Dave, Jason, Hywaida, Kristo, Kylie and meeeeeeeee
A canyoning trip to New Zealand has been on the wish list for years but just hadn’t popped to the top of the priority list.
Until now.
The lead up was a bit chaotic and at various points it was looking like not all of us would make it but somehow the stars aligned and, thankfully, all 6 of us found ourselves making the acquaintance of every sand fly in Haast.
With the flies in a suitable frenzy over the taste of our blood we started our adventures off with a bang in Robinsons Creek.
a 15min walk up the hill and we are straight into it.
The patterns and colours in the Schist was beautiful. Haast Schist is a metamorphic rock formed from sand and mudstones that have been reheated and placed under pressure then subjected to folding and uplifting to give it the patterns and swirls.
All good, gentle fun so far. A couple of small hydraulic features to be aware of.
The route is really well set. Unlike the typical Blue Mountain canyons we are use to there are times where you need to set traverse lines to avoid the hydraulics at the bottom of the waterfall, or loose log jams that act a sheives part way down. We are not unfamiliar with high flow canyons and practice this stuff a lot but it was a lot of fun putting our skills into practice in an easier canyon on day 1.
Then we come to the cavern pitch.
Jason sets the rope and I jump on, peering over the void.
It looks epic.
Then I notice a guy in board shorts below…. He’d scrambled up from the bottom but doesn’t hang around long. It was cold enough in the 5mm wettie.
Anyhoo, this pitch was amazebalz
Kylie at the top. The roar of the water beside you is awe inspiring.
OK so I’ve been using this rope for a while now and T2 gave me a gentle nudge on https://canyoning.org.au to do the long term review I had promised on my original review so here it is.
I like them.
I like them so much I bought more in different lengths
Oh, you want some thing more substantial. OK
So a quick count up say’s I’ve used the original rope in over 50 canyons. Without thinking too much on it I’d have a conservative guestimate of an average of 3 drops and 4 people per trip that’s at least 600 descents on the rope.
So how’s it holding up?
Pretty bloody good to be honest. There is one bit where the sheath is a bit fluffy from someone taking a swinger and it dragging across a rock but all in all it still looks new.
The one bit of the sheath that is showing a bit of abuse
Feel: My original impression was the rope had a wirey feel and while it does soften a bit with use it still has a wirey feel. The newer one is less wirey (I believe Tom changed his weave slightly) but they are still wirey compared to other static ropes.
Handling: I also said it felt like it may be prone to tangles and knotts. This simply hasn’t been the case. It’s been pretty faultless and needs no more care on throw or pull down than any other rope.
They can be a bit hot on the hands when dry but I’ve recently retired by 20yr old Kong Robot and have been using a Crittr which has better control on skinny ropes, especially when going single rope and so I’m back to not wearing gloves.
Descent: On descent the rope feels great, some ropes I’ve used in the last few years feel like you are abseiling on a dynamic rope with the rope stretching as you get on and off ledges and juttering on over hung descents. Not so with the Imlay, no bobbing up and down, no juttering, just smooth descents
Water absorption: This is the other thing I love about these ropes. The tight weave just doesn’t seem to soak up water making them nice and light for the walk out without relying on stretchy waterproof/floating fibres.
Final Thoughts: So that’s it I’m more than happy with the Imlay and while I’ve had the chance to try a lot of other ropes while heading out with a few different groups I’m yet to try anything that would have me veering away from this rope in future purchases.
Cost: Imlay now has a local distributor and you can pick up the canyon fire for around $3.99/m
Specs: Imlay lists the rope specs as
Model
Rated Strength
Weight grams/meter
Weight lbs/100 feet
Weight lbs/200 feet
8.3mm Canyon Fire
4100 lbF
57.3 g/m
3.85 lbs/100ft
7.70 lbs/200ft
The Blue water 8mm Canyon rope is lighter at 40g/m and has a higher tensile strength at 5000lbf(2.2kn) but it is $150 more expensive for a 60m rope.
Colours: Imlay has expanded the colour choice a bit. I’m not fussed on colours but it is handy to easily differentiate your different length ropes
*March 2019 I am once again participating in the Wests Cycle Classic to raise money for the Westpac rescue helicopter. If you enjoy my blog or just want to help this great cause think about making a small donation
My plans for the weekend were not going to plan but Sunday suddenly freed up and I thought Madie had a trip sorted out so I send her a quick message to see what she was up to and whether I can jump in on it. The reply was ” Nothing planned let’s do something”
Galah it is then.
Naomi joined us and we set off from the car park in high spirits.
The constant banter saw us eat up the walk in no time flat and before we knew it we were suiting up.
Naomi modelling the latest trends for the fashion conscious canyoner
The lower section starts with this impressive drop and then just gets better
Finding the easy/fun way down the slippery wall
Madie!
It’s a really bad rope pull, you’d be better off pulling the rope on the boulder and sliding down the log on the next drop.
How did you get down the log? Asks Naomi
I’ll teach you to hump it. Says Madie. I’m a log humping expert…..
Naomi does it with style
Me… Not so much
The canyon here is deep and impressive. A stunning bit of canyon
Naomi at the top of the “Guide book abseil”
Not quite how it looks in the guide book
We stuff around trying to re-enact the pose that features on the back of the 5th edition of the Jameison guide
Ok so Madie is not wearing stubbies, volleys or a terry towelling hat as David Stuckey did when he posed for the shot that became the image on the back cover of the guide book and she is standing a bit to far along the log but we got close going from memory.
Strike a pose
The other big difference is the water levels. In the image on the guide book the water is all but covering the log and there is a nice flow coming under the chock stone above.
And then the canyon opens out. Tom rates it an 8/10 and I’d have to agree, if only the constriction was a tad longer it would be a solid 10/10
But we still need to get out and after a bit of route finding we pick up the right trail and find the climb where we decide to play it safe and belay each other up.
The exit follows the bottom of the top cliffline back around to meet the creek just below the upper section of canyon. From there we have a couple of options but choose to reverse up through the top section.
a fairly simple climb up the first abseil
From there we have a few deep wades and slippery climbs. Not wanting to either put wetsuits back on or soak dry clothes we opt for a quick undie run. Avert your eyes girls…
Naomi learns the hard way about the difference in grip on wet rock between bestards and her trail running shoes. Madie and I pretty much walked up the larger climb. Naomi had a couple of failed attempts resulting in some slides and loss of skin before we set rope on a meat anchor for her.
And before long we are back at the change point putting dry clothes back on for the stroll out.
Group size: 3. All experienced
Timing: 7.5hrs not rushing but not dawdling either.
