As we swoop low over the ridge, the white of the Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand, stretches below us. Banking hard, the helicopter lands on the temporary ice helipad. Slipping our way to the holding area, we wait for the helicopter to ferry the rest of our group onto the glacier. Until our crampons are fitted, this icy mistress tempts us with shades of white and blue in the clear mountain air but we cannot move.

Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, move faster than most. With a typical flow of 1 metre per day, and up to 5 metres on some days, the landscape is in constant flux. Glaciers form where the winter snow has not completely melted during summer. Snow compacts into great banks of ice. In the case of a valley glacier like Franz Josef, the force of gravity draws the sheet of ice slowly down the hillside.

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