4m max drop (a short rope for pool checking is advised)
4hrs
Public access
Very picturesque canyon with awesome slotted sections, lots of swims, and as many jumps as you care to do. There is only one “pitch” which you can rap or jump (your choice of 4m to 12m with many options in between). Possible to downclimb too with some difficulty. A really enjoyable trip with easy access.
Thanks to John Harris for the info and photos.
| General area: | Arthur’s Pass |
| Start of the canyon (topomap link): | http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-42.936483,171.624976&z=15 |
| Carpark (google maps link): | https://goo.gl/maps/qZVdEswKtoAknNJq7 |
| Highest waterfall: | 4 |
| Suggested gear: | No mandatory gear |
| Rock: | Greywacke |
| Anchors: | Single 10mm stainless tru-bolt |
| Approach time: | 1 hour 30 mins |
| Descent time: | 1 hour 30 mins |
| Back to your car time: | 1 hour |
| Approach by car: | Drive to Greyney’s Shelter. |
| Access: | Public access |
| Approach on foot: | Walk up the Mingha Valley track, go over Dudley’s knob, and follow track until it meets the river again. You could also get in earlier by following Agility Creek down to the river without missing much. |
| Canyon descent description: | There is only one pitch which is a pretty straightfoward jump of minimum 4 m. You can choose your poison here and jump up to about 12m if that’s your thing. A bolt is installed for lowering children or checking the pool (which is very deep but could conceivably become choked at some point). There is multiple mandatory swims, up to about 30m long, with reasonably weak current. This is an easy canyon, but does have a bit of water in it. If you tried, you could get into trouble, so take care. |
| Committment/Escapes: | Easy to escape into the bush on true left at many places, but the true right side is very steep for the whole length so would be difficult to get back to the track without completing or reversing the canyon. |
| Other notes: | Two teams descended the canyon within a day of one another, both thinking they were the first descent party! Congrats to Nola, James and Grant, tough break for John and Tom! |
| First descent: | Nola Collie, James Abbott, Grant Prattley 13 March 2021. |
| Second descent: | John Harris, Tom Johns. 14 March 2021. |
Everything looking good! Mandatory jump is pretty awesome (we did around 8m), super deep pool. Rest of it is a lot of boulder hopping, but gorgeous (freezing)!