Caving SRT Rope Skills Training Day (Pre Palooza)

Good news everyone!  I have gotten my act together, pulled my head out of the ground and am organising our annual Palooza!

Given that we thoroughly explored Wee Jasper last year, I thought that perhaps we’d revisit Bungonia and her cavernous depths this year…

There is quite a variety of caves at Bungonia, many of which are vertical trips which will require ascending and descending fixed ropes. For those who’d like probe some of the deepest depths and venture down what was considered (in the 1970s) the longest single drop pitch in mainland Australia and aren’t afraid of seemingly bottomless pits, this workshop will allow you to develop your skills and prove you’ll have the means to not only journey down to the underworld, but also return to the surface.

Long story short: If you want to do the exciting vertical caves at Bungonia (of which there are many!) this workshop will be essential to learning how to ascend and descend fixed ropes and pass rebelays – caving style! We’ll also set up some ropes at the Ledge on the 25th June and 2nd July with some ropes to give people an opportunity to practice the skills you learnt this weekend in the lead up to Palooza.

We’ll be at some rocks on the Wolli Creek Walking Track,  aka Earlwood on the Crag. There can be quite a few mozzies in the area once the sun starts thinking about going down, so we plan to start in the morning and pack up before we get eaten alive. I’m hoping its going to be too cold for the mozzies, but I’m still going to be packing insect repellent.

If you would like to sign up to this workshop, you’ll need to tell me about your previous caving adventures; if you’ve had any prior experience going up and/or down a rope (eg canyoning, abseiling), and if you’ll be coming to Bungonia Palooza on the 4th & 5th of July + what cave(s) you’d like to check out that weekend!

You are responsible for bringing the following:

• Helmet (can be borrowed from the gear cupboard)
• Food
• Appropriate footwear (sneakers, hiking boots etc)
• Water
• Weather appropriate clothing

If you have the following items, please bring them along. Don’t worry if you don’t have any of the following items – the trip leaders will bringing the club caving kits along with them on the day. Do NOT borrow them from the gear cupboard.

• Hand Ascender
• Chest Ascender
• Safety lanyard / cowstails etc
• Canyoning / Caving Harness with a central D / semicircle carabiner
• Chest harness, foot loop etc