This day was almost certainly the clear highlight of our trip. We made the five minute drive to the edge of the lake immediately in front of the glacier. In days passed, we would've been buried under the snow, however like most of the glaciers in Norway, the Nigardsbreen has retreated up its valley. The interesting thing about this particular glacier however, is that it seems to be bucking the 'climate change' trend of most other glaciers in Europe, and is actually advancing rather than retreating.
We were introduced to Andres, a Swedish guide, and were kitted up with ice axe, helmet and crampons (metal spikes that are strapped on to your boots) before hopping into a little motorboat to the face of Nigardsbreen.
There were two other couples joining us on the climb, a German Couple, and a Dutch couple, who between them spoke about eight different languages, putting us to shame! Anyway, we strapped ourselves into our spikes, 'roped up' into a line, and under Andres' guidance climbed up onto the ice. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but I felt much more secure on the crampons than I thought we would be; I don't think we slipped once all day!
We'd done a little walking before then, and each time felt absolutely knackered, but striding up the steep slope of the massive slab of blue ice, we felt energised rather than tired. I think it was because it was such a strange, exciting landscape, and with that slight trepidation about doing something relatively adventurous we weren't able to worry about our legs.
After a couple of hours of hiking, we were guided down through a spectacular, jagged crevass-filled region of the glacier. These typically occur in steeper sections of the valley where the ice is moving faster than in others. It was here that we found our 'wall': a ten-metre vertical (and in slightly vertical in some spots) slab of ice that we were going to climb.
We were given a quick 'how-to', handed a pair of specialised ice-climbing axes, and clipped into a rope set up by Andres. We then had to work out how to get up the bloody thing! See the results below:
It was a little scary, awkward at times, and just plain hard work! By the time I got close to the top, my arms literally stopped working, and my hands had been fused into claws...I could barely press the shutter to take photos of Fee when she went up!
After we'd all finished our ice-climbing (and a little lunch) we continued on up to the upper third of the glacier, which was completely covered in crevasses. Without Andres, we wouldn't have stood a chance of navigating our way through that mess. At the top of the climb, we were able to glimpse the fringes of the massive ice cap lurking above the valley.
Perhaps the best, and scariest bit, came on the way down. Andres gave us the impression that it was a quick, straight-forward route back. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggghhhhhhtt. We soon found ourselves in the midst of a crevass field, on an ever-narrowing plate of ice. Soon, we were faced with apparently bottomless crevasses on either side, and at one point, a strip of 'land' no more than a foot wide. Andres flattened the path for us, and with little choice in the matter, and more than a little trepidation, we forded the crossing and continued on.
The last section of the hike, whilst not so scary, was still a lot of fun. We made our way through 'The Labyrinth' - a series of troughs, tunnels and walls that formed a complex maze leading back down to the front of the glacier. It was in this section that the ice was the oldest, and subsequently the bluest too. We could hear running water everywhere, and see it underneath our feet, and as we reach the end of the trek, it was obvious where it was all going: straight into the torrent that was bursting forth from underneath the front wall of Nigardsbreen.
We were tired, but thoroughly satisfied with our day. We'd done something new, challenged a few fears, and experienced a most remarkable environment. After a drink with our fellow hikers, we enjoyed a quiet night of beer and pizza in the sitting room of our guesthouse.
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