Ice Climbing at Fox Glacier

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So, deterred from snowboarding slightly by the lack of snow and pricey lift passes (they're getting a little cheaper as the Kiwi dollar slides but still, more expensive than Whistler for a resort with 2 lifts? what?) we decided to set about seeing some of the sights the south island of NZ had to offer. 

On the advice of Rob's Bro Tom, we decided that going on a glacier track was a must do activity, but on seeing that you could do more than trek - you could actually ice climb on them - our minds were made up.  After being helicoptered onto a glacier to snowboard down it in Alaska I thought a stroll around on one would be a bit tame, and besides, we'd have another sport to add to our tally for the trip (currently running circa 15 I think).  Nicky was far less sure that it was a good idea, but I think we were so enthusiastic we didn't leave her much choice, so she agreed to come along and try with us.

The day began with an early start turning up at the fox glacier guides office to be kitted out with all the required gear.  Ice climbing requires a substantial amount of kit, and after some sub standard gear had been provided elsewhere on the trip, we were glad to see some pretty new sets of mountaineering boots, crampons, ice axes, ice screws ropes and the like be rolled out by James and Gerard our guides for the day.  We also met Mick and Steve - two crazy Irishmen who joined us on the trip - we found out that their preparation was less than ideal as the beer in the single pub in in Fox glacier proved too enticing for them the previous night...

Walking into the glacier was a challenge for the hungover, but quite inspiring with the Terminus of the glacier and it's terminal moraine visible along the valley, with New Zealand's second highest peak looming behind it.  It took about 45 minutes of walking to reach the access point to the glacier and a little more time to strap on the crampons. Once fully kitted out we then had to learn to walk in the things - very tentatively at first but growing in confidence we were soon walking around and up gentle slopes using "French Technique" to traverse slopes and then trusting the huge spikes to hold us from slipping as we ascended and descended.

With the familiarization over, we got stuck into some climbing - Axes and all!!  We started with some relatively easy angles and but progressed to climbing cracks and overhangs (or trying to at least)  These more challenging faces meant a more technical type of climb - trying to place your axe and feet carefully to take advantage of natural cracks rather than just hammering it in with brute force.

We finished the day with almost a reverse climb, being lowered into a huge crevasse in the glacier and climbing out.  This was a pretty amazing experience and provided you with spectacular views whichever way you looked - straight down was a sea of jagged ice which looked like it could tear you to pieces with one false move, to your right was a wall of deep blue ice which seemed to extend for ever (it was about 10km thick I suppose) and then to your left was an amazing view down the glacier valley.

The day was made by having a great group and great guides - we would highly reccommend fox glacier guides (www.foxguides.co.nz) for providing a really professional experience in a small group, as well as a day where you can get hands on with a new sport really quickly.We've sampled a fair few guided days and courses on the trip and these guys were among the best. For someone who was very sceptical, Nicky was soon in her element and proved to be a natural - she left the glacier desperate to go for another day - that may have to wait a while i guess as I don't think there are too many opportunities on the Gold coast of Oz!!

I was definitely hooked on this too - I guess that means another excuse to buy expensive kit and travel to cold places around the world, but if you're headed that way to snowboard anyway... The other thing this did was to dredge up stuff from A Level Geography - seeing Seracs, moraines bergrstroms and other glacier anatomy up close first hand was great. I think i might email my old school and suggest a filed trip to NZ... (or maybe not) If you're interested you can find out more about glacier anatomy here http://www.asf.alaska .edu/educational/glacier _power/anatomy/anatomy _begin.html
or as ever on Wilkpedia here
http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Glacier

Bye for now, until the next new sport, R.