The Defiance Hut, now sited in the car park for for visitors viewing the glacier. It was originally sited at Castle Rocks, higer up on the glacier.
Glacier Tourism was a popular pass time in the early C20th in New Zealand. More and more visitors were attracted to New Zealand's West Coast and , encouraged by the Departmant of Tourism and Health, an alpine hut was built in 1212-13. All of the materials were carried up to Defiance Ridge, the chosen site, overlooking the Franz Joseph glacier. The glacier was in retreat and by 1936 the site was declared unstable and the hut was moved further up the ridge. The hut continued to be popular with climbers using it as a base for other climbs in the region. However erosion and access became a problem in the 1950s and a replacement hut was build on Castle Rocks. The old hut was dismantled and flown down in 1978 to be reassembled in Franz Joseph. It was moved to its current site in 2020. It is the earliest surviving example of a New Zealand high level hut.
Size: 6048px × 4024px
Location: Franz Josef Galcier Visitors Centre car park, Franz Josef, West Coast, New Zealand.
Photo credit: © Brian Hartshorn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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