Unfortunatly the amazing weather from our drive the day before doesn't last and we wake up on the morning of our tour to grey skies, drizzle and a biting wind. I suspect, and half hope, everything might be canceled but the ski lodge style shop and cafe, home to 'Fox Glacier Guides' is busy with people trying on crampons, booking trips and eating big breakfasts. Our group of eight are kitted up with water-proof trousers, jackets and rucksacks, walking boots, wooly socks and gloves before being fitted for crampons, which look like medieval torture instruments or possum traps.
Our guide, Zarah, has a PHD in geology and on the 30 minute walk up the river valley she points out where the glacier face has been in the past having advanced or retreated depending on the amount of snowfall at the neve (the top of the glacier) and the amount of melt at the terminal (the bottom of the glacier). We walk through several 'no stopping rock-fall zones' where the sides of the valley are being eroded by the huge amount of rainfall in the area.
Once we've crossed the barrier warning people against going on the glacier without our guide we stop to put on our crampons. It feels very weird walking with them, like having claws. All over the ice are litrle red dots, guides who are using ice axes to make paths and steps for us
The first feature Zarah shows us are 'moulins' - holes formed by water. Some are tiny whilst others are big enough to fit through. Whilst we go on by one along a narrow path to look down a huge moulin we take it in turns to pose with Zarah's ice axe.
Next we make our way up to the 'seracs', verical blocks of ice seperated by crevasses. We can't go further than this without taking the ice climbing course, but it would eventually lead to the neve. While we're havinga not very relaxing lunch (I eat standing up and jiggling around to keep warm) there is a loud crunching and crashing sound as we all duck and look around, terrified, Zarah cries 'oooh ice fall!'. Then, as I'm imagining being crushed by tonnes of ice, the ground shifts... and nothing happens. Zarah explains that the glacier is moving under its own weight, which is pretty much the definition of a glacier - slow moving compacted snow - but it doesn't always move gradually, sometimes it just shifts. Zarah has been working on the glacicer for four years and that was the third time she felt it move - lucky us! This explains why Zarah says things like "I'm just going to look and see if I can find anything interesting over here". I had thought that, because she goes on the glacier every day, she would know where all the good stuff was. But the glacier changes dramatically everyday, so much so that moulins appear and disappear and the steps and paths have to be carved everyday.
After lunch we explore the cravasses above us, but we can't go to far into them because of the ice fall. Back down at the 'terminal' we get to go through a small moulin which has formed a tunnel. Its very small and very cold. Lastly we go up and down a network of valleys with beautiful deep blue, stripy sides formed by compacted layers of sofy, fluffy and wet, sleety snow.
I am freezing, soaking and starving when we get back to Fox township. We have a total of three places to choose from for a second lunch. After a huge meal and a chance to warm up in a cozy cafe we decide to splash out and sleep inside a hostel tonight. The hostel has a sauna, a hot tub, tv room and fire but before I can take advantage of any of them I fall fast asleep.
Our guide, Zarah, has a PHD in geology and on the 30 minute walk up the river valley she points out where the glacier face has been in the past having advanced or retreated depending on the amount of snowfall at the neve (the top of the glacier) and the amount of melt at the terminal (the bottom of the glacier). We walk through several 'no stopping rock-fall zones' where the sides of the valley are being eroded by the huge amount of rainfall in the area.
Once we've crossed the barrier warning people against going on the glacier without our guide we stop to put on our crampons. It feels very weird walking with them, like having claws. All over the ice are litrle red dots, guides who are using ice axes to make paths and steps for us
The first feature Zarah shows us are 'moulins' - holes formed by water. Some are tiny whilst others are big enough to fit through. Whilst we go on by one along a narrow path to look down a huge moulin we take it in turns to pose with Zarah's ice axe.
Next we make our way up to the 'seracs', verical blocks of ice seperated by crevasses. We can't go further than this without taking the ice climbing course, but it would eventually lead to the neve. While we're havinga not very relaxing lunch (I eat standing up and jiggling around to keep warm) there is a loud crunching and crashing sound as we all duck and look around, terrified, Zarah cries 'oooh ice fall!'. Then, as I'm imagining being crushed by tonnes of ice, the ground shifts... and nothing happens. Zarah explains that the glacier is moving under its own weight, which is pretty much the definition of a glacier - slow moving compacted snow - but it doesn't always move gradually, sometimes it just shifts. Zarah has been working on the glacicer for four years and that was the third time she felt it move - lucky us! This explains why Zarah says things like "I'm just going to look and see if I can find anything interesting over here". I had thought that, because she goes on the glacier every day, she would know where all the good stuff was. But the glacier changes dramatically everyday, so much so that moulins appear and disappear and the steps and paths have to be carved everyday.
After lunch we explore the cravasses above us, but we can't go to far into them because of the ice fall. Back down at the 'terminal' we get to go through a small moulin which has formed a tunnel. Its very small and very cold. Lastly we go up and down a network of valleys with beautiful deep blue, stripy sides formed by compacted layers of sofy, fluffy and wet, sleety snow.
I am freezing, soaking and starving when we get back to Fox township. We have a total of three places to choose from for a second lunch. After a huge meal and a chance to warm up in a cozy cafe we decide to splash out and sleep inside a hostel tonight. The hostel has a sauna, a hot tub, tv room and fire but before I can take advantage of any of them I fall fast asleep.
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