The pictures are FINALLY up!!!! i put about 3 hours of work into this on pay-per-minute internet, so i hope someone actually looks at all these! Post up some comments so i know there is interest ;)
Today was quite cool. We are staying in a town named Franz Joseph, and this place is basically a really small version of aspen colorado, but except a ski mountain there's a GLACIER! We actually didnt even know this thing was here until a few days ago; turns out it a huge draw for south New Zealand. Our hostel is HUGE it must have 200 beds from dorms to super luxury.
After about 2 days of deliberation i was able to convince gina and joe that we wanted to go ICE CLIMBING! Hard to believe they were skeptical eh? Anway, we got up at the crack of dawn when down to the shop and gathered up 1000 lbs of ice climbing equipment and clothes. We were briefed and told that we would be in for a big day on the ice with a total distance covered of about 3 miles...Doesn't sound like much until your hoofing it through an uphill ice fissure!
The weather was rainy and crappy, but its a rainforest that get 50 foot of snow in the winter and tons of rain in the summer. A bright sunny day is kindof rare around here i guess. All in all the day went really well. We hiked up the glacier for a few hours until we reached our climb sites, and the first cliff we climbed was a warm-up/training run, which was about 15 feet high. We all did really well and make it to the peak on all three tracts!!!!! Not bad eh? The second go, after lunch, was a big change. The guy told us this one was between 25 and 30 meters tall (75 - 90 feet ish). This was a real deal climb! Again we all did pretty good, most of our runs made it nearly to the top if not all the way (hahah joe ;) )
I think tonight will be a combination of hot tub, dinner, and an early dinner. But i guess you never know...plans change ;)
