Guided Walks on Fox Glacier, West Coast, New Zealand

Guided Walks on Fox Glacier

Heli Hike with Fox Glacier Guides

Situated in Glacier Country on the West Coast of the South Island ‘Fox Glacier Guiding’ is New Zealand’s most experienced glacier guiding company and offers a full range of tours and ice adventures to suit all fitness levels.

Our friendly and professional guides will take you on the trip of a lifetime. Be it a thrilling helicopter ride with a hike on the glacier, all-day heli-treks, overnight alpine trekking, a heli ice climbing adventure or a guided E-bike and Hike through the rainforest of the Fox Glacier Valley.

The ‘Flying Fox: Heli-hike’ is a fly-in, fly-out hike that combines the thrill of a helicopter flight taking in views of the dramatic upper icefall and the excitement of exploring part of the Fox Glacier where the forces of nature have created spectacular ice caves and arches.

Fox Glacier Guiding

Flying Fox : Heli Hike

Price: Adult $673 per person – Child $ pp
Duration: 4 Hours
Departs: 08:50 am, 11:50 am (All year round) Summer: 2:50 pm
Fitness: Moderate

We cater to small groups the maximum guide to customer ratio is 1:11
Equipped with leather walking boots and other equipment, you board the helicopter for your first flight over the pinnacles of the lower icefall. Here, the ice is in constant motion. Your landing site on the ice is a remote and stunning part of the glacier at approximately 800 metres above sea level.

You will see the spectacular Victoria Falls, the melting river from the remote Victoria glacier. At this stage, your guide outfits you with crampons specially designed for these ice conditions, and you follow the ice steps cut by your guide as you explore the amazing formations.

Each departure is a true voyage of exploration. There are so many changing features that the guides always find something new. Weather permitting, ice time is up to 3 hours. Please note that this is a natural and ever-changing environment. Ice features change constantly, and there is no guarantee that specific features will be seen. This is a weather-dependent trip.

Fox Glacier Guiding

Extreme Fox : Full Day Heli Hike

Price: $750 per person
Duration: 8 to 9 Hours Hours
Departs: 08:30 am
Fitness: Good Level of Fitness Required.

We cater to small groups. The maximum guide-to-customer ratio is 1:4
Are you feeling amped? Then our Extreme Fox Heli-Hike is for you; spend an exhilarating day on the West Coast’s largest glacier and challenge yourself. Forge your unique trail through the dramatic terrain of Fox Glacier’s steep upper icefall. Our expert guides (we are New Zealand’s most experienced glacier guiding company) will show and teach you how to use your technical climbing equipment.

Ready to blaze a trail? We bet you are! You’ll land on Victoria Flat, put on your crampons (ice-hiking spikes), and then you are on the move.
A good level of English is essential as your guide gives you technical and safety instructions while you explore the upper icefall.

What you will see and do will depend on the ice features on the glacier at the time. You might ford crevasses, using a rope to travel or be lowered into and climb out of moulin (deep ice holes). Using ice axe and crampon climbing techniques, you might climb and abseil down ice walls or ascend short ice pitches. How much you do will depend on the day’s ice conditions and the level of ability of your small group (3-5 people).

Fox It Up - Heli Ice Climbing adventure

Price: Adult $599 per person
Duration: upto 7 Hours on the ice
Departs: 08:30 am
Fitness: Good level of fitness required.

This day-long experience introduces the adventurous to the exhilarating sport of ice climbing on the spectacular ice walls in the upper part of the Fox Glacier.

Your professional guide will tailor the day to offer variety and challenge to the novice and expert alike. Before heading to the ice, you will be equipped with specialised mountaineering boots, crampons, ice axes and technical gear.

During your thrilling helicopter transfers to the ice, you will enjoy breathtaking views of the majestic Fox Glacier and its surroundings.
Guides who instruct on these days receive special training to ensure they teach skills in the correct order, so you advance quickly.

You will be surprised by the quick progress that you make. The maximum guide-to-customer ratio is 1:4, ensuring you receive close personal attention. Using ice tools and the front points of your crampons, you climb vertical and, sometimes, overhanging ice walls and pinnacles secured by a top rope attached to your harness. There are many steep walls to challenge you, and you will quickly master basic crampon and ice axe techniques.

The adrenaline will start to flow as you challenge yourself with more extended and steeper pitches.

Browne Fox - Chancellor Dome Heli Trek.

Price: $799 pp
Duration: 8 to 9 Hours (1 st October to 31 May )
Departs: 07:30 am
Fitness: Good level of fitness required.

This has to be one of New Zealand’s finest days in the mountains. It starts with a thrilling flight by helicopter, over magnificent rainforest and ice pinnacles, into the valley of the Fox Glacier. Your helipad is at 1,270 metres (4,000 feet) on Chancellor Shelf, just above historic Chancellor Hut. In season, this area is rich in flowering alpine plants, mountain antelope & Chamois, which can be seen whilst walking.

From Chancellor Hut, the route ascends through snowgrass basins to a spot where a glorious view of Mt Tasman appears. Here your guide will organise you for a safe ascent of the gully. This gully gives access to a broad ridge and a beautiful snow shelf below the summit of Chancellor Dome.

A highlight is an ascent to the summit at 2,004 metres (6,526 feet). This climb takes you to the point that affords the best view of the Southern Alp’s highest peaks and the magnificent snowfields that feed the Fox Glacier. To the west, you see the surf of the Tasman Sea breaking on Gillespies Beach.

After a relaxing lunch, you descend to the hut and fly back to Fox Glacier township down the glacier. As an introduction to mountaineering, this trip cannot be surpassed.
Please note: This is a mountain trip with helicopter access, not a Heli hike on the glacier and is weather dependent.

Browne Fox - Chancellor Hut Overnight Heli Trek.

Price: $1199 pp
Duration: Two Days (from 1 October to 31 May * when conditions allow)
Departs: 07:30 am
Fitness: Good level of fitness required.

Our Chancellor Dome experiences are very specialised, limited availability and highly guided experiences.

Day One:

The first day of this trip is essentially the same as the Chancellor Dome Heli-Trek, except that you do not fly back to the Fox township at the end of the day. Instead, you relax in the tussock by Chancellor Hut and drink a glass of wine while your guide prepares dinner whilst you watch the spectacular sunset on the Tasman Sea below.

Day Two:

Awaken and feel alive as you breathe in the fresh mountain air and soak up the morning vistas before enjoying a leisurely breakfast.

As you descend through the alpine vegetation zones to the glacier, explore the Chancellor Shelf’s fantastic alpine gardens and waterfalls. There is a good chance of viewing chamois (mountain antelope), kea (Nestor notabilis), the world’s only mountain parrot and, in season, the glorious great mountain buttercup (Ranunculus lyallii) and mountain daisy (Celmisia coriacia). You’ll have time to discover the incredible ice features of Victoria Flat before the helicopter arrives to return you back to the Fox Glacier township.

This adventure is a truly magnificent and complete experience – climb a mountain, explore a glacier, stay overnight in a historic hut and feel the moods of the mountains.

The maximum guide-to-customer ratio is 1:3. We require a minimum of 2 people for this trip to go ahead.

Fox Glacier Valley E-Bike & Hike

https://www.foxguides.co.nz/guided-walking/Price: $125 per person
Duration: Half day
Departs: 08:30 am and 1:00 pm
Fitness: Average fitness required.

With our Fox Glacier Valley E-Bike & Hike, you can explore the untamed natural wilderness of the Fox Glacier Valley by retracing the steps of a retreating glacier. E-bike through an ancient podocarp forest and hike a hidden trail. Take photographs of the Fox Glacier that are guaranteed to impress family and friends.

E-bike riders departing Fox Glacier Village should appreciate the winding cycleway. After making easy work of the slopes on our E-bikes, we’ll park them and hike up Mills Creek, passing Cone Rock and New Zealand’s greatest active landslip while gradually gaining altitude. Our highest point is a vantage point with the closest views of the Fox Glacier’s terminal face. We retrace our steps back to our bikes and relish the descent back to the village.

Along the way, your guide will regale you with tales of past explorers and local natural history. They will instruct you how to operate the E-bike equipment and provide you with hiking boots and raincoats.