, it was about 30-40m taller at the point we ended up standing on. I couldn't believe it so I asked the guide whether geologists believed it would still be around in 100 years or whether it would have melted away completely. He said that there's a lot of debate about it and glaciologists can't really agree: it can recede or advance so much in any one year that they're just not sure. Currently though it's one of the only glaciers in New Zealand that's still growing due to heavy snowfall since 2007.

This glacier is 12km long at the moment and at the top there's a snowfield, 20km squared, which feeds it. In parts, it can move up to 8m a day! At times the whole glacier has advanced at about 70cm a day which is mega-movement by glacial standards, about 10 times that of typical glaciers.

Crampons: to wear for grip on the ice.

The trek up the side of the ice was short thank goodness as it was very steep. The guide demonstrated how to put on our crampons and we were off. Climbing over the bright, blue ice dodging holes filled with icy water. It was a great feeling. We felt like explorers...

Climbing it was like being in a real-life geography lesson. Everything I'd ever learned about glaciers came flooding back to me and I began to worry about movement underfoot and the whole thing sliding down the valley encasing me in ice forever.

I had been excited to see the pictures of people on the leaflets who were climbing through ice caves and through crevices and asked the guide whether we'd be doing anything similar. In short, he said no, as he hadn't seen any up there lately. I became quite huffy about this and asked why the (expensive) trek is advertised in such a way if it's a rarity when people climb through adventurous caves - you can imagine me going on, I wanted my money's worth!

Well. When we'd been up on the glacier for around half an hour, the guides went off around an ice mountain. They began picking their way through ice with their axes in order to find the opening of an ice hole for us to climb through. When it was my turn, the guide turned to me and said, "Well, I found you one". I felt very guilty for my mood swing and thanked him profusely. What fun! We tried not to think about it collapsing on top of us leaving us buried underneath for all eternity until scientists dug us up 10000 years later.