Glacier Experience and Indoor Ice Climbing at Hukawai Glacier Centre

Before setting foot on the magnificent Franz Josef glacier, make sure you take the time to check out the Hukawai Glacier Centre.
The Glacier Experience is an interesting audio-visual display of the amazing glacier region. There’s heaps of fascinating information on flora, fauna, geology, glaciology, history and Maori mythology, so you can get yourself fully swotted up on what it’s all about. The state of the art animations and video demonstrations explain loads about the raw and powerful landscape which surrounds this small town nestled in the mountains.

If you’re planning on doing a glacier hike or flight, make sure you visit the glacier experience first. It gives you much more appreciation for the area if you know how it works and why it is so unique. And even better, if it’s a rainy day, it’s a great thing to do indoors if you don’t want to get wet.And if you’ve got a head for heights, or you just want to find out if you have, it’s definitely worth checking out the indoor ice climbing wall.

After getting kitted out with my all-important crampons and two technical ice axes, I was ready to hit the ice wall. Literally.
The Hukawai Glacier Centre Indoor Ice Climbing Wall is 200 square metres of challenging terrain. It’s the only one in the southern hemisphere, and is one of the five largest in the world. Well that’s got to be worth a look, eh?

My guide explained it’s been created to be as similar to glacial ice as possible, and the 10 metre high wall has 20 climbing routes ranging from easy-angle slabs through to a challenging overhang, with a variety of angles, corners, bulges and cracks to tackle. Gulp.
When faced with the wall it was a lot more daunting than it looks through the floor to ceiling windows, where a few people had gathered to watch me do my thang. Not having the best head for heights, I wasn’t sure how high I would make it up the wall. But I started with an easy route with steps built into the wall so I just had to put my feet on the steps and hang on with the ice axes.

As my guide got smaller and smaller below me, I could feel my hands shaking as I gripped the ice axes with all the strength I could muster. My palms were getting sweaty and my legs were shaking with fear.
I opted to head back down from about half-way up. But after a second and third attempt, I was building up more confidence. And I can happily say that I conquered all my fears on my last climb as I shakily managed to make it to the top. And it was well worth the effort.

• Each climbing session lasts 1.5 hours, or you can do a taster session for 45 minutes. Entry to the Glacier Experience is $15 and the 1.5 hour full ice climbing session costs $90.
• For more information call 03 752 0600, or Freephone 0800 485 292, or email info@hukawai.co.nz or visit www.hukawai.co.nz

Rachel stayed at YHA Franz Josef at 2-4 Cron St , Franz Josef.
For more details call 03 752 0754.