Questions about heli-hike at Franz Josef

[mkalt@nc.rr.com]

Greetings,

My wife and I will be on the South Island of New Zealand in early March
and will be spending 1 1/2 days at Franz Josef. During that time, we
want to do one of the heli-hikes, but have a few questions:

1) How far in advance do we need to make reservations?

2) Is there an optimal time of day (morning, noon, afternoon),
especially with regard to the likelihood of better weather?

3) If a hike is cancelled due to weather, is there any possibility of
getting on another one the next day, or are they all booked well in
advance?

4) Is there any difference between the various companies who do
heli-hikes?

5) What is the minimum fitness level required for a heli-hike? We are
in our mid-50's, in decent condition, but not particularly athletic.

Any other tips on the hike or Franz Josef in general are
appreciated.....

[David Bennetts]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Greetings,
>
> My wife and I will be on the South Island of New Zealand in early March
> and will be spending 1 1/2 days at Franz Josef. During that time, we
> want to do one of the heli-hikes, but have a few questions:
>
> 1) How far in advance do we need to make reservations?
>
> 2) Is there an optimal time of day (morning, noon, afternoon),
> especially with regard to the likelihood of better weather?
>
> 3) If a hike is cancelled due to weather, is there any possibility of
> getting on another one the next day, or are they all booked well in
> advance?
>
> 4) Is there any difference between the various companies who do
> heli-hikes?
>
> 5) What is the minimum fitness level required for a heli-hike? We are
> in our mid-50's, in decent condition, but not particularly athletic.
>
> Any other tips on the hike or Franz Josef in general are
> appreciated.....

I'd really suggest that you directly contact the operators for answers to
your questions. It's easy to email them from their website contact details,
you should readily find them using google. . The questions about how far
ahead to book, and what they would do in the event of cancellations would
possibly differ between operators and vary at different times of the year,
as would local weather conditions.

Regards

David Bennetts
Australia

[Roadkill]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Greetings,
>
> My wife and I will be on the South Island of New Zealand in early March
> and will be spending 1 1/2 days at Franz Josef. During that time, we
> want to do one of the heli-hikes, but have a few questions:
>
> 1) How far in advance do we need to make reservations?
>
> 2) Is there an optimal time of day (morning, noon, afternoon),
> especially with regard to the likelihood of better weather?
>
> 3) If a hike is cancelled due to weather, is there any possibility of
> getting on another one the next day, or are they all booked well in
> advance?
>
> 4) Is there any difference between the various companies who do
> heli-hikes?
>
> 5) What is the minimum fitness level required for a heli-hike? We are
> in our mid-50's, in decent condition, but not particularly athletic.
>
> Any other tips on the hike or Franz Josef in general are
> appreciated.....
>

I think you won't have a problem getting on a trip on the day. Maybe book
the day before.
The hike is not strenuous.