Glacier Climbing!
Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Monday, 2 May 2011 02:25
So we had to be ready for 8.45am to walk to the office for our tour, so Ben set the alarm for 7am to give us plenty of time so we wouldn’t be rushed. However, it did not go off!!!! Sod’s law that this would happen today! We both woke up, and I asked him what time it was, and then we realised it was 8am! Jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready in time, and we made it! Got suited and booted in the office with crampons for our boots etc, and got on the bus to the Glacier. There were three groups of ten going on the Glacier, each with a guide, so we spilt up into our groups when we arrived, we were in a group with mostly Americans, and a chap from Barcelona. Our guide, 
Amanda was really good, she carried a pick axe to carve out steps when necessary! It took us about an hour to even walk to the ‘terminal face’ (beginning) of the Glacier, and it’s so funny how you lose all perspective! The Glacier bends around the corner out of sight, and when Amanda told us we didn’t even walk to the bend, I thought it was going to be a bit of a let down, as it doesn’t look very far at all! But then she pointed out some tiny black dots, which were actually people!!!! So then you get some scale of the thing, and realise the magnitude of it!
So we stopped at the terminal face to put our crampons on our boots and
then got onto the Glacier! It was so cool, walking was 
pretty funny, you just have to stamp each step to grip into the ice and keep your legs wide so you don’t slice your leg open if you trip! We started by walking up some steps carved out of the ice which was pretty cool! In total we were on the ice for about 5 and a half hours, which was pretty amazing, it didn’t feel like that at all! Amanda pointed out the moulans, holes that can be really deep and go for ages, so you have to stay away from the edges of them! She took us to an amazing ice cavern, which was a moulan, but one we could access. We were lucky to get to see a cave, as they are not common on the day walk access area, usually only fund much further up where you access via a helicopter, so we were lucky! She went down first to check it out, and make 
sure the steps were ok, and it was safe. Ben and I were first to go down, and it was so
amazing! It went around a corner, so we were able to check it out, and there were three chimneys up to the light, and then round the corner was where the moulan continued as a deep dark hole! Took some cool pics! We walked some more, and went right up to the furthest part you can walk on the Glacier, before the major ‘ice fall’, which is too dangerous to walk on. We stopped for our picnic lunch perched on some rocks, taking in the spectacular view around us! We began heading back down, which didn’t look far, but really was! On our way Amanda took us to another moulan cave, which was quite different from the first. It was really steep 
down into it, and much smaller, but even cooler than the last! It was tricky getting 
down into it, but totally worth it! At the bottom there was a little chamber to stand in, with thin sheets of ice and a little hole to look through! The climb out was pretty tough, but we made it! We got off the ice at 4.30pm, so we had 5 and a half hours on the ice which was pretty cool! Once we made it off the ice and took our crampons off we started the hours walk back to the bus. Once we got on the bus the tiredness set in! We got back and showered, had some dinner and fell asleep! Woke up around 7.30pm and decided it would be a good idea to set the bed up and go to sleep, so we were in bed and asleep by 8.30pm which is the earliest in a long time!!!! Set our alarms nice and early for the skydive!
Amanda was really good, she carried a pick axe to carve out steps when necessary! It took us about an hour to even walk to the ‘terminal face’ (beginning) of the Glacier, and it’s so funny how you lose all perspective! The Glacier bends around the corner out of sight, and when Amanda told us we didn’t even walk to the bend, I thought it was going to be a bit of a let down, as it doesn’t look very far at all! But then she pointed out some tiny black dots, which were actually people!!!! So then you get some scale of the thing, and realise the magnitude of it!
So we stopped at the terminal face to put our crampons on our boots and
then got onto the Glacier! It was so cool, walking was 
pretty funny, you just have to stamp each step to grip into the ice and keep your legs wide so you don’t slice your leg open if you trip! We started by walking up some steps carved out of the ice which was pretty cool! In total we were on the ice for about 5 and a half hours, which was pretty amazing, it didn’t feel like that at all! Amanda pointed out the moulans, holes that can be really deep and go for ages, so you have to stay away from the edges of them! She took us to an amazing ice cavern, which was a moulan, but one we could access. We were lucky to get to see a cave, as they are not common on the day walk access area, usually only fund much further up where you access via a helicopter, so we were lucky! She went down first to check it out, and make 
sure the steps were ok, and it was safe. Ben and I were first to go down, and it was so
amazing! It went around a corner, so we were able to check it out, and there were three chimneys up to the light, and then round the corner was where the moulan continued as a deep dark hole! Took some cool pics! We walked some more, and went right up to the furthest part you can walk on the Glacier, before the major ‘ice fall’, which is too dangerous to walk on. We stopped for our picnic lunch perched on some rocks, taking in the spectacular view around us! We began heading back down, which didn’t look far, but really was! On our way Amanda took us to another moulan cave, which was quite different from the first. It was really steep 
down into it, and much smaller, but even cooler than the last! It was tricky getting 
down into it, but totally worth it! At the bottom there was a little chamber to stand in, with thin sheets of ice and a little hole to look through! The climb out was pretty tough, but we made it! We got off the ice at 4.30pm, so we had 5 and a half hours on the ice which was pretty cool! Once we made it off the ice and took our crampons off we started the hours walk back to the bus. Once we got on the bus the tiredness set in! We got back and showered, had some dinner and fell asleep! Woke up around 7.30pm and decided it would be a good idea to set the bed up and go to sleep, so we were in bed and asleep by 8.30pm which is the earliest in a long time!!!! Set our alarms nice and early for the skydive! 
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