Great Glacier (Final Fantasy VII field)

The Great Glacier is a field map in Final Fantasy VII. Visited in "Beyond the Snow Fields" as the party make their way north, it is a maze of wilderness in between Icicle Inn and Gaea's Cliff. It is a maze of wilderness trails around several landmarks, such as trees, icy water, and caves.
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 Spring and then finding a snow woman in a cave.
Due to the cold, Cloud passes out after every 544 steps (which is equal to 145 seconds of running movement in the NTSC American version or approximately 174 seconds in the PAL version), and will wake up in Holzoff's hut. If the player intends to collect all items, it is common, if not almost guaranteed, for Cloud to pass out two or three times before everything has been collected.
The Great Glacier is temporarily unavailable during the times where Tifa and Cid are party leaders, as the player cannot snowboard or enter the glacier from the world map. Entering Icicle Inn from the back is also not possible during this time.
== Layout ==
The Great Glacier comprises several unique areas spread around it, with repeating paths in-between each area, of different types.
=== Paths ===
There are six 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.
;Ice Gate ↔ Forest
# Forest
;Ice Gate ↔ Frostbite Cave Entrance
# Rock
# Rock
;Ice Gate ↔ Directional Sign
# Snow
# Snow
# Snow
;Forest ↔ Directional Sign
# Forest
;Forest ↔ Frozen Lake
# Forest
;Frostbite Cave Entrance ↔ Frozen Lake
# Rock
;Frostbite Cave Entrance ↔ Crossroads
# Rock
# Rock
# Upward
# Upward
;Directional Sign ↔ Ice Rocks
# Snow
# Ice
# Snow
;Frozen Lake ↔ Tree
# Forest
;Bridge ↔ Tree
# Snow
# Ice
;Bridge ↔ Ice Rocks
# Snow
# Snow
;Bridge ↔ Cliff Face
# Snow
;Tree ↔ Crossroads
# Upward
# Upward
# Upward
;Ice Rocks ↔ Cliff Face
# Snow
# Snow
;Crossroads ↔ Hot Spring
This is the upper left exit of the Crossroads, and either of the south-western exits of the Hot Spring.
# Upward
# Upward
;
This is the northern exit of the Crossroads.
# Downward
# Downward (Added Cut)
;Hot Spring ↔ Snow Field
# Downward
# Snow
;Cliff Face ↔ Snow Field
# Snow
# Snow
;Snow Field ↔ Snow's Cave Entrance
# Snow
# Ice
# Rock
;Snow's Cave Entrance → Crossroads
# Upward
# Upward
=== Ice Gate ===
The landing point from the snowboarding minigame after taking the left path, then right.
Down past the sign is the world map, where the player can save. Heading up leads to the Forest, heading right leads to the Frostbite Cave Entrance, and heading left leads to Directional Sign.
=== Forest ===
The landing point from the snowboarding minigame after taking the left path from both forks.
Heading down leads to Ice Gate, heading right leads to Frozen Lake, and heading left leads to Directional Sign.
A Mind Source is found here behind a tree at the top of the screen.
=== Frostbite Cave Entrance ===
The landing point from the snowboarding minigame after taking the right path from both forks.
Heading down leads to Ice Gate, heading up leads to Crossorads, and heading left leads to Frozen Lake.
=== Directional Sign ===
Heading up leads to Ice Rocks, heading right leads to Forest, and heading down leads to Ice Gate.
=== Frozen Lake ===
Heading down and to the left left leads to Forest, heading up and to the left leads to Icebergs (and then Island Cave), heading down to the right leads to Frostbite Cave Entrance, and heading up and to the right leads to Free.
A Potion is found here.
=== Bridge ===
=== Tree ===
The landing point from the snowboarding minigame after taking the right path, then left.
Heading down leads to Frozen Lake, heading right leads to Crossorads, and heading left leads to Bridge. 
=== Ice Rocks ===
=== Crossroads ===
Heading up and to the right or left leads to the Hot Spring area either way, but on the path up and to the right from Crossroads, Added Cut Materia is found on the way.
=== Hot Spring ===
=== Cliff Face ===
=== Snow Field ===
=== Snow's Cave Entrance ===
=== Base of Gaea's Cliff ===
=== Frostbite Cave ===
;
;
Heading slightly right gives the option to exit the glacier. Doing so will have Cloud run and roll through a path that leads him off screen and outside 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, but encounters still exist in this area matching the path area of the cave.
Great glacier caverns.png|Frostbite Cave Path.
Great glacier ice ramp.png|Frostbite Cave Slope.
=== Icebergs ===
An area where the player must cross by taking a certain path forward. Connects to Island Cave up, and Frozen Lake down.
The path up:
# Up.
# Left.
# Down.
# Left.
# Up.
# Right.
# Up.
# Up.
# Left.
# Down.
# Right.
# Right.
# Up.
# Exit.
The path down:
# Left.
# Down.
# Right.
# Right.
# Down.
# Left.
# Down.
# Right.
# Down.
# Left.
# Exit.
=== Lake Island ===
=== Island Cave ===
Connects to Icebergs and Frozen Lake. Safety Bit is found in the cave.
=== Ice Rocks Cave ===
=== Snow Field Cave ===
=== Snow's Cave ===
=== Holzoff's Cabin ===
;
;
== Quests ==
=== Main scenario ===
* Beyond the Snow Fields
Great Glacier is mandatory during "Beyond the Snow Fields", and reached after the snowboard minigame. During this time, the player must navigate through the glacier to reach the next objective, which is Mr. Holzoff's house. The player can either reach Mr. Holzoff themselves, or if Cloud collapses, Mr. Holzoff will rescue the party anyway; as such, the only benefit to staying longer is to obtain as many items as possible before proceeding.
=== 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 the 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 areas on the map are:
* Elixir, found in a cave in Ice Rocks (A on the map).
* Mind Source, found at the Forest (B on the map).
* Potion, found at Frozen Lake (C on the map).
* Safety Bit, found in a cave at Island Cave (D on the map).
* Added Cut Materia found at a path around Crossroads (E on the map). To find the player must head up and to the right from Crossroads (leading to Hot Spring), on the second screen of the path.
* All Materia, found in Snow Field Cave (F on the map).
* 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 by exploiting a programming oversight. 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 visit 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 (Green 3 on the map).
* Taking left then right leads to the Ice Gate (Green 1 on the map).
* Taking right then left leads to the Tree (Green 4 on the map).
* Taking right twice leads to the Frostbite Cave Entrance (Green 2 on the map).
=== Acquiring Alexander ===
The easiest way to get Alexander is to first make the way to the Hot Spring and touch it, then explore around the glacier collecting treasures until Cloud passes out and wakes 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.
Greatglacier3.png|First the player must touch the spring.
Greatglacier4.png|Snow's cave.
Greatglacier5.png|Snow will be mad.
=== 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 the 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 by 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 can still be picked up infinitely if they are picked up as the player takes the last step before passing out. The item will be added to the inventory, the receipt displayed, and if it is not dismissed the player will eventually end up at the cabin with the 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.
== Items ==
Item 	Location
Mind Source 	Forest.
Potion 	Frozen Lake. Can be obtained infinitely due to a programming oversight.
Safety Bit 	Island Cave.
Added Cut Materia	Crossroads → Hot Spring Path 2. Can be obtained infinitely due to the pick-up pass-out trick.
Alexander Materia	Snow's Cave. After touching Hot Spring and defeating Snow. Can be obtained infinitely due to the pick-up pass-out trick.
Elixir 	Ice Rocks. Can be obtained infinitely due to a programming oversight.
All Materia 	Snow Field Cave. Can be obtained infinitely due to the pick-up pass-out trick.
The rare accessory Circlet can be stolen from Snow.
== Enemies ==
=== Ice Gate, Forest, Frostbite Cave Entrance, and Snow and Ice Paths ===
*[15/64] Shred x3
*[14/64] Frozen Nail x2
*[13/64] Shred x2, Frozen Nail
*[12/64] Bandersnatch x2
*[10/64] Frozen Nail x3
=== Directional Sign, Frozen Lake, Lake Island, Island Cave, Tree, Crossroads, and Snow Field Cave ===
*[15/64] Bandersnatch x3
*[14/64] Ice Golem
*[13/64] Bandersnatch x2
*[12/64] Snow
*[10/64] Ice Golem x2
*[4/64] Bandersnatch x2 (Back attack)
*[8/64] Bandersnatch x2, Snow (Side attack)
*[4/64] Bandersnatch x3 (Ambush)
=== Forest, Rock, Upward, and Downward Paths ===
*[17/64] Shred x3
*[16/64] Frozen Nail x2
*[15/64] Shred x2, Frozen Nail
*[12/64] Bandersnatch x2
*[4/64] Frozen Nail x3
*[4/64] Bandersnatch x2 (Back attack)
*[4/64] Bandersnatch x3 (Ambush)
=== Frostbite Cave (both screens) ===
*[24/64] Lessaloploth
*[22/64] Hungry x3
*[18/64] Bandersnatch x4
*[8/64] Hungry x3 (Ambush)
=== Bridge, Ice Rocks, Cliff Face, and Snow's Cave Entrance, and Snow's Cave ===
*[14/64] Magnade
*[12/64] Lessaloploth x2
*[11/64] Bandersnatch x4
*[10/64] Snow, Lessaloploth
*[9/64] Snow
*[8/64] Magnade x2
*[4/64] Magnade (Back attack)
*[4/64] Bandersnatch x3 (Ambush)
=== Snow's Cave ===
* Snow (boss)
=== Snow Field ===
This is a World Map area.
*[22/64] Lessaloploth
*[21/64] Ice Golem x2
*[21/64] Jumping x3
*[10/64] Jumping x3 (Side attack)
== Musical themes ==
"Buried in the Snow" plays in the Great Glacier.
==Behind the scenes==
The stone face Easter egg is seen 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 her 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. If this event is activated the option outcomes are reversed: choosing "Rest" will lead the party not resting and vice versa.
== Citations ==
Category:Field gameplay in Final Fantasy VII