{"id":6271,"date":"2016-06-19T16:42:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-19T05:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unswoc.org\/wordpress\/?p=6271"},"modified":"2020-08-12T18:28:35","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T08:28:35","slug":"warrumbungled-bloodied-t-shirt-mars-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unswoc.org\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/19\/warrumbungled-bloodied-t-shirt-mars-bar\/","title":{"rendered":"Warrumbungled! A Bloodied T-Shirt and a Mars Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Where to\u00a0start? If you hadn\u2019t heard, our Warrumbungles long weekend trip turned into an epic after Eamonn and I were stranded on a ledge approximately 160m above ground, triggering one of the largest rock rescue efforts in NSW (two rescue helicopters, vertical rescue paramedics and rescue volunteers, parks and services volunteers and an SES crew). The story was covered by a couple of media outlets (ABC<\/a>, Newcastle Herald<\/a>, Northern Daily Leader<\/a>) but all of them seem to make some assertions that aren\u2019t true (for one thing, the accident was a lead climbing fall and not from abseiling). We thought it was important to share what happened with you so that you too can learn from our experience and be better prepared for a worst case scenario. So then, here\u2019s our story, and what better a place to start than the beginning?<\/p>\n

We left Sydney in the wee hours of Saturday morning knowing that we had a long day ahead. After a couple of minor mishaps and Ewa calling in sick, we made our way through to the Gow and up to Coonabarabran. The drive into the Warrumbungles was stunning to say the least \u2013 the longest solar system drive in the world took us past some pretty awe-inspiring views of tall and imposing trachyte spires (a little reminiscent of Arapiles).\u00a0 The general expectation was that services in the Warrumbungles were scarce and that the approach to the campsite would be tough \u2013 we\u2019d printed climbing guides (from several sources), topographic maps and packed our gear in hiking bags (well, except for Vicky who\u2019d thought we\u2019d be car camping). What we actually found was a nice visitor centre, a helpful Parks employee and well signposted trails that were, at best, only moderately steep and even paved in certain sections.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
Vicky all loaded up \u2013 important to mention that we never used that bag of spinach leaves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
Brendan the sandwich man<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
I thought these were sandbags but they were actually rocks\u2026was this an omen?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The plan was to hike to Balor Hut and set up camp there. On arrival, we found two guys chilling by the campfire (Luke and Joel). Turns out Joel had interned with Vicky \u2013 what a coincidence! After a quick glimpse of sunset, a warm meal and good company by the fire, we prepared for our climbs the next day. Brendan and Vicky planned to jump on Flight of the Phoenix, a mega-classic 18. Eamonn and I had originally planned to jump on Cornerstone Rib Direct (13, and thecrag guide had pictures\/topos of the route). However, on reading the descent notes from the Bungles Guide (written by the Sydney Rockclimbing Club) we discovered that there was a 35m abseil and we had only brought one 60m rope on the hike in. We had another in the car but decided we didn\u2019t need it since Ewa wasn\u2019t with us. As such, we decided to head to Bluff Mountain with Vicky and Brendan and climb the 240m classic Bastion Buttress (10\/13 depending on which guide you look at) since it was starred in the Rockies guide and the descent was a walk off. However, there were no topos of Bastion Buttress in the printouts we had taken, so we were relying on the route descriptions from thecrag and the Rockies guide.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
Sunset shot at Balor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"crag\"<\/a>
Thecrag's route description<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Greeted with cold and howling winds when we woke up at 6.30 on Sunday morning (turns out this wasn\u2019t early enough...), we set off to Bluff Mountain. We took the following with us:<\/p>\n