Hukawai Glacier Centre

The Hukawai Glacier Centre, complete with its 10-metre high indoor ice-climbing wall, will open its doors to the public on 1 March 2007.

The centre, at Franz Josef Glacier, will allow visitors to take in the entire Franz Josef Glacier experience under one roof. It also provides the opportunity for ice-climbing in a safe and supervised environment.

The ice wall, the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, will allow up to 20 climbers at any one time to replicate what it would be like to climb the actual glacier.

The ice-climbing chamber will be in the centre of the building, the virtual tour running around it, with floor to ceiling windows so visitors can sit in the café at the centre and watch climbers in action.

The glacier experience portion of the centre will begin for visitors in a rainforest, with people then able to examine the features of the glacier up close and personal; they will even be able to go inside a virtual ice cave and a crevasse.