Highest drop 95m (60+35 pitches)
Public access
5-14hrs (Depending if you start at the middle or the top)
Big, exposed waterfalls in the upper section, with a relentless narrow slot canyon below. Lots of delicate logjams!
Download the topo for Major Mayhem v5a3IV
Denscended from 800m. Great canyon. Added one ring bolt at an awkward 2m downclimb near bottom and another in the single isolated waterfall in the middle of the walk out. Just hangar and no ring so need a stainless mallion added. Most rapels are off single bolts. This is all good when new but deadly for some unlucky person eventually. Every group should upgrade a few anchors to doubles and we will have a well equipped canyon in no time. I think this applies to all the lightly equipped gy canyons. Also… please stop using galv mallions! Rusted badly within a couple of years. Must be 100% stainless.
Amazing day in Major Mayhem! We dropped in at the 800m entrance
A little more than 2 hours on the approach, less than 3 hours in canyon
All anchors were serviceable. Galvanized rapides on many anchors are becoming quite rusty
Crew generally was in ~5/4mm of neoprene and comfortable (we were moving fast). Those without rain jackets were chilly when waiting for ropes to become free in breezy sections of the canyon.
A more chill day out than some of the other canyons in the area.
We entered at the 800m mark and descended the lower canyon.
With lower than normal flows everything was straight forward.
Still a lot of wood in there and false floors to be aware of.
We did some minor repairs on some anchors and added a new bolt at one drop in a more protected spot.
We entered from the 800m entry all the anchors were there and in good condition.
Descended from the happy place today, placed a single bolt at the first pitch. Some mallions and thread cord need replacing. Overall the canyon is in good condition, still lots of false floors and DC’s. I’ve drilled three holes into the bedrock to mark the medium level. This can be used to gauge the level before getting in, simply walk up stream from the car until the river turns into a canyon then look at the water level on the TR to find the holes.
Top to bottom descent of Major Mayhem, some changes in the lower section since last season. Next team should bring a drill and at least 4 bolts and 5 quick links to sort out some of the badly damaged anchors (a couple of drops missing anchors). Very good trip, if the canyon sections were continuous and less down climbing it would be equal to the general. The route we used to approach was different to the original, stayed much closer to the edge of the canyon and encountered very little thick bush and lots of small tracks to follow along, Happy to share this as a GPX file if you want it.
Also for anyone using a GPS, the best entry for the canyon is around 1370m, this cuts out a steep climb up to just down climb back down.
A short relaxed trip, getting in at the happy place. Canyon is in good condition, lots of false floors and log jams at the anchors (as already stated), all pools are shallow, all anchors including the dyneema cord are still in place and in good condition, a few of the mallions could do with replacing soon. Water level indicator now looks different as the logs have shifted
From KiwiCanyons Facebook;
“We did Mayor Mayhem yesterday all the way from the top. It took us 10hrs car to car. The anchorpoints on the upper part are in quite good condition – we had to replace one since there was rockfall and they were damaged. In the lower part there was huge landslide recently and most of the anchorpoints are damaged / gone. We reboilt three of them, and used coupe of logs to rapel down. The water in the lower part is quite muddy, it needs some proper rain so the dirt is flashed away. It is doable for now, but I recomend you take the power drill and couple of anchorpoints.”