Day 155 : Ice, ice baby

High point: the climb up Franz Josef Glacier

Low point : soggy sandwiches

Small world point : the friend of one of the guys in the Franz Josef Experience Centre was driving Martha, the ambulance the crew met on stage two in Mongolia

Franz Josef is famous for its glacier which is 12km long, it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300m above sea level.  We decided to do a full day trek to explore what this incredible mass of ice has to offer…  when in Rome and all that.  The walk promised an “experience of the most spectacular glacier environment available to the general public anywhere in the world.”

The day didn’t start off well, it was absolutely bucketing it down but in true FTFE explorer style we were ready for anything, or so we thought.  Our guide was called Jonno, a volunteer fire fighter whose great grandfather was one of the first explorers in NZ.  As we trudged up to the summit of the glacier with the wind and hail stones against us, Steve reminded us the only activity on stage 1 was a visit to a Concentration Camp.  Fair point, we should suck it up.

When we got onto the ice it was time to test out our crampons (spikes to help us negotiate the ice).  A lot of the approaches had been melted by the rain, making things a bit hairy in places.  Injury count, Chris – hurt arm, Amy – bruised knees, Kate – bashed side, Steve managed not to hurt himself by sliding and grabbing onto Kate’s, ahem, coat.  We can confirm glaciers are as hard as they look.  Jonno kept saying “its good to test yourself”.

Because of the weather conditions it was too cold to stop for lunch, Jonno called us amateurs as we’d brought along bananas and sandwiches in cardboard wrappers.  They soaked up the rain water nicely… mmm soggy sandwiches.

Beating the climb and weather conditions were definitely worth it, the glacier is beautiful.  Deep in the heart of the glacier surrounded by ice crevasses and snow steps felt like we were in Superman’s cave, the one where he goes to find the kryptonite.  We found ourselves in all manner of situations, from squeezing through tight blue crevasses or sliding through ice caves to shuffling, down near vertical walls of ice.

When we finally got to the bottom there wasn’t an inch of us that was dry and our feet were swimming in our boots.  The waterproof jackets and trousers that had been provided turned out to be the complete opposite of waterproof.  But we felt like we’d taken on the glacier and everything it had to offer, a sense of achievement combined with relief it was over.

If you like our blogs, please remember why we’re doing this crazy expedition.  You can donate online at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FollowThatFireEngine .  100% of all money raised will make a vital contribution towards:
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– striving to defeat lung cancer through ground‐breaking research

Thanks

Amy

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