Franz Josef Glacier -
Franz is a smallish town. It's fame? The Glacier! Wow, what a great day. I loved glacier climbing. I was hesitant at first, but once on the ice...that was gone! Great fun at Franz Josef Glacier. The company supplies hob-nail boots and a bag to carry them. There are no roads directly to the glacier. You have to walk! It's a fairly long hike, I forget the actual distance.
The Glacier from several miles away. The glaciers of New Zealand are some of the only glaciers notin retreat. They are actually on the move forward! I forget howfast, but they are rolling along pretty well. Towards the camera in this shot.
The face of the
glacier. It's dirty from the fall rains. I'm still half a mile away at this
point! This thing is HUGE. The face is 40 feet tall
.
This is the base on the glacier. The ladder and ropes are for the beginningof the climb. The ropes are put up as we go along.
The entrance point to the climb of the face. It's ~45feet. You can just make out the rope line. It's to the right of the ladder.
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Halfway, you can just make out the top. As you can see the climb is free style. No ropes. Gets kinda tricky. The hob nail boots work great. A pick-axe was used to makes steps, when necessary.
The view from the
top. The Guides back was used for scale! Yes, this canyon was dug
outby the glacier. It
retreated to where it is now.However, it's assumed that it will fill this valley>again in the next 200 years. The
car park wasat the
other end of the valley. A good walk,probably 5Km.
One of the many waterfalls. Simply beautiful. The water was freezing!
.
The whole of Franz Josef Glacier. Quite a sight. The climb goes to the top, well, just short of top. It's anall day event. Well worth it. I had a great time.They have the lazy person special too - a helicopter ride to the top. Borrrrring! Okay not really. That would be a lot of fun. Not too pricey either.
