But Having a much larger catchment it can be a disappointing trickle or a wall of white water death.
We got it almost perfect.
We meet up and waste no time walking to the end of the fire trail and making our way down to the upper falls.
We bypass the first cascade and its inviting plunge pool.
Kent leads us pass an anchor set mid river left to find another just to the left of the main flow.
All abseils except the big one have easy escape routes back to the exit trail so you can pretty much choose your own adventure with doing a part or the whole.
Our first 3 slabby abseils are between 8 and 15m high. They are a bit of fun and nothing technical.
It’s a beautiful series of falls interspaced with plunge pools
Joel and I have the long ropes and get sent ahead to set the big drop.
From Kent’s description I’m nervously looking for a narrow ledge I need to traverse across which may or may not be slippery.
I’m standing on the edge of a wide slopping platform with heaps of grip looking for something below.
Bolts are behind you. Says Joel
I look at the wall behind me.
On the ground.says Joel.
Oh
I know this particular drop was pioneered by members of one of the caving clubs a few years ago.
2 odd looking bolts are set on the ground 7 or 8m back from the edge. 1 is a 8mm cap screw. The other a type I’ve not seen before….
A nice shiney new glue in has been added and all 3 equalised using D shackles.
We set up and Joel leads the way down. We have about 76m of rope out and by the time he gets to the next big ledge and traverses across to the rebelay there is maybe 3m of tail left.
As Kent heads down the rope snags behind a nub of rock which gets dislodged as he traverses at the bottom. He calls up a warning over the two way.
Dave about to descend
The rest of us get down no drama but Kent is reluctant to pull rope from directly below.
Joel devises a plan which will allow us to descend the next 12m abseil on a biner block, tie the pull cord for the previous ropes to the biner and pull rope from both pitches together from a safe spot on the far side of the plunge pool
We all head down. Most swim across the pool. Joel does a nice traverse climb to avoid the swim.
Pete follows Joel but does not avoid the swim…
I stay dry, just
The main falls. Around 90m
We start to pull and the system works perfectly
1 rope down.
2 two ropes down
3rd rope clears the anchor the end tumbles down and lands in a ledge. I start to pull.
It comes.
It comes .
It does not come.
Joel and I spend a bit of time trying different angles and stuff and it’s stuck good and proper on the only ledge not accessible from the exit track.
Next time we think we’d set this drop, leave the rope there and collect it on the way out. Not only would it avoid a stuck rope but it would avoid the need for 2 x 76m+ ropes and carrying it out the bottom half of the exit.
Joel looking further down as storm clouds begin to roll in.
Kent on the next one which passes under big boulder halfway down
Looking back up the main series of drop. Can you spot Dave, Cotter and Joel?
Finally we get to the wetter part of the trip. We are not quite 3/4 of the way down, still 150m or so above the Kowmung.
Below a series of falls and plunge pools
Above thou, the sky is cranky.
Dark clouds, thunder and a spattering of rain.
Big storms were predicted for later in the day. It looks like they arrived early. Standing on exposed granite in a lightning storm probably isn’t the best idea so we opt to abort the trip and scramble out to the exit track.
The storm doesn’t really hit in full, thou I later learn it hit the mountain with a good smash of hail. While disappointed not to complete the trip to the bottom we are comfortable with the call.
Besides, it gives us a good excuse to comeback and finish the journey.
“A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but because of its persistence.” – Jim Watkins
Jason, Vince, Hywaida, Kris, Dave, Kylie and meeee.
It had been a while since we did a trip down K-Main and with a little bit of water still about we thought it would be a great opportunity to go and get wet.
A beautiful day in the mountain myst
Water levels were lowish but still up enough for the falls to have reasonable flow
Our last few trips here have been via the slot. I’d about forgotten this little alcove on the Wall
Me on the final pitch of the Wall with Jason manning the next anchor
Jason and Kris.
Vince on anchor duty with Hywaida getting set
Top of the bridal veil abseil
Hywaida in the Bridal veil
top of the final abseil
Kylie
And then its a quick boulder hop down to the exit.
the overcast conditions were welcome on the climb but the route up the ridge was a lot looser than I expected with the soil very dry despite with the moisture in the air.
Despite being right next to Bindook cattle Station Bindook falls are in the middle of nowhere.
Sure it’s an interesting bit of nowhere but it’s a longish drive from anywhere.
The creek cuts a short but pretty slot down a series of Falls that have 2 main points of interest
1) they cut through hexagonal columns of basalt (Edit: apparently it’s not basalt but Barrallier Ignimbrite. Ignimbrite is basically the result of hot ash flows if I am understanding things, which I usually don’t)
b) it’s called a chasm.
Plus
iii) the distance means it’s less visited than a lot of blue mountains canyons.
Any hoo it’s been on my radar for a while only I thought you needed permission to cross the private property and I thought it was a very long drive to get to.
A tiny bit of research revealed you can skirt around the property within the boundary of the National park and it wasn’t that much longer a drive than it is to Kanangra which makes it an easy day trip from my place.
And so we thought why the hell not.
It’s a pretty drive made prettier by a dusting of snow coating the pine trees on the way out through Shooters Hill. And the road past mt Werong to Bindook is very scenic indeed. It’s awe inspiring country
We had no problem finding a spot to park and making the short walk to the start of the chasm.
Making our way down to where the creek first cuts into a narrow slot we are greeted by 2 smallish drops each with a long swim at the bottom and little to no anchor options between
The start of the chasm
We discussed setting an anchor for the first abseil and linking them together but it looked like it might be a tricky pull down in cold water so we opted to bypass a short section and abseil in from the side.
There was a reasonable flow of water so I believe the murky green is due to calcites in the strata?
Bypassing the first 2 drops with a 40m traversing abseil from trees above.
Looking down the amazing “chasm” towards the chock stone. With a bit of effort we were able to use the ledge on the left to avoid the early swim.
The anchor for the next abseil was threaded throu a single piton jammed in the back of the chock stone.
We searched for a while for a feasible back up without luck. Test weighting the anchor showed the piton to be solid and with a stepped, scrambley abseil we decided it was good enough and Gadget went down first.
You don’t really notice the columns until you look back
I perch above the pool and pull the rope. It comes easily and I stop to take out the biner block I had in place then go to pull the last bit down…. It locks solid!
It had come super easy til then. But nothing I could do would get it to budge. I assume the end has knotted itself on the ring and not wanting to waste too much time as Kylie was wet and waiting at the next anchor, I resort to cutting the rope.
The next anchor looks like it needed replacing 15years ago… it partly crumbles as Gadget inspects it. Other bits are so stiff we had to cut them out.
Gadget checking angles.
The next abseil is off old pitons again. At least there are 4 of them but we take a bit of time to set new tape. It was impossible to equalise them in the direction we wanted to abseil but again they felt solidly placed. And Gadget lead the stepped 45m abseil.
Another cold swim greeted us at the bottom of this one.
We pull rope from the far side of the pool then have a brief look for an anchor for the final 60-70m drop.
There wasn’t much in the way of obvious anchors and spying a steep ramp leading up to the right we opt to exit early.
It’s steep, loose and at times narrow but it goes.
Back up top we push our way through black thorn thickets up to the clearing below the property fence line, then make our way back to cross the top of the chasm and thus back to the car
Nice spot for a picnic
Part size: 2
Time: 4hr car to car.
Big places help you realise how small you and your problems are
It’s June. We are sleeping in and heading to Kanangra for a lazy half day of canyoning.
If that sounds odd we aren’t really “canyoning.”
The plan is to do the abseil trip down Box Creek falls. Ropes aren’t really necessary as you can scramble down right beside all the drops (as Dave and Phill did) or take an even easier walk down a little bit further right.
But anyhoo we had ropes so we were going to abseil.
Friday had been misty and miserable Saturday dawned bright and cold!
Like really cold.
It’s been ages since I’ve seen Jen so it was cool to catch up with her. And it was the first time meeting Phil and Dave.
It’s a pretty creek. But for an abseil trip… as Jason said you could ride a mountain bike down it.
Kylie psyching up for a cold swim at the bottom of abseil 1
Apparently I missed the bolts on this one as I walked down the slab beside it …
Jen wondering if it’s worth another cold dip
In the end she decided just to walk down and have a snooze in the sun while we continued to play with ropes
Aimee was keen to keep braving the water
Jason handled rope duties for most of it.
Phil and Dave walking down beside the “falls” to take photos of the idiots in the water.
And then we get to the top of the big drop.
Normally if I was at the top of a 65m abseil at Kanangra I’d be a little nervous. They are intimidating.
This one wasn’t.
It didn’t look to be that big or committing.
We set up.
There’s a series of ledges. Says Jason as he leads the way.
Going over the edge I see it doesn’t really get vertical at all. But it’s a bit of fun.
Dave decides to give the last one a crack
It would be cool to see with more water, thou I doubt it would hold water for long. Aimee says she walked up to the base in 2018 and it was bone dry.
Lunch in the glorious sun back at the top of the last absiel
So what did I think of it?
It’s kinda like an even less technical Dione Dell without the crappy walks between abseils. It’s not canyoning but a nice creek scramble between 2 optional abseils. It would be a nice spot for a swim early autumn.
Surround yourself with awesome people. Experience awesome things
Hey Flynny, want to do something tomorrow. The standard message from Madie
Sure.
Would you rather do K-Main or Danae or both?
Now some people may think she was joking but Leo and Madie had recently completed the 3 in a day, Danae, Kalang and Kanangra Main challenge in a tad over 13hrs car to car. She was serious
Now both canyons are awesome but I’d missed out on some great trips to Danae this year due to other commitments and I ain’t fit enough to do both in a day I so I’m pushing for Danae.
Cool. Leo wants to try the exit over the Spires…..
In the back of my head I recall horror stories of the Spires. Climbing up to abseil down to climb up some more. Getting benighted. destroying souls…
Will I get up the climbing? Ask I
It’s easier than Butterbox. Says Leo. It’s just a walk. (The things Leo says: 1a.)
Anyhoo it’s early but not stupid early when we hit the fire trail and trek in.
During their 3 in a day the Mad Ones had descended Danae in fairly high flow. As we crossed the upper reaches of first, Kanangra brook (Kalang) then Kanangra creek they remarked they were up considerably compared to then. Hmmm.
But Danae is hard to judge. Despite the Kalang and Kanangra crossings being up the top of Danae looked to be down a bit
Back not that long ago I hadn’t been all that interested in the Kanangra canyons. I’d done Dione Dell and Kalang (dry line) a few times but mainly because of the company. The trips themselves just seemed to be about abseiling beside waterfalls for the sake of abseiling beside waterfalls, which wasn’t a big appeal to me.
But then we did Danae. I’d been told Danae was a bit Blah in low water and a bit Waaa in high water. We got it pretty much perfect for our skill levels at the time and when we got to the waterfall abseil. I was like, Ok. Now I get it.
Looking back the water levels were quite tame, but our skill set has grown a lot since the days of us using double rope throw and go.
2018 seems like forever ago
Today it was a good level for fun with an experienced crew
Aimee about to get rinsed good
You swing behind the flow momentarily then halfway down you cop the lot
Aims heading into the hole on the drop known as Danae Direct
Russ!
How’s the polish on that log
This is not a paid endorsement 🙂
me about to get smooshed
And then comes the boulder field
Field is misleading. It’s more a tumble. A steep tumble.
Last time I was here is was fairly dry and hot. In the cool with more water it was a lot more interesting. But I was having a bit of an off day. I just felt a bit unbalanced so I was slow(er than usual) and it and the creek walk below sapped a bit of energy
Looking down Pooken Hole from the top of the boulder Field
And at the end of the boulder field is this prime example of an anchor. Bolts are bad. 80yo pitons are Ok. MKay?
I was pretty glad to get to the junction with Kanangra creek and stop to stuff some food in
but then it was time to go up.
The start wasn’t too bad. No where near as steep and stabby and the standard exit
It got steeper and soon we were swimming through the veg. Still it wasn’t spikey like absolutely everything on the standard exit. And I had 4 people in front of me breaking a trail 🙂
and the views were magic
But still we go up. Still it gets steeper.
And every rock was loose under hand and under foot.
Hey Madie. Say I. I think we are even
What for? asks she
For whatever the fuck it was I did to you to make you hate me so much (Things Flynny says 1.0)
Now we may have taken bets on when Madie would cry but the harder it got the more she laughed at my suffering. that’ll learn me
Hey Leo are you sure it’s easier than Butterbox?
It’s nothing like Butterbox. You don’t need a rope (The things Leo says 1.b). It’s just a walk
It never really progressed from scrambling to rock climbing but it was exposed and everything was loose. Even the stuff that looked solid you couldn’t trust as it was liable to crumble. test every foot hold. Wiggle every hand hold
From the top of the lower Spire we descend down a bit to a narrow saddle/bridge to gain the upper Spire. I can’t say I wasn’t nervous getting to the saddle or crossing it
There a 400m drop to Kanangra creek on one side and 300m drop to Danae on the other
The “Narrow bit”
And the climb up to the upper spire was steeper
We get almost to the top of the second Spire and there is a small wall in front of us.
What do the track notes say?
If you get to a spot where you think you need to rope up you are off track, retreat and look for another way.
Well that’s as handy as a handful of dandruff to a bald man. There were spots where Id say a lot of parties would have liked to rope up already. We are on a narrow ridge, left looks shit. Right looks worse. There’s no other way.
This is the most fucked exit I’ve ever done. (Things Flynny says. 2.0)
Madie sends Leo down to check out a ledge to the right..
I like the look of the face. (Things Leo says 2a)
Leo ropes up and climbs the small nose. hey there is a pass on the left if I can get rid of this tree. He proceeds to jump on the fallen tree to dislodge it.
You still have me on belay yeah? (things Leo say 2b)
The pass proves to be another easy scramble.
This seems to be the theme of the Spires. You look up at an imposing face and just around the corner sometimes left, but mostly right is a much easier scramble
Now we are on top of the Second Spire and we are looking at a deep saddle and the imposing face of Spire Head. 3 Abseils are needed to get down to the saddle.
and then it’s up again.
The view form on top of Spire head is amazeballs. That’s Kalang Falls pumping with the Walls stretching out to the left. Further left out of shot is views over the dam and the Blue breaks
From there it’s a fairly easy walk with Madie leading the way up over Big Misty and out to the car
13.5 hrs car to car at a fairly steady pace.
As I said before I had been a bit off (too much Xmas cheer or sumfink) so it was a big day for me. But an awesome day none-the-less, spent with amazing people.
Now lets never ever mention exiting by the Spires ever again (Things Flynny says 3.0)
TBH the views were amazing and the climb up, while long and expose in spots wasn’t too difficult so I probably would do it again. Just not tomorrow. Or even next week. but maybe one day…
I didn’t tell you it would be easy. Only it would be worth it. Anon
Getting to the start of the slot involves traversing across a loose narrow ledge. Jason was leading the way.
hey, did you see that? Calls I
See what?
Highland Copperhead snake (Austrelaps ramsayi) tucking his head into his hidey hole
Of course now the rest of us need to get past. I’m pretty comfortable around snakes and I’m hoping no one else freaks out. I point out the unexpected hazard and step over.
Kylie steps up but the rock she steps on moves. The tail quickly disappears.
OK be careful and don’t step on those 2 rocks….
To my relief everyone comes across without hesitation and snakey stays safe in his hole.
The slot has a bit of a reputation for projectiles. The top of P1 and the stance in between P1 and P2 are littered with loose rocks, anything from pebble size to large slabs. If you are heading in you need to make sure your group is extremely careful. It’s Kylies trip and I didn’t want to take over but I did stress no one was to move above P2 while people were on rope and we didn’t have an issue.
The rest of the photos are in no particular order as there are so many waterfalls and I enjoy the experience so much that looking back I struggle to remember what order they came in.
Photo credits to the various people mentioned above
It’s getting late by the time we reach our exit. When doing awesome stuff with awesome people time has no meaning for me and for various reasons the descent had taken longer than expected.
With the days getting shorter it was going to be touch and go for us to get up the scrambles before dark.
I’ve done the exit up the ridge several times now but each time I seem to go a slightly different way and experience a different number of scrambles with varying degrees of dodginess.
There’s a bit of a track starting to form now but that’s not to say it takes the best path and a coupe of branches definitely takes you on more difficult routes. This time up we miss all the trickiest scrambles except 1. It was shitscary but we all got up it with just a little swearing and encouragement and we reach the tourist track just as the light is fading.
All in all another excellent day out with truly amazing people
After being devastated by fires, ravaged by flood and generally off limits with COVID restriction Russ and Libby looked like they were finally going to get hitched… Wait, that’s a different story, I mean the Kanangra-Boyd NP was quietly re-openned to remote activities on Christmas eve 2020. That meant access to the Kanangra canyons was back on. Woot Woot!
‘Cept the weather was miserable and water levels kept most sensible parties away.
But water levels began to recede and reports started coming in that well equipt groups with white water experience and skill had successfully begun negotiating a couple of the more popular ones or, at least, parts there of.
We needed to get the gang back together for sumfink big before Russ had to take a break to keep himself pretty for the nuptials or sumfink and photos from Kanangra Main to the emergency exit below pitch 3 looked ace. So plans started to be planned in our very unplanned, half planned, let’s solidify the plan as we go kinda planning routine.
The Kanangra area tends to hold it’s water levels longer than the typical Blue Mountain canyons but a week of sunny weather had things easing off a bit and a bunch of different options were optioned up before we finally opted a full run of K-Main via the Slot option.
Eager Beavers setting off in glorious sunshine and the vivid Kanangra-Boyd regrowth
Last time I attempted a trip through the Slot things did not quiet go to plan and eerily as we traversed across the top of the usual entry there was another group were setting off down the main wall again.
Same anchor, slightly different angle 14 months apart
We slip past the main entrance and gear up above the slot. There is a buzz of excitement as I set the rope and one by one the others make their way down
Myself and Sterlo were the last to arrive at the start of pitch 2 and relieve Leo off anchor duties so that he can head down to lead the money pitch
Leo heading down Pitch 2, you may be able to make out Madie, Gibbo and Russ way down below
The roar of the falls and the spray at the start of pitch 3 was intense.
Tingles. Nervous excitement. Stoopid grin. I rope up and head on down.
White noise.
But not what I was expecting. P3 crosses through the falls but as it has tumbled down the 100m above the water has bounced of the walls and spread out, dissipating the full force into a wide mist. And lots of wind.
Hitting the pool below I was surprised it wasn’t a torrent of flow. I make my way through the mist to once again relieve Leo at the anchor. He continues down the next drop where the other group are just setting their next anchor
Even though short, P4 was probably the trickiest. There was a bit of flow in the pool at the bottom with a wash over risk if you were not careful. Leo set a guide line to help the rest of us across.
I man the anchor and enjoy the spray and wind as the others make their way first to me and on to Leo
From here down we are on the standard route though the extra water makes it seem anything but standard
We soon leap frog the other group and continue our way down
Madie in the white stuff
Madie at the bottom of our pitch 5 with the top of the falls 170 or so meters above her
Madie disappearing into the froth
Russ half way down one of the prettiest abseils in Aus
Sterlo is in there somewhere
This one is optional or you can walk around and jump…
And after abseiling to the halfway ledge and jumping this beauty we haul out into the sun for lunch
So the usual exit is to continue down 45mon or so to the Kalang (Kanangra Creek and Kanangra brook) junction and then up murdering gully or manslaughter ridge. We thought we might try another option
We head up a steep rocky gully that at times blurred the line between scrambling and rock climbing
We make good time and eat the elevation but are nervous we will get cliffed out. The map wasn’t exactly inspiring. About half way up I spot a vegetated gully coming in to the side. I reckon that will go. Says I
We have a bit of a pow wow and Russ checks the map.
I think he could be right says, Russ. The side gully looks more promising on the contours than the main gully
Should we take Flynny’s gull or stay in the main one.
Whoa there! If the gully goes it can be Flynny’s gully. If it doesn’t it’s Russ’s gully. Say I
We head up the side gully.
It’s steep and loose. Think manslaughter ridge but looser with no room to traverse. Crawl up 2 steps. Slide back one. Shower your mates below with pebbles, rocks and the occasional boulder. Grab a spikey shrub or cutty grass, hope for the best
Sometime later we reach the base of the top cliff and begin to traverse around hoping that it will peter out.
Peter, peter. Pumkin eater.
But soon it appears our way is going to be barred by cliff dropping back into the gully below.
The nose always goes, sometimes.
Leo finds a weakness in the nose above us and manages to get up to drop a rope back down. Gibbo heads up. Followed by Madie.
Where’s Sterlo?
Hey there’s a gully around the corner you can walk up… Sterlo is up top. Me and Russ opt to follow him up
Flynny’s gully is renamed Craigs Crying Crack. I mean I only cried once, but whatever. It goes but it has some hair on it. it ain’t fun and we’re not sure if it saved us any time
How ’bout dem views thou
party size: 6
Time: 8hr car to car with along lunch
Remember your comfort zone is a very dangerous place to be
The Wizard, Aimee, Ed, Ethan, Gabby, Jamie, Matthew and me. Plus a bunch of unexpected but very much appreciated guests.
When the Wizard invited me out to do K-Main again I was in 2 minds. I don’t like repeating canyons too soon, I rarely do the same canyon more than once a season. Getting to know them too well takes a bit of the adventure out of it for me. But he had an awesome crew assembled, and it’s K-main and they were going in via the Slot.
I really wanted to check out the slot.
I knew Ed was super keen on it too so I OKed an invite for him and Ethan and jumped aboard the K-Main train.
With fires raging across the state it was definitely a factor we considered before heading out but with more favourable conditions predicted and with Kanangra-Boyd so far unaffected we felt comfortable with the decision to head out
We weren’t the only ones with that plan. Pulling up to the car park I passed a group of 3 heading out towards the entry track. There were also cars I recognised, I’d forgotten friends had planned a trip out here too. Later Gabby confirmed the group were doing K-main but had departed a few hours earlier.
Anyhoo, in dribs and drabs the rest of the crew arrived and after the usual meet and greet we hoisted packs and set off in good spirits.
We reached the cliff above the start of the main wall just as the party of 3 were setting up ropes and had a bit of friendly banter with them while we harnessed up before heading further around to the top of the slot.
We traverse around to the top of the slot. And what an awesome looking slot it was.
I help the Wizard rig up and he sends me down first
Confirming whistle signals with the crew. We never change the signals. But we always double check at the top.
Matthew waiting his turn
Jamie
Ethan and Jamie followed
The slot Pitch 1
Inside the Slot
Jamie was just heading down to start setting up the next anchor when we heard one of the most horrid sounds I’ve ever heard, the unmistakable sound of a body falling onto rock. There followed silence. It probably lasted a fraction of a second but it seemed like an eternity. My heart sank as I feared the worst. We were 60m down a 150m waterfall. Then a scream and a god-awful moan.
It might sound odd but that moan was like a relief valve being set off. At least he was alive, if in all sorts of trouble.
Then the girls in his group began screaming for help. We called out desperately trying to reassure them we were coming.
Looking up I saw Jamie’s son Matt was on rope and descending. At the time I thought he was too far down to get him to stop so belayed him down.
Up top others in our crew had mobilised to see what they could do, but for now I was oblivious to that.
The calls for help seemed to becoming from below us and with Jamie being a paramedic our first thought was to get him down to the injured person ASAP. The abseil line was set up and he was getting ready to go but luckily training kicked in and we stopped to talk through the situation.
Are you sure they are below us or even if we could get across to them?
Not really. We’d be better approaching from above.
Yep.
We call up that we will ascend. The others call down and agree it’s our best option and ask us to send up the spare rope in case they need to set up lines to get down to the injured party. They let us know Aimee had set off her PLB and Ed was going to where we knew there was mobile reception to phone through details as we knew them.
Again I was thinking we needed to get Jamie up so he could respond if necessary. Now I’m going to admit I was making some big assumptions at the time. For whatever reason I had assumed Jamie was a member of vertical/access squad, even when he said he hadn’t prussiked for a while I didn’t register that wasn’t the case. In hindsight I probably should have went up first and set a top haul but hindsight is as handy as a hat full of dandruff when you are neck deep in a shit sandwich.
A 55m prussik isn’t fun at the best of times so I tried to set him up with an assisted system where a little redirect meant by pulling on the rope from below in time with him stepping up I could give him a little help. Coordinating that is a bit harder than it sounds but eventually he got to the top.
It was about then the chopper arrived, I was blown away about how quick it had responded. But to be honest I have a poor concept of time anyway so I have no idea how long it had been. I’d been told about the down draft by friends in the rescue crew and got Matt and Ethan to hug the walls in case debris came tumbling in. To keep a 9t machine in the air requires 9t of air to be pushed down. It’s bloody awesome.
My turn up the rope. Ethan said he wasn’t confident in his prussik skills. Once up top I planned to set a up a haul system to bring Matt up anyway and we decided it would be best to get Ethan out the same way.
After watching Jamie I got an idea to improve my prussik technique. Is now the best time to test a new technique? Bugger it, it would be quick and simple to convert back if it wasn’t working so why not. To my relief it worked well and if I’m totally honest I very nearly enjoyed the ascent.
Looking back down to Ethan and Matt from part way up
I’m greeted at the top by Gabby and we go about setting up a 3:1 haul system.
Now this is stuff I know and I went into autopilot as we threw ourselves into the task at hand. We had limited space so would need to reset time and time again (pretty sure we went up and down the 3m of hill 254gazillion times) but we got Matt up reasonably quick and easy.
That may have made me a little over confident and I got Ethan to bring mine and Jamie’s packs with him.
By this time my office boy hands were blistered ( Well the blisters had well and true burst by then, There was big chunks of skin missing. note to self pack gloves even if you don’t use them to abseil) and I had resorted to tying a VT prussik from my harness to the haul line and basically throwing myself down the hill as Gabby assisted. (pretty sure I did this an extra fuctillion times) but even that got a bit much and I converted the system to a 9:1.
This made hauling much easier but much slower, which gave us an extra complication. Ethan’s harness was starting to cut circulation in his legs. Hang syndrome is a very serious hazard. We got him to a ledge where he was able to stretch out his legs and get blood flowing. While he did that we hauled the bags up separately. The old hindsight chestnut again, I should have done this to start with.
By then Mark and Jamie were back and between us we got Ethan up the rest of the way, stowed our gear and made our way around to see if we could help at all. The chopper was dropping another paramedic and a doctor as we arrived. We helped cart their gear down.
Rounding the corner I see our mate Jen was one of the first responders. I would have been reassured no matter who was in the cavalierly but I was doubly put at ease to see Jen’s smiling face.
Jen in control.
We were put to work, both us and our gear recruited to help set anchors for the haul system while waiting for more ground troupes to arrive.
TBH I was honoured they put their trust in us to do that but will say they definitely double checked all our work and changed a knot or two to comply with their standards
Once the ground crews arrived we were pretty much just spectators and moral support. and once more volunteers were confirmed to be on the way it was suggested we leave to make room. By that stage t was about 7:30pm and they had 50m of haulling to get the patient to the top. Not to mention His two friends still down on the ledge.
These guys are legends. Pat them on the back, shout them a beer, sing their praise
Staying at the ready
Confirming whats needed
Dr Sam. legend!
Playing spaghetti on cliff edges is what I do the best or sumfink
Legends!
Jen double checking the spaghetti
Legend
Legend
great mates
One hell of a Father son bonding day
Getting ready to haul
showing some of the complexity of the rescue
legend
I wish the injured person a speedy recovery and hope his party members are not too traumatised. I know it would have shook me up something terrible.
Now I haven’t put any details of the incident into this write up. The reason for that is even though we were close by and assisting a lot of it is hearsay and some of the stuff reported on social media already isn’t right. And to be honest it’s not my story to tell.
Hopefully when the people involved recover they will be comfortable enough to share the facts as I think there are some good learnings to be had from it. For now I’m just thankful it was a rescue and not a body retrieval and I’m in total awe of the response from the rescue crews
I’ll add some thoughts on things from my perspective about how our group responded
Practising self and assisted rescue techniques is essential. Knowing how to do stuff is very different from being able to do it when the pressures on. Being well practised means that when the heat is on things become second nature. Certainly helps keep you calm
Stay calm and talk through options before committing yourselves to a course of action that might not be the best one. Your first priority is making sure you are not putting your self in danger or making things more complicated for rescuers. We very nearly committed ourselves to the next abseil. Jamie’s paramedics training and my experience as a workplace responder meant we were able to pull back to discuss our plan and make the much better choice of ascending and approaching from above.
PLBs are great but if you can get reception and make a call as well it gives the rescue teams a far better chance of mobilising exactly what they need from the start. (Consider getting a SpoteXe or Inreach between your group of friends). Both our group and the other set off PLBs, interestingly responders stated having 2 units go off at the same location gave them confirmation the situation was urgent and not just someone lost. This somewhat contradicts advice I had previously that you should only set off 1 as 2 is unnecessary and may confuse matters
Having a spare safety rope/pull cord/ fiddle stick set up. is a “very good idea”.
I’ve always tended to lead abseils on the trips I do, for what ever reason people put their trust in me going first. In the continuing debrief our group is going throu it was suggested by one member that while several of our party are just as proficient at setting anchors and abseiling when it came to rigging haul systems they all turned to me. And so perhaps it would have been better for me to be the safety guy at the top. I had full faith in the people behind me but its definitely something each group should consider. Whose skill set best suits what role in the party?
The rescue personnel are bloody awesome
Oh and a massive thanks to each and every member of our group. Your quick thinking, level headedness, team work and just the way you lot looked after each other, at the time and in the following days, is a credit to each of you.
Stay safe out there people. And dig into your pockets or consider donating your time to our awesome rescue teams, SES, VRA as well as the professional services from Police and Ambulance Rescue.
PS most of the photos above were provided by Gabby and Aimee, even thou I didn’t credit each individual one and rescue crews OKed and even encouraged the documentation.
Oh except the photos in the slot they are mine. Unfortunately for them the girls didn’t get to do the best prussik ascent ever, or sumfink
PPS There has been a bit of noise on the socials about whether the earlier group should have aborted their trip to come back to help. What a load of bollocks.
a. Their first priority is the safety of their party
b. They were 200 vertical meters , several abseils, scrambles and swims further down
c. At least 1 of their leaders ascended the pitch he had just descended but realised the incident was too far back up the canyon for them to get to
d. They heard the calls for help. They probably also heard our calls we were coming to assist
e. We were 25m away with no easy way to get across. By the time I ascended 1 55m pitch and got my party members up First responders were already onsite. By the time the other party could possibly have made it back the ground crews had arrived and things were getting crowded. We got thanked and it was politely suggested we leave. What exactly was the other party going to do other than get in the way?
f. Unless you are there with the limited the info at the time and were part of the decision making process I think it takes a fair bit of arrogance to criticise. Sure, ask the question of why they made the decision they did and decide for yourself what you would or wouldn’t do in the situation but to pay out on them when you have no idea what it’s like to be in that situation….. As some one who was there and who went through the decision making process of whether it was safer for us to continue down or ascend back up to try and assist I have full respect for them and the decision they made. Deciding to risk people on ascent is not a decision that sat lightly with me and I know it put pressure on those at the top. Ascending puts you on the rope a lot longer than descending. There is also a lot more moving around so edge protection is so much more crucial. In the end it was the right decision for us. it might not always be the best option thou.
g. Some people need to realise no matter how much they carry on like a dick online it wont make theirs any bigger
Jamie, Aimee, Mamie, Gamie and shamie…. I mean Jamie, Aimee, Matt, Mark and Meeeeee
Confession time: I’d not done Kanangra main before.
Abseiling for the sake of abseiling doesn’t really float my boat so it wasn’t a trip that ever featured high on my priority list but with anchor options that put you into more of the waterfalls rather than beside them it sounded fun and when Mark invited me on a trip I thought it high time I pop my K-Main cherry
After an early meet up we set off into the Kanangra wilds amidst banter and bravo. Before long we arrive at the start of the epicness and gear up
Aimee is picking up rope craft really quick, wont be long before she is leading us
Adventure Matt
Epic is a word used a lot with the Kanangra wilderness and I have to admit it humbles you as you get dwarfed in the terrain.
Pitch 2
Spot the 4 people in this photo
How’s the Orange glow?
Jamie into it
While water levels are down after a long dry spell, and even at normal level it’s not considered anywhere near hi-flow there is something about being swallowed into a waterfall halfway down a rope
Jamie on rope
Waterfallbow
Aimee looking tinier than usual
She took control of this anchor and look at her go with feeding the rope out of the bag. Nice work
Matt
Aimee
The gang
Below is a typical “Ethical and safe” blue mountains anchor…. sling crumbled with 1 sharp tug
At least there is not far to fall…
I’m glad Mark converted me to releasable systems and flaking ropes into/out of bags. Constantly coiling and uncoiling ropes on this trip would be a PITA. We got the others into it too
Rope stuffing beside waterfalls, it’s a thing we are into…. Or sumfink
Looks like a jump, feels like a jump, smells like a jump… Well half a jump. Woot woot
And then we rock hop down the the Kalang junction and begin the “gentle stroll” back up manslaughter ridge… Helps if you stop to smell the orchids every now and then
Another great day with great people
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face : Eleanor Roosevelt
sleepwhenwearedead 