The Helicopter Line — Attraction in South Island

We had a great morning doing the Heli hike.

The girls in the office were lovely and explained things to us, regarding safety procedures for the flight etc. We got kitted out with everything we needed - jacket, trousers, boots and thick socks plus a bumbag for our phones and other bits.

Bit of a false start due to low cloud over the glacier - the guides advised us what our options were but luckily the cloud cleared up and we able to head to the helicopter for our ride to the glacier just an hour or so behind the original schedule.

The guides were great; Andrew (who we mistakenly called Mark the entire time, sorry) scouted ahead to find interesting points for us to hike to and explore whilst Welsh boy, Jake (lost in your eyes, call me) lead the way, had great banter and made sure we had an easier path through the snow. The whole time on the glacier was magical - the caves and views were stunning. Both guides were knowledgeable about all aspects of the glacier and surrounding mountains and ensured that we all got to experience the most we could during our time up there.

Would 100% do the Heli hike again with this company. Felt confident, educated and safe and saw once in a...

This was a once in a lifetime experience that I couldn’t recommend more highly! Our tour was with Vanda and she was professional, knowledgeable, friendly and kind. We chose to do the “heli hike”. The whole process was like a well oiled machine and I felt very safe the whole time. All equipment is provided, down to giving you proper socks, so you are very well prepared once you land on the ice. The helicopter ride was short but so fun. The hike itself does require a reasonable level of fitness and, more so, balance - there’s very little flat walking, with the majority of our time spent climbing up and down the ice. There were also times where you needed to crouch through ice tunnels or move slowly sideways through VERY skinny crevices - incredible fun but worth noting. We spent a good portion of the four hours up on the glacier and made memories to last a lifetime. It is so worth the cost - once you consider the preparations, the equipment and clothing, the guides, the helicopter and the hike itself, you realise it is actually...

I was torn on giving two stars but eventually everything did work out. I just wish the company / representative on the phone didn't make the experience so difficult.

In the later part of February we were scheduled for a Heli Hike but when we finally landed and had service we were just under the 24 hour window they allow to cancel (90 minutes late).

We saw the weather was 100% rain for our morning flight and wanted to go ahead and cancel and try the next day. The rep told us that since we were outside of the 24 hour window we had to be there in order to cancel even tho the flight looked certain to be cancelled.

After a long conversation and checking with multiple people he was finally able to accommodate us. It just would have been nice for a reasonable exception to have been made since we just landed after a 20+ hour flight without the big hassle.

The flight was unfortunately canceled the following day and we ended up with our refund :( Fortunately we got lucky and were able to fly on fox glacier later...