The first objective for the expedition team was a repeat of the Dart valley classic “Eagles Nest” (V5A3V). A new possible descent into the main canyon was tipped to Pepijn by Oscar Burford, the founder of Canyon Log, a free online guidebook providing canyon locations, topos, and updates for the UK canyoning community. Many thanks to Oscar for his contribution!
This alternative entrance route starts just north of the classic entry point and follows what is actually the main stream of the canyon. The new line consists of eight abseils and doesn’t require any extra gear, but offers a much more scenic descent into the main canyon.
All abseils are properly equipped with 10 mm bolts kindly provided by Tebylon, Canyonzone, the NZCA and Aspiring Safety.
Care should be taken when repeating the descent, especially on the big 30 meter abseil as there is a sharp edge 5 meter from the anchor. When it is ready the new topo will be published on www.kiwicanyons.org.
This was a good endurance test for the team, and a nice introduction to New Zealand “tramping”, with a steady 5 h (!) walk in to the start of the canyon. An alpine start was had at five o clock in the morning. This was actually beneficial for the team members that were still suffering from jetlag.
After 17 hours on the mountain we were very very happy with the sight of our cars by the gloomy lights of our headlamps. At one o clock in the night we finally had dinner from the local hotspot “Ferg Burger” which replenished at least some of the calories that were burned…
Expedition sponsors:
Aspiring Safety - https://www.aspiring.co.nz
Canyoning New Zealand - https://www.canyoningnewzealand.co.nz/
NZCA - New Zealand Canyoning Association - https://nzcanyoningassociation.org/
Packrafting Queenstown - https://packraftingqueenstown.com/
Radix Nutrition - https://radixnutrition.co.nz/
Rope Access Noord - https://www.ropeaccessnoord.nl/
Canigou Outdoor - https://www.canigououtdoor.nl/
Dikke bak!!