The Great Glacier

Final Fantasy VII Guide - Walkthrough

The Great Glacier

Oo*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-Oo-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=oO=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*oO
|| Treasure:| Mind Source, Potion, Safety Bit, Elixir, Added Cut Materia,     ||
||          | All Materia, Alexander Materia.                                 ||
Oo*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*oO
|| Picture Map: http://www.shillatime.org/finalfantasy7/greatglacier.html     ||
Oo*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*=-*oO

ASCII-MAP:
                                              .-------------------------------.
          Cabin & Gaea's Cliff                |Legend:                        |
          (when you pass out)                 |-------------------------------|
                 ._||_.                       |v means you can only go that   |
                 |Snow|                       |direction, and if you go the   |
         (11)----|(12)|----------             |other direction from (10)      |
        /  |     |Feld|          \            |you'll end up on the path      |
       /   |     '----'           (13)-(13a)  |with the Added Cut Materia,    |
      /     \       |________      |          |this is in the second screen   |
     /       \               \     v          |going upper-right from (10).   |
   (6 6a)----(7)--------\    (8)^  v          |-------------------------------|
     |                   (9)  | .  v          |6a is the cave holding an      |
     |            (4a/b) / \  | ^ /           |Elixir which you can get       |
     |                | /   --(10)            |infinite of by walking away    |
    (2)------(3)-----(4)       /              |when it says 'found Elixir'.   |
     |        |        \     /                |-------------------------------|
     |        |         |  /                  |4a is an ice-jumping puzzle.   |
     |-------(1)--------(5)--(5a)--(5b)       |4b is a cave with Safety Bit.  |
              |                     |         |-------------------------------|
           world map              world map   |5a/b leads to the world map.   |
                                              |-------------------------------|
Snowboarding intersections lead here:         |13a is where the Alexander     |
Left Right  = Area (1)                        |Materia can be found, BUT you  |
Left Left   = Area (3)                        |must go to area 8 first to     |
Right Right = Area (5)                        |touch the hot spring.          |
Right Left  = Area (9)                        '-------------------------------'

Alright, well, you're probably going to need this ASCII-map, because the Great Glacier can be confusing at times. However, once you've been here for a bit, you'll see that it's in fact quite easy to navigate. First, some notes about the Great Glacier:

• You can't walk around forever. Cloud and the team are walking in blizzards with temperatures well below zero. After a while, Cloud passes out. When this happens, you'll be rescued and taken to Mr Holzoffs Cabin, all the way north.  From here, you can easily continue the story, but if you want to go back for more items, you'll have to follow the map. For passing out, time in random battle doesn't count, nor does time in the menu.

• The numbers on the map are areas that have something 'special' to them; A single tree, a hot spring, etc. When you go from area to area, you will notice that you're walking up, down, right, left, and it doesn't seem to make sense.  And it doesn't most of the time. Just see these icy passages as passages, and nothing more. They tend to mess up your feeling for direction, so try to ignore it as much as possible.

Here's a brief description of every area. The numbers of the map are kept true to the Bradygames guide, which I slightly used to compile the map, but that as a side note. The areas:

(1) Entrance of the Great Glacier, it has a sign saying 'Ice Gate'.

(2) It has a single sad tree, and a small rock-bridge that leads you across.

(3) Has many trees, and also holds a well hidden Mind Source at the top, somewhere in the middle.

(4) The upper part consists of ice with a worthless Potion. The lower half shows some pine trees. Going northwest leads to 4a, where you can do a small puzzle. This is the solution, borrowed from Alex' FAQ. All proper credits go to him. The cave holds a Safety Bit as treasure. The number 1 means you need to jump in that direction first, followed later by 2.

To the Cave:          Back out again:

     End                    Start
o--o  o  o  o          o  o--o  o  o
|  1  |                   |
o--o2-o  o  o          o  o--o--o  o
   |                            |
o  o  o  o  o          o  o  o--o  o
   2                         |
o--o--o  o  o          o  o  o--o  o
|  1  |                         | 
o--o  o  o  o          o  o  o--o  o
     Start                  End

(5) Many large rocky walls, both left and right. The cave is 5a/b which lead to the world map.

(6) White, crystal looking area with view from above. The cave in the middle holds an Elixir. When the game says 'Received Elixir!', don't press circle, instead just walk out of the cave. When you go back inside, you can grab it again for an infinite stock (if you want to).

(7) A tree serves as a bridge here.

(8) This is the place with the hot spring being on the left. The steam coming off indicates it's indeed warm there. Hmm.. warm. I'd take a bath there right away!

(9) Only a single pine tree stands here.

(10)The screen with an intersection of four paths in total. The upper right path leads to screen 8, and never to screen 13. If you go south from screen 13 you will come out of here, though. The path on the upper left also leads to area 8. To find the Added Cut Materia, take the upper right path, and check the second screen well. The Materia lies on the right side. On the map, it's the section of the dot.

(11)Looks like a mountain trail, snowy. There is a Moai Stone Face hidden near the rocks on the upper left side of the screen.

(12)This is the Snow Field (feld, field, at least it fits in). The wind changes here, so you have to place landmarks while walking to indicate what direction you were coming from. In the middle of this field is a cave with an All Materia. Yeah, I know. Crappy.

(13)This can only be accessed from the snow field if you head east from there.
In the cave you can find 'Snow', and battle her if you touched the hot spring at area 8 first. Your reward will be the Alexander Materia. And yes, you can do this even on disc 3 if you wanted. The same holds true for all other Great Glacier items. Tip: Make sure you steal a Circlet from Snow (or any Snow enemy).  It's a GREAT accessory that increases your Magic and Spirit(Mdefense) by 30!

So you're after the elusive Alexander Summon Materia, aren't you? Well, it can be a little tricky to find, but if you follow this video you won't have any problems finding Snow. Just make sure you already touched the hot springs in one of the earlier areas.

When you've grabbed the items you want, go to Mr Holzoffs House (by collapsing, for example).