Franz Josef

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The drive from Hokitika (Blog: Hokitika Gorge) to the small township of Franz Josef became more and more spectacularly scenic the closer we got, passing more blue glacial ice melt rivers and increasingly high mountains. Sadly, however, the cloud was also closing in. We arrived at Franz Josef mid-afternoon to find it submerged in a grey, drizzly haze. Not much chance of seeing the snow-capped mountains today. Nonetheless, after checking in, we headed out to see what we could see, driving past the entry road to Franz Josef glacier to Fox and seeing nowt! We were on our way to Lake Matheson, where you are supposed to get great views of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman. Of course, they were also veiled by cloud. No matter, we had a few days more chances to catch a glimpse.

It would be easy to think that Franz Josef and Fox are the only glaciers in this region, but there are plenty more on the Southern Alps (as this mountainous spine of South Island is known). It's just that the rest that are accessible are fairly ugly! Franz and Fox have their fair share of landslide and ground rock intermingled in/on the ice, but apparently that's
Terminal face of Franz Josef
nothing compared to the exceptionally dirty looking Tasman glacier...hopefully we'll get to see that first hand when we get to Aoraki / Mt. Cook National Park later on in our travels.

Franz Josef or Fox?
So, then it was the great glacier debate...to do a day's climb up Franz Josef or Fox? Fox is cheaper as it is less popular, so you get smaller groups and you also get more time on the ice (as the walk to the terminal face of the glacier is shorter). However, I'd already decided I wanted to climb Franz Josef and the numerous stunning photos of the glaciers all seemed to be of Franz, not Fox. In hindsight, it probably makes no difference which you choose. The glaciers and the experience you will get on them are forever changing - Franz Josef is the fastest moving and steepest commercially guided glacier in the world (did that sound like a quote from somewhere?!?). So long as I saw plenty of blue ice, crevices and caves, I was happy.

The weather was going to turn for the worst during our stay, as is typical of the west coast which spends about two-thirds of the year being rained on (all that hot air from Oz). We were in the fortunate position of having 3 nights here though, so knowing this we deferred our glacier climb until our last day, when the weather was meant to be much better. This proved to be an inspired move!

Climbing Franz Josef
We woke up to clear blue skies. Later, the guide went so far as to say we had such a good day for it, it made it into his top 5 climbing weather chart. Although we did find out that he'd only been guiding for 3 months. Anyway, after signing our lives away we (eventually) got kitted out with gloves, hats, walking boots and socks, crampons, water proof overtrousers and coat. We all looked fantastic! At least we would have done if we'd worn it all. It was a warm day and even once you got on the ice, it was suprisingly not that cold. Yes, these are glaciers (which are surely only meant to be in very cold places...aren't they?!), but the region is temperate rainforest. Indeed, this is what makes the glaciers in New Zealand quite unusual. I can explain to you how they come to be etc. another time if you really want to know..can give you chapter and verse on it.

The key thing I want to point out here, before we even get to the climb, is how vital it is to pick boots that fit you as well as possible. The tour people failed to ensure this was the case. Despite arriving 5 minutes early, we were still last to 'check in' which meant we were rushed through after waiting ages at the back of a queue for the walking gear. Be warned, whatever shoe size you think you are take off two sizes! I could tell as soon as I got piled on to the bus I'd have blisters before the day was out - boy, these boots were uncomfortable.

We soon arrived at the car park for Franz Josef, which is a good 40 minute walk up a 'secret track' to the terminal face of the glacier. By now I had already altered my walking style to try and delay the onset of blisters. All this was soon forgotten however as at last we got to see the glacier and mountain tops - it had lifted its veil of cloud! We were soon putting on our spikes in readiness for walking on the ice.

I must point out here, as you stand in front of the glacier, its size appears strangely and deceptively much smaller than it is. I can only think that it is because the mountains surrounding it are also enormous. What from a distance looks like little ripples in the ice are actually huge walls of ice, hiding crevices many metres deep. On the Fox Glacier blog I have taken a photo of the terminal face of Fox Glacier with a person stood in front of it to give you an idea of the enormity. Also, if you can spot the grey patch almost half way up in the middle of Franz Josef (headline picture on this blog), it took us all day to walk to that point, which was made up of the huge ice walls/crevices just mentioned.

I loved the whole day. Climbing ice steps, carved out by our guides and those before him. Crossing, climbing down and across scary crevices. Seeing all the different shapes and colours in the ice. Enjoying the views back down and of the waterfalls sliding down the mountain side. I was also amazed at how much grip the crampons gave you going down hill...and how little they gave you on black ice! Fabulous, I'd do it again tomorrow! Only complaint I do have is on the number of times we stopped for breaks, waiting for the team in front to move on. This was especially surprising after all the fuss about needing to be fit to do this, I just wanted to get on with it! As for my feet, let's just say I hobbled the 40 minutes walk from the terminal face back to the car park very slowly. I was far from alone in my discomfort.

Sally had quite a different take on the day. I'll let her have her own say on this...

Sally says :

So I have a fear of heights and sometimes coming downhill I can be a bit over cautious!!! However, nobody had said that we would be going up and down crevices that were meters high, or that sometimes you would have to remain for 5-10 minutes poised in a precautious position as you were climbing out, while the guide carved more steps into the next crevice you were going into. Don't get me wrong, it was fascinating being down in a crevice seeing how the ice formed, but sometimes it was hell to get in and out of them and the guide wasn't offering much help. At times it was frightening, as you would wonder if you would actually be able to make the next step down without falling into the depths of the cracks, as the steps could be a metre apart (and I don't have short legs). Finally, after going up and down many walls of ice, my knees gave in and started to ache and shake (I do have weak knees but they had not been this bad for a number of years). On our way down, I was struggling to keep up with the group, my knees were so painful. Finally my guide noticed I had a problem and put me at the front so the whole of the group had to walk at my pace (I do apologise to my fellow glacier walkers, I think it probably took them twice as long to get down as it should have). Once at the bottom, I still had to walk the 45 minutes back to the bus, which was a killer for my knees. It's not like I'm an unfit person, I often went to the gym back home and have done plenty of walks, and during the glacier walk I never got out of breath. However, for the next four days I had problems walking as I could not bend my legs properly. So be warned, if you have weak knees like me, you are probably better going up the less steep Fox or doing a three quarter day hike on Franz.

Oh, and we stayed at the YHA in Franz Josef. It did the job, but the YHA's in New Zealand are not a patch on the YHA's in Oz - the independent BBH hostels are far superior.

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