Scouting Ahuriri Valley and Dingleburn
- Stijn Van de Ven
- 14 mrt
- 4 minuten om te lezen
Bijgewerkt op: 27 mrt
Monday 9/3/26
A part of the team has been training in and around Queenstown for a couple of days, and a few of us have already met Max, and went for an afternoon of riverboarding at his workplace, which none of us had done before. After a completetely new and refreshin whitewater experience, the team is finally as complete as it will be (we still miss you Jaap) for the first time.
This means it's time to dive into of of the last stages of preparation before the expedition finally begins.
We need to scout a couple of valleys and lakes, to ensure we won't waste our effort hauling canyoning and camping gear down a deep valley which turns out to not have any real potential.
I'm teaming up with Lisa to head into Ahuriri valley, but before we go there, we have to drop off Kevin and Erik just a couple of kilometers further west, in Dingle burn.
Even though it's only a couple of kilometers distance, the detour costs us almost 3 hours, meaning we only get to start our hike around 4 pm.
Our mission is simple:
Walk about 15 km from the car park to Top Hut, and scout the 7 high level potential streams on the way there, then scout 8 lower potential ones on the way back.
Check in with the other teams and Pepijn back at the Base thought our Garmin Inreach at 7pm and 8 AM everyday.
This should take about 2-3 days, depending how good the canyons are, and hence how much time it takes to hike up and look into them.
It should take Erik and Kevin about the same time to hike the whole Dingle Burn track and cross the Mountain pass to descent to where the car is parked, so we can all drive back together
After about 10 minutes of walking, we hear quite some water coming out of the first stream we pass, which is marked as low potential, and should only be scouted if we're back early.
We exchange a look, and decide to go and look into it straight away anyway, because why skip it now, and thus having Erik and Kevin coming down the mountain early and scouting a good canyon we could have.
Well let's just say we wasted at least an hour walking over boulders to find nothing of interest, and later even find out it has been scouted long before we ever got to this valley anyway.
At this point, we still had about 2,5 hours to the hut, which meant we couldn't scout anymore canyons before dark.
We still passed some we were able to look into, but they all barely held any water.
8.15: we send a message to Pepijn and the other team.
8:50: we get a message from Kevin and Erik, no potential spotted yet.
The next morning we get up, to start another day of barely finding anything. We only spot one canyon with good water levels and some interesting drops, and even a possible 8 meter slide, but this canyon alone doesn't make it worth the effort to come all the way over here, and haul all the gear down this valley.
Before we head back to the hut, we decide to check the Garmin. Kevin and Erik have already descended down to a hut, about 5 km back from the carpark.
It's about 10k back to the car before we find out the battery's dead, and then about 5 more minutes to find out you can't push start an automatic.
Okay, so that's another 3km to the hut where Erik and Kevin are waiting for us, already fantasizing about tacos on the drive back.
After regretfully declining them their dinnerplans, Kevin and me head to some dots on the map, which look like a farm a couple clicks further south, to ask them for some help and jumpercables.
As our feet are quite done for the day and it's nearing midnight already, we come to the ingenius decision the do this short hike in Crocs rather then our boots.
Of course the farm is long deserted, and the next one is 7 more km down the road, which would mean arriving there long past midnight and having to wake up the owners.
We text Pepijn through the inreach, and head back to the hut where Lisa and Erik
are sleeping already.
Pepijn says Erwan will come help us jumpstart the car around 11 in the morning.
After this we both go to bed tired, but happy to know we'll be able to head back to base the next morning.
It's only a shame Kevin had to wake the whole hut up again, dreaming and screaming about mice in his sleeping bag...
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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