Great Glacier

The Great Glacier is a large frozen waste north of Icicle Inn in Final Fantasy VII. It is a maze of wilderness trails going around several landmarks, such as trees, icy water, and caves. Crossing the glacier is required in order to reach Gaea's Cliff and later the Whirlwind Maze of the Northern Crater. Cloud Strife and his party pass through the glacier in the last leg of their world-wide journey chasing after Sephiroth. Depending upon which way was taken on in the snowboarding minigame, the party will land in different locations in the Glacier. They collapse after wandering through the snow and are saved by Mr. Holzoff. The party can also find the Alexander Materia in the glacier by touching a hot springs and then finding a snow woman in a cave.

Map
The Glacier Map is a Key Item found at a house in Icicle Inn. The map helps the party navigate somewhat, but as it does not actually show their location, they can only guess at it. If Cloud walks around too long, he collapses and is transported to the cabin. Thus, to get through Great Glacier one merely needs to walk around, although it does contain many treasures if the player knows where to look. The items available according to letters on the map are A: Elixir (found in a cave, and can be exploited for infinite Elixirs), B: Mind Source, C: Potion, D: Safety Bit (in a cave, also), E: Added Cut Materia (to find the player must head down from Snow's cave, and then immediately back up, a different path will be discovered. The Materia will be found in the second section of the path between numbered areas.), F: All Materia (in a cave in the middle of the snowfield south of Mr. Holzoff's place), and lastly, the Alexander Materia, which can be found in Snow's cave, after defeating her. The hot spring must be touched prior to this encounter.

A solution to figuring out this complex maze of confusion can be found here:

Acquiring Alexander
The easiest way to get Alexander is to first make the way to the hot springs and touch it, then explore around the glacier collecting treasures until Cloud will pass out and wake up in Mr. Holzoff's hut. From the hut the player should head south to find themselves on a large open area with no landmarks. They should head directly down from the starting place, until they come across a cave with an All Materia inside. Once they come out of the cave they should head directly to the right of where they start, and keep on going right till they arrive in a screen with a cave. Snow will be inside and fight the party, and drop the Alexander Materia.

Items Found

 * Mind Source
 * Potion
 * Safety Bit
 * Added Cut Materia
 * Alexander Materia
 * Elixir (see Infinite Elixir Glitch)

Plain snow and ice areas

 * Bandersnatch x2
 * Frozen Nail x2
 * Frozen Nail x3
 * Shred x2, Frozen Nail
 * Shred x3

Narrows, diagonals and forest areas

 * Bandersnatch x2
 * Bandersnatch x2 (Back attack)
 * Bandersnatch x3 (Ambush)
 * Frozen Nail x2
 * Shred x2, Frozen Nail
 * Shred x3
 * Frozen Nail x3

Southern ice cave

 * Bandersnatch x4
 * Hungry x3
 * Hungry x3 (Ambush)
 * Lessaloploth

Central areas and caves

 * Bandersnatch x2
 * Bandersnatch x2 (Back attack)
 * Bandersnatch x2, Snow (Side attack)
 * Bandersnatch x3
 * Bandersnatch x3 (Ambush)
 * Ice Golem
 * Ice Golem x2
 * Snow

Northwestern areas and caves

 * Bandersnatch x3 (Ambush)
 * Bandersnatch x4
 * Lessaloploth x2
 * Magnade
 * Magnade (Back attack)
 * Magnade x2
 * Snow
 * Snow, Lessaloploth

Easternmost cave

 * Snow (Boss)

Trivia

 * The Stone Face Easter egg is used in the Great Glacier in the snow area.
 * The sign in the first area reads:


 * ICE GATE
 * CLASS OF 1996
 * Top of the
 * MOUNTAIN
 * Elevation 717FT.
 * 62°05 N. 12°25 W