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 to reach Gaea's Cliff and later the Whirlwind Maze of the North 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 (see below). They collapse after wandering through the snow and are saved by Mr. Holzoff. The party can find the Alexander Summon Materia in the glacier by touching a hot springs and then finding a snow woman in a cave. Due to the cold temperature, Cloud passes out after every 544 steps taken, and will wake up in Holzoff's hut.

The Great Glacier is temporarily unavailable during the times where Tifa and Cid are party leaders. The player cannot snowboard as these characters (despite being able to play as them in the Gold Saucer version of the minigame) and cannot enter it from the World Map. Entering Icicle Inn from the back is also not possible during this time.

Frostbite Cave
Heading slightly right will make the character approach the right and give the player the option to exit the glacier. Doing so will have Cloud run and roll through a path that eventually leads him off screen and outside the glacier on the World Map. Selecting to stay will move the player slightly left (back over the dialogue trigger line). The area the player can move in is small, though it exists and encounters exist in this area matching the path area of the cave.

Holzoff's Cabin




Paths
There are six different types of path screen: Snow, Ice, Forest, Rock, Upward, and Downward. Snow and Ice paths share their formations, while the remaining four share theirs. Each type of path is used many times with no distinguishable difference, however some items are set to only appear on certain paths between certain areas.

This is the upper left exit of the Crossroads, and either of the south-western exits of the Hot Spring. This is the northern exit of the Crossroads.
 * Ice Gate ↔ Forest
 * 1 - Forest
 * Ice Gate ↔ Frostbite Cave Entrance
 * 1 - Rock
 * 2 - Rock
 * Ice Gate ↔ Directional Sign
 * 1 - Snow
 * 2 - Snow
 * 3 - Snow
 * Forest ↔ Directional Sign
 * 1 - Forest
 * Forest ↔ Frozen Lake
 * 1 - Forest
 * Frostbite Cave Entrance ↔ Frozen Lake
 * 1 - Rock
 * Frostbite Cave Entrance ↔ Crossroads
 * 1 - Rock
 * 2 - Rock
 * 3 - Upward
 * 4 - Upward
 * Directional Sign ↔ Ice Rocks
 * 1 - Snow
 * 2 - Ice
 * 3 - Snow
 * Frozen Lake ↔ Tree
 * 1 - Forest
 * Bridge ↔ Tree
 * 1 - Snow
 * 2 - Ice
 * Bridge ↔ Ice Rocks
 * 1 - Snow
 * 2 - Snow
 * Bridge ↔ Cliff Face
 * 1 - Snow
 * Tree ↔ Crossroads
 * 1 - Upward
 * 2 - Upward
 * 3 - Upward
 * Ice Rocks ↔ Cliff Face
 * 1 - Snow
 * 2 - Snow
 * Crossroads ↔ Hot Spring
 * 1 - Upward
 * 2 - Upward
 * 1 - Downward
 * 2 - Downward (Added Cut)
 * Hot Spring ↔ Snow Field
 * 1 - Downward
 * 2 - Snow
 * Cliff Face ↔ Snow Field
 * 1 - Snow
 * 2 - Snow
 * Snow Field ↔ Snow's Cave Entrance
 * 1 - Snow
 * 2 - Ice
 * 3 - Rock
 * Snow's Cave Entrance → Crossroads
 * 1 - Upward
 * 2 - Upward

Traversing Great Glacier
The Glacier Map is a Key Item found at a house in Icicle Inn. The map helps the party navigate but it does not show their current location. If Cloud walks around too long, he collapses and is transported to Holzoff's cabin. 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, B: Mind Source, C: Potion, D: Safety Bit (in a cave, also), E: Added Cut Materia (to find the player must head up from Crossroads and on the second screen of the path between numbered areas), F: All Materia (in Snow Field Cave), and lastly, the Alexander Materia, be found in Snow's Cave, after defeating her. The Hot Spring must be touched prior to this encounter.

Most of the items in the glacier can be obtained infinitely. Only the Safety Bit and Mind Source can be obtained in a single instance. Therefore one may want to opt to not pick up items on their first travel so they can pick up multiple instances later. See the infinite pickups section for more details.


 * A solution to figuring out this maze can be found here:

The different courses the player can take in the snowboarding game, can take the player to four different areas of Great Glacier upon arrival.
 * Taking left twice leads to the Forest.
 * Taking left then right leads to the Ice Gate.
 * Taking right then left leads to the Tree.
 * Taking right twice leads to the Frostbite Cave Entrance.

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 in the Snow Field.

The player should head directly onwards from the starting place until they come across the 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 Snow's Cave. Snow will be inside and fight the party, and drop the Alexander Materia. The Alexander can be picked up repeatedly so one may want to avoid picking it up when it is first dropped.

Infinite Pickups
A number of items in the Great Glacier do not prevent the character from moving. These are the Mind Source, the Potion, and the Elixir. Due to the scripts of the latter two, these items can be picked up infinitely. This is known as the Infinite Elixir Glitch. The item can be picked up but movability is not prevented, and at the point of receipt the item has been added to inventory and the flag has not been set, and while the receipt is not dismissed the script does not continue. Therefore if the player picks it up and then exits the room (either via the door or passing out), they will have the item in their inventory and can pick it up again when the room is re-entered.

The script set-up for the Elixir and Potion is also the same for Alexander, Added Cut, and All, though movability is disabled. These items an still be picked up infinitely however, if they are picked up as the player takes the last step, the item will be added to the inventory, the receipt displayed, and if it is not dismissed the player will eventually end up the cabin with item in their pocket but the pickup still available at the original point. This method is time-consuming and often requires thought out plans, though some step-plans have been discovered that guarantee obtaining some of the items on the last step.

Ice Gate, Forest, Frostbite Cave Entrance, and Snow and Ice Paths

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

===Directional Sign, Frozen Lake, Lake Island, Island Cave, Tree, Crossroads, and Snow Field Cave===
 * Bandersnatch x3
 * Ice Golem
 * Bandersnatch x2
 * Snow
 * Ice Golem x2
 * Bandersnatch x2 (Back attack)
 * Bandersnatch x2, Snow (Side attack)
 * Bandersnatch x3 (Ambush)

Forest, Rock, Upward, and Downward Paths

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



Frostbite Cave

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

Bridge, Ice Rocks, Cliff Face, and Snow's Cave Entrance

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

Snow's Cave

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

Snow Field

 * Lessaloploth
 * Ice Golem x2
 * Jumping x3
 * Jumping x3 (Side attack)

Musical Themes
"Buried in the Snow" is the theme that plays in the Great Glacier.

Trivia

 * When leaving Mr. Holzoff's hut for the first time and when the party gathers. Cait Sith and Red XIII are the only party members who don't shiver from the cold.
 * 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


 * Aeris has lines in the scene where the party arrives at the Great Glacier for the first time, but to view the lines the player must obtain Aeris into the party via hacking or via a glitch, such as the "Yuffie Warping Glitch". Aeris's field model exists in all Great Glacier fields, but disappears once the player reaches Holzoff's cabin and proceeds onward to Gaea's Cliff.
 * In Holzoff's cabin the game forces the party to sleep which will restore everyone's HP and MP. An unused option for this event is found in the game data, giving the player the option to choose whether to rest or not. But if this event is activated the option outcomes are reversed: choosing "Rest" will lead the party not resting and vice versa.