Fox Glacier Heli-hike

Fox Glacier - one of two glaciers on New Zealand's west coast. It's relatively easy to access due to its low altitude and proximity to the coast. This also makes it unique in that it's surrounded by jungle-like forest. Unfortunately, the glacier is receding and quite quickly. On one of our hikes we saw a sign marking where the glacier was 20 years ago and it was almost at the parking lot. Now you have to walk 40 minutes to get to a viewpoint where you're still not even at the glacier. A HUGE difference in a short time. If I remember correctly, our heli-hike guide told us the glacier can move up to 3 metres a day! You do not want to be stuck in a crevasse when that happens.

But I am getting ahead of myself. We booked a spot on the Fox Glacier Guides 'Flying Fox' Heli-hike days in advance, hoping for good weather. Apparently 60% of the helicopter flights get cancelled due to weather. We were all excited and a bit nervous about the day. According to reviews the hike was easy enough, with the guides having made steps and easy paths for you to cross, but none of us had ever seen a glacier, let alone walked on one, before and so we were a bit apprehensive. And that's not even accounting for the helicopter ride itself. I was excited for that part of the journey, but had to keep P from reminding me how helicopters work and how remarkable it is that they can fly in any weather conditions. If the weather changes suddenly and there are too many clouds, the helicopter might not be able to fly and we could be stuck on the glacier. Luckily, everything worked perfectly and the weather continued to cooperate with us as it had for the rest of the trip so far.

We landed on the middle of the 13 km long glacier, in a circle of rocks that had been placed there by Fox Glacier Guides before we arrived. There was a path outlined by stones that we followed to a roped off waiting area. We were load #1, so we waited on the ice as 4 more helicopters (the last containing our hike guides) landed and unloaded.

When everyone had landed, we put on our crampons - spiky things you can strap to the bottom of your boots to help you walk on ice, and got another safety briefing. Our group of 22 split into two groups. It's supposed to be a ratio of 1 guide to 11 people, but they were training new guides for the high season rush so we each got 2 guides for 11 people, which was really nice. The newbie was in front leading the way, and the experienced guide in back, chatting, answering questions, and making sure everything was okay.

The reviews were right, the hike was easy. The company had done an excellent job of making sure there were well formed steps to get us down into the crevasse or caves, and filling in the deep cracks with lots of ice so that we could walk through the crevasse. One thing I did notice, is that the ice was much softer and there was much more water and puddles we had to jump over on our way back. We were on the morning tour so landed on the glacier around 10am and left it around 12. The sun had been busy in that time.

It's really hard to capture the beauty of it all on camera or in words, but I'll try my best. I'm really glad we decided to do the heli-hike. The helicopter ride was smooth and breathtaking, and the pilot did a great job of showing us up and down the glacier. However, there is nothing like seeing the glacier up close. Walking into the crevasses, through the tunnels and inside the caves- all made of ice! Some of the ice was rock solid and smooth. Some of it was like a lattice of crystals. It seemed like you could break it apart, but it was very strong. I managed to get a small piece to taste.

Fortunately, we were able to explore an ice cave. We came out of it a bit wet as there was water flowing down both sides at one point and it was very narrow. I'm not sure it was going to be fit for exploring for much longer. The neat thing about the cave was that you could see the light shining through the ice above you and all the different shades of blue it created. What a fantastic day! I highly recommend the heli-hike tour to anyone. Well worth it!