Near Miss/Trip Report: High Flow Arethusa (v4a4 III), 26/11/23

Daniel in the washing machine (toploader, cold wash only)(Photo: Max’s 35mm)

Authors: Max, Keira, with contributions from Stephen, Glenn, and Daniel

• Trip Members: Daniel, Stephen, Keira, Glenn, and Max 

• Time Taken: 7’55”

• Conditions: Overcast to rainy, HIGH FLOW

Near Miss Summary

I (Keira) recently ended up in one of the holes on the 3rd abseil (whitewater line) on Arethusa. I was under the flow of the waterfall struggling to get out for ~5mins.  Once my head was out I waited with my bag stuck in the hole.  Daniel eventually descended my abseil line and helped haul me out. As a team we escaped with nothing more than a scare but had a few factors been different I could have easily lost my life (~2mins to drown had I been underwater)

I wanted to emphasise the importance of the team doing the research, checking whitewater gear (including whistle, knife?), discussing communication pre-abseil (whistles, hand signals), discussing potential known or spontaneous hazards.  

We needed to use whistles for essential emergency communication (one for stop/hazard would have helped avoid the situation, a continuous whistle would have alerted the whole team of the emergency earlier).  We needed to discuss how to manage a hazard and what would be required of everyone in a rescue situation. In whitewater you often do not have time to discuss options and set up ropes.  You also do not want to send someone in if there is a risk of them ending up in the same situation.  

If you are keen on trying whitewater kayaking or canyoning please do rope/skills training, but please also try to go with more experienced people for your first few whitewater trips to learn basic management skills.

My full incident account midway and reflection at the end.  Enjoy Max’s read. 

Trip report

After two straight days of rain and a cancelled overnight Bungleboori extravaganza, Arethusa was chosen over Bowens Creek for our first practice of something a little aquatic. Daniel and Stephen were keen so get some whitewater experience ahead of an upcoming aquatic canyoning course in NZ, so the weekend’s rain did more than enough to ramp up the wet factor in one of Australia’s oldest* traversed canyons. 

We set out from the car park off Mt Hay road at 10:10 am, descending to the edge of the ridge line after about 30 min where there lay about 80 vertical metres between us and the creek floor. We carried one 60m and one 45m rope to cover these descents. This consisted of an overhung 26m abseil off the cliff from fixed bolts. Descended second and rigged the 2nd 30m drop from a small sloping ledge, consisting of fixed bolts in the cliff, extended about 3m with a long green tape and ring. Stephen again descended first but had to unstick rope from the tree canopy on the way down. From here it was a slippery dirt slope a hundred metres down to a large boulder resting aside the creek where we would suit up.

Above, Max (me) descending pitch 1. (Hot Pirana alert!), Keira on pitch 2 (Photo: Stephen’s phone)

The gang post suit-up (Photo: Max’s 35 mm)

Arethusa consists of a really nice constriction with a few extremely slippery climbdown waterfalls and one 15m obstacle requiring some ropes from one of three existing anchors. Today, the flow was heavy, heavier than anything I’d ever been submerged in. There is a specific warning on the RopeWiki entry for this canyon regarding the abseil in question: 

• The river centre line contains a large pothole with side window opening into the creek. This window can be submerged in high water conditions. If you land in this pothole in high water conditions you may need to extract yourself from the pot (while water crashes down on you) or be prepared to swim underwater through the window
• In very high water conditions the pool at the bottom of abseil 3 can be aerated (providing low buoyancy) and strong current
• The river centre line on abseil 3 also contains smaller "squeeze" pothole + window that connects on the river left of the larger pothole + window. This smaller "squeeze" pothole can be very difficult to see. This pothole/shoot is small. Avoid - high risk of getting stuck and potentially drowning.
• Two near-miss incidents have occurred in river centre line of abseil 3 in recent history. Do not underestimate it.

Underestimation was to occur.

As above, there were 3 options for abseils on this obstacle, one around a tree river-left (RL), one river-centre (RC) down within a jam of 5 or so minibus-sized boulders, and a third far out to river-right (RR), away from the waterfall actual.

Myself and a few of the team had read the track notes in the preceding days and were aware of the pothole+window structure but we hadn’t discussed it specifically beforehand. Keira, Daniel and Stephen had all traversed this canyon in lighter flow, but it had been some time and the location and seriousness of the hazard were not front of mind on approach. The team decided to proceed down the river centre for exposure to some aquatic force. 

Daniel at the top of the waterfall in question. The anchor was a few metres to the right of the frame in a dark chamber (Photo: Max’s 35 mm)

 Once we reached the anchor, a decision was made to descend in order of experience (most to least), with Daniel, who was managing the anchor, coming down last. We decided to descend with our packs strung below our harnesses, to mitigate the risk of being spun around under the flow, and allowing us to drop packs if we were caught in a jam.

The RC descent was covered by a tape sling jammed between two smaller boulders. On either side of the anchor, there was a gap leading down the waterfall, each you could jam about 4 canyoners’ in horizontally. The left of these was included as an ‘easier option’. A releasable eight-block was rigged down the right-hand hole for the first descent, backed by a canyon draw between the eight and mallion.

The setup, abseil strand going down the right-hand route, left route behind bag. Note, WET. (Photo: Glenn’s camera)

At this stage, the pothole described in the track-notes was completely obscured by the torrent of the waterfall, and not known by those who hadn’t read up.

Stephen, wet’n’wild (Photo: Glenn’s camera)

Stephen, the group’s most experienced canyoner, descended without much difficulty (had a lot of fun) to the pool below, by stepping over the pot-hole to its rim. Though he’d passed this way before, the memory of the hazard didn’t come to mind until he was nearly standing on it. 

He noted on the way down, that the left-side RC chute was not easier and had another, larger pool which needed to be traversed to continue down the line. A re-read of the track notes reveals that this pool is likely the one which connects to the pothole on the right through a very dangerous chute. Nonetheless,  it was good that no one proceeded down the ‘easy option’.

 The noise of the waterfall was extreme and Stephen was completely hidden from sight by the water until the final two metres of the descent. A 4-whistle blow indicated a few feet of excess rope, which was raised (after a moment of 3-or-4-whistle code confusion topside, remember to Give before Take). 

Photos taken seconds before disaster (Photo: Glenn’s camera)

Keira, an intermediate-experienced whitewater paddler, descended the waterfall next. Neither she nor Glenn had safety whistles (she notes she usually has one!, using a spare helmet). Within 2 metres of descending, Keira disappeared under the torrent as Stephen did. About a minute passed without any visual on her. We could hear some muffled yelling below and things started to feel very hairy. 

Here is what happened from Keira’s perspective:

I went next, I made a last-minute decision to copy Stephen’s bag attachment without understanding why he had done it.  The main flow was a washing machine, about halfway down my shoe was partially dislodged and I barely managed to grab it with my free hand.  I stopped and tried placing it back on (while holding the brake strand) with immense difficulty given I was still getting pounded in the main flow.  I could no longer see or hear the others but I heard/saw Stephen yelling at me to keep moving and come sideways.  I thought he was being impatient (not having realised my issue) and advising me on the ideal line.  I gave up on the shoe and continued but I was quite distracted and I did not recognise the hazard at all.  In this situation, I needed Stephen to give one whistle (stop/hazard) to alert me to what he had seen.  I absolutely needed to be alert and scouting hazards for myself and would have been more cautious had I been aware there was something to watch for.

I slipped on a shelf, slid down the rope a short way and then my feet hit rock.   I was under the full force of the flow and had to tip my head down to maintain an air pocket to breathe with my neck instantly in pain from the force.  I realised immediately I was in a hole surrounded by rock and unable to feel an exit, though I registered it must be draining given I wasn’t underwater.  

My white water training kicked in immediately and I realised a few things quite quickly. While I could maintain air it would be very difficult to get myself out given the force of the water and I would rapidly run out of strength in this situation.  I registered that I did not know if my team would be able to help me out and realised I needed to try to escape before fatigue, cold and fear settled in.  I went stomach down and bridged the rock, aiming for a high-force manoeuvre.  I struggled to maintain my air pocket and made very little progress for a while but I persisted.  I ended up power screaming out of frustration and fear (not usually my style). At this stage, I had been under the flow for what we collectively guessed to be ~5mins (where ~2mins underwater is enough to drown).  

While I was in the hole (not visible) Stephen realised I was in trouble and desperately tried to swim over me and climb up the slippery 3m climb without a rope (all the rope was in the hole with me).  When he was not able to he blew 4 whistles to try to get some assistance to pull me out.  Our team up the top had no idea anything was wrong.  They attempted to take up the rope (expecting slack) and felt weight on the rope so they immediately stopped.

I persisted until my head broke out of the flow. I rested and dragged myself out as far as I could, pinned in place by the weight of my attached bag. I braced and felt relatively stable but I knew if I ended up back in the hole I would not get out again. I realised I would not get the bag out without help.  I felt concerned I would have difficulty releasing it from the non-locking carabiner without a knife given the force of the water and precariousness of the situation.  I did not have a knife and I usually carry one for kayaking.  If fatigue kicked in or I lost stability I accepted the option of trying to lose the bag and all my gear (which would likely be trapped in the hole).  

I could now see and communicate (poorly) with Stephen.  I tried to yell that I was in trouble and needed help.  I wanted Stephen to give a continuous emergency whistle and hoped he had already done so given I had been under the flow for enough time to have died had I not had air.  Instead, Stephen appeared quite frozen and uncertain, I wondered if he could hear me.  

I opted for simply yelling ‘help’ repetitively so he would understand I needed action.  He blew four whistles (take) and the pulling on the rope threatened to destabilise my slippery bridge position, I panicked and screamed at him to stop, giving hand signals.  He nodded and gave no more whistles but the pulling had stopped quickly. At this stage, Max realised something was wrong and scrambled around to the right to try to see/hear what was going on.  Max was able to communicate with Stephen and hear me yelling.  He recalls hearing me yell ‘I’m stuck’, ‘you need to help’ and asking for someone to descend for a rescue.  I waited, unsure if anything was happening.  I finally completely pulled the damn shoe off and threw it in Stephen’s direction.  

Max relayed the situation back to Daniel at the anchor.  The abseil line now had enough slack for Daniel to use it, I had fed some rope through to try to give them that option. This risked destabilising me but gave him a releasable option. When he joined me I alerted him to the hole, helping him to a more stable section of rock.  He helped haul me and the bag out (sadly not my first time receiving the armpit manoeuvre).  We made our way down and out.      

Dramatic recreation, actual waterfall behind (Photo: Stephen’s Phone)

Back to the view from the topside: 

At this stage we had no visual or audio comms with Stephen or Keira, but could just about make out Stephen’s figure at the base of the waterfall. I scrambled up out of the staging area, aside the abseil river right, where I could yell back and forth with Stephen with some difficulty. From here I heard Keira yell “I’m stuck”, “You need to help me”, and things got very serious. 

Stephen attempted to climb up ~3m to assist but Keira yelled that someone would need to descend for a rescue. I relayed back an offer from Daniel to set up a haul to get her out of her situation. From our vantage points, neither the party at the anchor nor I at RR could see how Keira was stuck. She reiterated that someone would need to descend. 

I stayed river right to keep audible comms with Stephen below and to hear what Keira was yelling. Daniel began to descend for a rescue, doing so on Keira’s abseil strand, enabled by the slack created by her being mostly out of the pothole and positioned on its lip. There was a risk of him interfering with her precarious position by descending this strand, but this enabled the anchor to remain releasable should I have to let them both down.

I was anxious at the prospect of being the next rescuer-in-line being only moderately experienced and next-to-naught in the sphere of rescues.

Soon, Daniel helped to clear the pack from the pothole and the two of them descended without further issue. In all, Keira’s descent took at least 5 minutes, with the majority of that spent under the water jet. The team advised that we descend the same line with physical guidance from Stephen, who could scramble up about a third of the way.

Seeing the situation that just unfolded, the lack of experienced rescuers top-side, and very conscious of Glenn’s valid apprehension, being only a few canyons and a helicopter ride back from a well-documented and extremely serious accident, I decided to de-rig, and re-rig the abseil to the anchor river-right, about 10m up and across the boulder jams, over a large hole in the wall (to be rappelled though).

This anchor itself was a little dodge, consisting of a sling (about 3 slings) around the well-worn watch-band of a horizontal board resembling a closed fist, about 2 feet in diameter and 5 feet from knuckle to elbow. In rigging the eight-block around the board, the sling actually slipped off the fist-end once or twice. A bit of downward force ensured it stayed in its groove, but it was a little freaky to anyone who’d read the above-linked incident report. 

Glenn descended first, then I double stranded down and out the port hole. All in all, the descent of this obstacle took our party of 6 around half an hour. We convened at the base of the waterfall for some sobering reflection on the near-miss that had just occurred. Had Keira not descended second with her white-water experience, either Glenn or I could have been in some serious shit. Reflections will be included at the end of this report.

Slot time (Photo: Glenn’s camera)

There were some slippery and tricky downclimbs between the obstacle and the exit point, and one solid constriction about a metre wide where Stephen and Daniel scouted out some safe white water exposure for us to practice at leisure. The snaking course covered about 10m of intense flow and with the help of some friendly hand holds and log jams, I emerged with a new fear and respect for fast water.

Fun in fast water (Photo: Glenn’s camera)

 We reached the exit for lunch at about 1:30 pm

Lunch spot (Photo: Max’s 35 mm)

There were dark clouds on the horizon, and we had some exit climbing to do. Daniel led the first pitch, up and around, meandering for about 20m over a boulder, followed by a 20 m traverse left to the confluence of the adjacent canyon (Alpheus). 

Naturally, it began to rain by the time we hit pitch two, but we were glad to be out of the canyon proper after all we’d seen that day. There was no hand-line down at the final (Ewbanks 19) pitch, and Daniel had to lead/aid up a very slippery piece of rock to let us all up. A traverse line remained and took us out of the canyon proper. 

We returned to the car at around 5 pm, with some lessons learned and some great experience gained. 

Survivors (Photo: Max’s 35 mm)

Points for improved safety at aquatic hazards:

• Read the track notes thoroughly, bring a copy if possible
• Take the advice of said track notes
• Discuss the plan for each obstacle, discuss hazards and contingency plans, particularly the exact plans for rescue
• All members must carry a whistle and rescue knife
• Whistle codes to be confirmed before descending dangerous obstacles
• Consider alternative communication methods: hand signals, waterproof radios
• Act fast to initiate a rescue (< 2 min) when given the ‘oh fuck’ signal (continuous whistle blasts)
• Ensure the majority of the group is prepared to conduct a rescue

Some notes from Keira:

My mistakes

• I was not as wary as I should have been given my knowledge of whitewater.  I had significantly too much trust in my team which (in this case) was unfortunately very misplaced
• I did not read the trip notes or ask about hazards, I did not know whitewater-specific canyon techniques and assumed if anything was important it would be discussed with all three inexperienced people (myself included)
• I did not recognise the limitations of the group and take a more assertive role given my whitewater experience.
• I became distracted during the abseil and was not alert enough to avoid the hazard
• I did not have the gear I would have liked (whistle, knife)

Generally

• Recognise the limitations of the group prior to attempting a trip, if it is out of your experience range try to go with a more experienced group
• Rope and technical skills are often insufficient in a whitewater emergency situation due to the time pressure.  The best option is trying to recognise if there is a need for something and have it set up already.
• Preparation including everyone reading trip notes and discussing hazard recognition and management prior to an abseil
• Communication, including ensuring everyone has whistles, knows the signals, knows hand signals.  Discuss what is required prior to someone leaving.
• Scout and communicate hazards

Alternative outcomes

• Had I been underwater I would have died.  
• Had I gone unconscious I would not have been maintaining my air pocket and it would have been very difficult to retrieve me. Stephen believes he may have been able to retrieve me if he had been able to climb to me but I am not confident about this, particularly if I had been unconscious. The team would have likely been forced to try to construct a pulley system which would have relied on me locking off my belay device (which I did not know I needed to do and would have been unable to if I was unconscious). Alternatively, someone could have come down to me and tried to attach a carabiner and rope for hauling me out, relying on them avoiding a similarly precarious position.    
• Had I been the last person the team would have had a very difficult time getting above me to attempt a rescue.  Hyperthermia becomes a surprisingly significant issue in this situation. 

Keira administers corporal punishment (Photo: Glenn)