Canyoning in paradise: Ponga Creek
- Stijn Van de Ven
- 30 mrt
- 5 minuten om te lezen
As the sun rises another day in paradise slowly starts with scrambled eggs, a cup of coffee, and an easy boat ride to the most Northern creek on the lake so far. A creek which showed some potential on the map, but nothing too crazy.
Since it's 45 minutes one way, and the boat only takes 4 people plus gear, Pepijn, Erwan and me have more than enough time to scout the approach for today's mission, while Max heads back to pick up the others.
It starts with some easy scrambling but gets steeper fast, untill we get to a somewhat straight wall of about 5 meters.
I'll climb it and fix a rope at the top, alright?" I say to Pepijn. Yeah thats okay if you see the line".
I quickly tie a figure 8 knot and tie it to my backpacks chest buckles to start the climb. After about 2 meters some of the rocks come lose and I fall down for a bit, but I'm already sure I can get hold of the next small tree coming out of the wall if I go again, so I go straight back up.
When I get past the first 5 meters it becomes clear it's a bit higher than I expected, but I can't turn back now so I might as well continue. It's about 15 meters to the top, and it takes me about 5 to 10 minutes.
When Pepijn gets up after tells me Erwan is waiting for the rest with the rope, and we'll go ahead and mark the path the way the Maori used to when they were out hunting moa when they still roamed the island.
Every couple of meters, we lay down a fern leaf upside down, to create a sort of natural silver like arrow which is very visible in an otherwise strictly green environment, so that the rest can find our path with ease.
By the time the rest of the team arrives at the first waterfall, I have already bolted it and we're ready to go down it.
This drop is at an altitude of about 450m in a more open section, and the flow is easily avoided, which matched my expectations for the day. I felt like we were going to do one more canyon which would be a shame to skip, but nothing great.
Instead we found a very beautiful and continues gorge, with another unexpectedly good waterfall around every corner.
Me and Max bolted it in such a way that we went through the flow on almost every one of the waterfalls, which made for a fun experience and some nice pictures. It had a bit of everything. There was a 35 meter rappel on a low angle which made for a lot of water pressure on your feet, and about halfway through there was a 10 meter drop which strongly reminded me of a very famous waterfall in Pontione, with a little cave underneath the starting point of the abseil, and water coming down on you from 3 differennt sides.
For me, this is the best canyon we've done so far, but that's partly because I was the first one to go down on a lot of these abseils, since I was putting in about half of the anchors. This meant I was the first ever person to descend a couple of these waterfalls, which has been a dream ever since I started canyoning 3 years ago.
I was just getting in front with Erwan when we decided to put the last 2 of the bolts in for this canyon's last drop, which we couldn't really see from the top, when a funny little thing happened.
See, when you're hammering in a bolt, you want to have the nut a bit away from the end of the thread, to not damage it too much. Then when you've hammered most of it in, you unscrew the nut to the end of the thread for the last couple of hits to put it in as deep as possible before you tighten it. Usually the thread is, by this time, damaged enough to keep the nut on there.
Which I kind of relied on.
So when unscrewing the second last nut, it unexpectedly twisted all the way off the bolt, into the flow, and down fifty something meters of waterfall.
Of course, for the first time in 5 days of exploration, the whole team was sitting down relaxed and watching me handle it in front, and Max actually put both hands on the side of his head while saying my name and making a very baffled face.
Okay, I'll use the other bolt and use a removable bolt instead for the second placement.
As soon as I start hammering in the removable, I realized it's longer than the standard bolts, and the hole might not be deep enough. Which means I have to remove it, which it is made for.
The way you remove them is untwisting their screw, and then hitting it once with a carabiner or hammer, to push it's wedge lose again. If the wedge is disengaged, you can just pull it out.
If...
Which naturally wasn't the case. It took at least 5 minutes of pulling, twisting and cursing the removable to get it out to be able to drill like 2 more millimeters to then out it back in. This whole circus act lasted a total of about 15 minutes, but also was the highlight of the trip for some of us.
Finally, we were able to descent the last pitch of this beautiful gorge right through the middle of the waterfall down to where the boat was parked and Pepijn was standing to take photographs, fighting to keep taking pictures and keep the camera somewhat dry at the same time.
Sponsors
This expedition would not be possible without the support of our sponsors.
CE4Y (Canyoning Equipment For You)
Ce4you produces the strongest and most abrasian proof canyoning ropes in the industry at this moment, and is constantly developing and improving their gear, such as their Shield Jackets and their brand new 7.6mm rope.
TebylonInnovation and lightweight materials for the serious canyoneer. If it can be lighter without compromising safety, Tebylon makes it happen.
CanyonZone
CanyonZone is a Dutch company where canyoneers from all over the world can find their equipment, whether you're just starting out or looking for something very specific. Behind CanyonZone is Gert Jan: a canyoneer and speleologist with a huge passion for the sport. This is where canyoning comes together.
Tebylon
Tebylon is a Taiwanese company specializing in the development of expedition gear for canyoneers. Their focus is on (ultra) lightweight bolts, which are essentially indispensable for missions like ours.
The Canyoning School
The canyoning school is what connects most of us. It’s the place where we come together, can use equipment, and where the foundation of this expedition team was built. They organize canyoning meetups, trips, and courses, ensuring that knowledge, experience, and people continue to connect, even far beyond the canyon.
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