Lennox Creek Canyon – NZ (and why I was a missing person)

Lennox Creek V5A4IV** - South Island, New Zealand
6/4/26 - 7/4/26
Team: Leo Garnache, Madie Garnache, Jason Brand
Photos: Madie Garnache

Preamble

Hot off the heels of the first integral descent of Margaret Burn, we set our sights on a smaller objectives. With bad weather coming in later that week we wanted to make use of the few clear days we had. Despite Lennox Fall's prominence, and an enticing 3 star rating, it has only ever seen 1 (known) descent attempt since it's opening in March 2017. Our plan was to attempt the first "integral descent", connecting the lower and upper sections. Hoping to make the trip more relaxing we packed for a single night stay at "Earnslaw Hut".

Day 1

With 240 metres of rope, bolting gear, and overnight gear we start our walk along the Rees River. Soon we get our first sight of Lennox Falls, a "175 metre", 2 stage waterfall that is the final obstacle of our canyon. We have a snack at the bottom, contemplating if there was too much water for a safe descent. We start up the "Kea Basin" track and soon arrive at the "hut". This hut is unlike the mansions that cover the NZ wilderness, it is little more than a tin shed, complete with rat droppings, hessian "bunks", and a earthy musk. We drop our overnight gear and attempt to rat-proof our food as much as possible. With plenty of daylight left we decide to scout the upper section, and bolt as many of the drops as we can be bothered to before heading back to the hut.

On our way up to Kea Basin we pass a rock bivy and contemplate if this was a better place to stay than the "hut". Even if it was we decided the effort of carting our overnight gear up the hill was not worth it. As we pop through the tree line and onto Kea Basin we get sight of Mt Earnslaw above us. It is one of the most picturesque scenes I have ever seen. We gawk at the waterfalls and cliffs and wonder if there is more canyon in the upper reaches of the creek. We make our way over to our start point and get into our drysuits.

The alpine vegetation gives me some grief, poking sensitive areas as I try to get into my canyoning gear. We trod along the creek, bolting and fixing ropes on any drops we find. Eventually we decide we had enough, and stash the last rope and drill. We ascend our ropes and leave our drysuits and harnesses at the start point and head back. As we approach the hut the fattest Kea I have ever seen swoops us and lands on the roof, soon we have 5 curious birds looking down at us. Concerned about the structural integrity of the hut I attempt to shoo them away but they persist all evening. They would knock at the door, peer at us through the windows, and attempt to make their way down the chimney. A quick peek at the log book suggests this is a common occurrence. Eventually night falls and the squawks of Keas is replaced by squeaking of mice. Concerned about the strength of the hessian bunks Madie opts to sleep on the floor with the critters.

Day 2

Our alarms ring, I hit snooze, and Madie, who has already been up for an hour, retaliates by shining her headtorch in my face. As usual I struggle to get my oats down (why do I keep buying them??), and we say goodbye to our feathered and furry friends just as the sun rises. We walk to our start point and don our canyoning gear. We retrace our steps from the day before, this time pulling our ropes. We pickup the drill and rope we stashed and continue into unknown territory.

The upper section of the canyon proves to relatively straight forward. Some simple abseils and we reach the junction with the lower canyon. As we peer down the last pitch of the upper section we see a huge snow cave covering the canyon. Unsure if it is possible to continue through I go down and scout. It stretches for 100 metres plus but I can see an opening on the other side. I signal to the others and we pull the ropes. With headtorches on we continue through the huge snow cave, its roof 20 metres above us. Finally we pop out and spot the first drop of the lower canyon.

The first descent team indicated this was a jump, but turbulent whitewater obscured the landing zone. I go down first, and get hammered by the flow, giving me an instant brain freeze. Not wanting to submerge my head again to check the jump, I tell the others to abseil. We all get out neoprene hoods on and continue. This lower section of the canyon is much more spectacular. There is more water, good canyon formation, and fun obstacles. We keep descending without much resistance.

The canyon eventually begins to open out and views of the Rees begin. Despite being so close we still had lots of vertical the lose. Some small drops leads us to the top of Lennox Falls. We spot the original anchor and place an access bolt. I abseil down and see a mess of rotten tat. We place a new bolt and do some other repairs and peer down the 90 metre pitch. I deploy my rope and send Leo down first. The first half of the pitch is a slab that wants to push you into the flow, the second half is obscured over the lip. We watch Leo go down without a pack, carefully avoiding slipping when he disappears over the lip and we sit and wait. The rope remains taught and eventually we hear the faint sound of a whistle blast. Unsure of what exactly he is trying to communicate I slowly lower him down until the rope goes slack. Madie goes down next, and I'm left alone, with 2 packs. Thankfully the slab isn't as slippery as it looks, and the pack hanging between my legs isn't too much of a nuisance. After you go over the lip you are left free hanging next to the 90 metre waterfall. I slowly abseil down admiring the view. There is a beautiful carpet of green moss that covers everything, but the thunderous nature of water crashing down means we cant stay and enjoy the views.

I quickly pack the rope and run to the next pitch. We do short abseil to access the second stage of the waterfall, and another long pitch brings us to the bottom of the falls, and the end of the canyon. With plenty of time left in the day we get changed and enjoy a leisurely walk back to the car and head straight to the pub at Glenorchy.

On the drive back my phone starts buzzing A LOT. Normally 2 days out of reception means I come back to some notifications, but this was much more than usual. I give my phone 5 minutes to calm down and try and figure out what's happening. I had an array of messages from just about everyone I know saying the NSW Police had been called and I was now a missing person. Turns out in the months of planning for this trip I had forgotten to tell my family I was going. Thankfully the police (and sisters) had managed to contact my friends who confirmed I was in NZ and most likely out of reception. Several hours of VERY awkward phone calls later and I was declared "found" before a multi-agency search was started.

Thanks to Oli and Amelia V. for tracking me down and talking to police. I'm sorry if I stressed you out 🙂

Conclusion

Overall a fun canyon with a variety of terrain and obstacles. It is well worth the descent. With an efficient team and early start it is reasonable to do this as a single day canyon. Avoid the upper section for the most value. In the conditions we had I would suggest a grade of V5A4IV**. Perhaps with less water there would be more jumps making for a more enjoyable day. We came across several of the anchors from the first descent but these need repair, either with mallions, rings, or tat. Super pretty and surprising it hasn't had more descents.

Thanks to the sponsors of our NZ Exped
CE4Y: https://www.canyoning-equipment.com/
We used the CE4Y Quickline 7.6mm canyoning rope for this trip. Lightweight + excellent performance.
CanyonZone: https://www.canyonzone.com/
They provided Petzl "Pulse" removable bolts, which are a lifesaver for traverse lines.

More beta here:
https://www.kiwicanyons.org/lennox-creek/
https://canyonmag.net/explore/lennox-creek/

Also tell your family where you are going, thankfully our emergency contact was able to tell everyone exactly where I was and when I was expected to return. Don't be a dummy and save yourself some embarrassment.