Franz Josef Glacier Heli Hike

What’s included and what’s not

Included on both village heli hikes

• Two helicopter flights, up to the ice and back, about 10 minutes each way
• A qualified ice guide and a group of no more than 11
• Boots, crampons, a waterproof jacket and overtrousers
• Guided commentary on the ice

Not included

• Food. Fox Glacier Guiding’s listing mentions drinks and snacks without saying they’re provided, so bring your own
• The hot pools. One operator video says a hot pools pass comes with the Franz Josef trip, but the current Viator listing doesn’t mention it
• Getting to Franz Josef or Fox Glacier, unless you book the Queenstown version

Where the listings differ

Franz Josef Glacier Guides adds a wool hat and gloves, offers an extended 5.5 hour hike for ages 14 and up, and lists hotel pickup in the village. Fox Glacier Guiding adds socks and walking poles and takes children from 9.

The Queenstown version from True South Flights is a different package. It includes return flights from Queenstown with a window seat each, two helicopter transfers onto the ice, about 2 hours of hiking and an optional pickup from central Queenstown. Lunch shows as included, but the same listing tells you to bring your own, so plan on packing it.

The day, hour by hour

This is the standard Franz Josef heli hike: a morning departure run by Franz Josef Glacier Guides from the village. Its listing gives 2 hours 15 minutes for the guided walk and no door to door total, so keep the whole morning free. The Fox Glacier version runs the same way from its own village 25 km south.

8:15am. Check in at the Glacier Base building on Cron Street, 15 minutes before your trip time. Fox Glacier Guiding asks for 20 minutes, because you fill in a risk form online first.

8:30am. The weather call. This is the moment the day is decided. Danny and Molly were warned at check-in that cloud coming in could stop it; it went ahead. Chasing Dain, on a trip hosted by the local tourism board, got as far as boarding before cloud came in and the trip was called off. They went the next morning instead.

8:45am. Briefing and gear. You’re issued boots, crampons, a waterproof jacket, overtrousers, a hat and gloves. Chasing Dain’s sequence was wristbands, weather call, safety briefing and gear-up, then a final briefing before the flight. At Fox, Devang Sethi left his bag in a locker, was handed boots, warm socks and gloves, and rode a bus to the helipad for a flight of only 3 to 4 minutes.

9:15am. The flight up. About 10 minutes each way on Franz Josef Glacier Guides’ listing, landing on the upper glacier.

9:30am to 11:45am. On the ice with a guide, about 2 hours 15 minutes, in a group of no more than 11. The ice moves constantly, so the route changes; Chasing Dain was told a new track had been cut the day before. All three travellers who filmed it named the ice caves and blue crevasse squeezes as the best part. Chasing Dain’s group walked about 10 minutes before the first big views opened up. On the Fox version, Devang Sethi followed a guide cutting steps with an ice axe, walked through one cave and drank meltwater; a second formation had melted out weeks earlier, so no cave is promised. He found the walking easy.

Around 12:00pm. The flight down, and back to the village for gear return.

Afternoon. Free. The Fox Glacier walks and Lake Matheson are the usual add-ons, and the Franz Josef Glacier guide covers them.

If you’re coming from Queenstown for the day

True South Flights runs the only listing here that starts in Queenstown. Check in at Frankton at 8:00am for an 8:30am departure. You fly to the West Coast, transfer to helicopters, hike for about 2 hours and fly back, about 7 hours in all. Bring your own lunch: the listing says there’s usually no time to buy food in Franz Josef.

Meeting point and getting there

The two heli hikes start in different villages, 25 km apart on State Highway 6. Book the one in the village you’re staying in.

Franz Josef Glacier Guides lists hotel pickup and drop-off in the village. Both villages are small enough to walk across.

Getting to Franz Josef

It’s a long way from Queenstown. The drive is about 355 km over the Haast Pass, roughly 5 to 6 hours without stops, and most people break it with a night in Wanaka or Haast. Danny and Molly had a 6.5 hour drive to Kaikoura straight after their hike, with no slack for a rebooking, which is the schedule to avoid.

If you’re short of days, the Queenstown flight version or a scenic flight over the glaciers from Queenstown saves the two days of driving.

If you’re running late, or the weather turns

Call the operator on the number in your Viator confirmation. If the operator cancels for weather, it offers to rebook you; ask about a refund if you can’t stay. Fox Glacier Guiding makes its weather call 10 minutes before check-in, so check your phone before you walk over.

What to bring

The operators supply the serious kit, so what you bring is mostly about the glare and the layers underneath.

• Sunglasses and sunscreen. The glare off the ice is strong, and Chasing Dain found it could feel hot on a clear day. Devang Sethi’s guide told the group the sun up there is far stronger than it feels, and to wear a hat.
• Three or four warm layers for your top half. That’s Fox Glacier Guiding’s own advice, and Chasing Dain, in April, said it was cold and wet.
• Trousers that aren’t jeans. Fox Glacier Guiding asks for this; overtrousers go on top.
• A small snack and water. The Queenstown flight version tells you to bring your own lunch.
• Your weight, honestly, at booking. The helicopters have limits: 35 to 115 kg on the Franz Josef trip, up to 116 kg at Fox.

Supplied on both heli hikes: boots, crampons, a waterproof jacket and overtrousers. Franz Josef Glacier Guides adds a wool hat and gloves. Fox Glacier Guiding adds socks and walking poles.

Leave behind anything you’d hate to drop down a crevasse. A phone on a wrist strap is the safe way to film the ice caves.

How to choose

Pick the village you’re sleeping in. The two village heli hikes are close to identical on paper: 11 people, about 2 hours or a little more on the ice, gear supplied. The bigger decision is whether you want to hike at all. Every glacier trip in the area is on our Franz Josef Glacier tours page.

What the hike adds over a scenic flight

Time on the ice and the ice caves. All three travellers who filmed a heli hike named the caves and crevasse squeezes as the highlight. Flying The Nest and Chasing Dain both admitted to nerves about the tight spots and found them fine. A snow landing gives you about 10 minutes beside the helicopter for photos and no walking, according to Glacier Country Helicopters’ listing. All the helicopter flights over the glaciers are compared on their own page.

Pick this if

• You want to stand in a blue ice cave, and you can walk on uneven ground for 2 hours.
• You have at least one spare morning in the area in case the first one is cancelled. If Franz Josef is full, Fox is the same kind of day; that’s how Devang Sethi ended up there.

Skip it if

• Your schedule has no slack. Danny and Molly flew on their first try with a long drive the same afternoon; Chasing Dain didn’t, and lost a day. If a cancellation would wreck your trip, the free walks in the glacier guide are the safer bet, though one traveller, CJ Explores, found the public valley track cut short by flood damage.
• You’re over the weight limit or have a heart condition. Both operators exclude serious medical conditions.

Season and timing

The heli hikes run all year. On the West Coast the weather on the day matters far more than the month.

None of the travellers we watched compared seasons, so we won’t pretend to rank them. What they did say is consistent. Chasing Dain went in April, found it cold and wet, and was told snow was possible; the weather had been bad for days before. Flying The Nest got a perfect clear day and noted that the operators “cancel it at the slightest of wind”. All three heli hike travellers mentioned the cancellation risk, and round 2 added two more cases. Dane and Stacey were still on standby for a Fox flight on their third day. Abbie and Wiebe never flew at Franz Josef and moved their money to a helicopter flight from Queenstown instead of a refund. Devang Sethi heard Franz Josef’s flights were grounded by wind on the day he flew at Fox, and that Franz Josef was fully booked when he tried.

How to plan around it

• Book your first morning in the area. If it’s cancelled, you still have a second chance before you leave.
• Keep a spare day. Chasing Dain recommends “a few spare days in case of cancellations” and had left exactly one, which they needed.
• Have a plan B ready. If the helicopters don’t fly, the free glacier viewpoint walks and Lake Matheson near Fox still make a good day. Lake Matheson’s mirror reflections need a calm morning.
• Don’t stack a long drive behind it. Danny and Molly had 6.5 hours to Kaikoura the same afternoon, which left them nothing if the trip had moved.

Chasing Dain’s guide put flying days at about 3 a week during their stay. That’s one remark from one bad spell, relayed by a hosted vlogger, so treat it as a warning rather than a statistic.

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