Bindook Chasm
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| | Difficulty:3B (v4a2) Raps:5, max ↨230ft
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| Best season: | Oct-Apr (avg for this region)
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-34.1775, 150.0854
-34.1724, 150.0956
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Introduction[edit]
Approach[edit]
Descent[edit]
From Sydney University Rovers Club, from the publication "Gundungura"
Based on the 1961 Kowmung Country sketch map by Geoff Ford, the 1965 pamphlet by Athol Abrahams, the Gundungura booklet was first released in 1970.
For the Canyoner, here is a short but thrilling descent - 100 yards before reaching the chasm edge Bindook Creek has cut down through the igneous rock, removing the vertical columns (so formed by columnar jointing) to form a slot 200 feet deep and as little as ten feet wide through which it cascades from pool to pool.
From a tree thirty yards around on the left hand side of the slot, the first abseil is made through a bush, fifty feet to a ledge which runs from the first cascade to a huge chock stone which is jammed in the centre of the slot.
A second cascade underneath the chock stone falls sixty feet into a third pool stretching twenty yards to the mouth of the slot.
A piton on the ledge to the left under the chock stone provides a belay for the second abseil through the fall to a small ledge at water level. From here one may climb along a semi-submerged ledge to the right of the pool or swim to the mouth of the slot. A bit of rock climbing is called for in traversing right, across the cliff face at the head of the chasm to a scree-filled gu1ly which runs down to the top of the 180 foot fall.
One may easily scramble around the last fall to the right or left, however, a belay to the tree on the right of the falls offers an irresistible 240 foot abseil.
Two ropes are sufficient for a single strand descent, but four ropes (doubling up) are recommended.
The best route out of the chasm lies up an obvious gully to the right (west).
| Problem ID | Metres | Location | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15m | River left | Bolts |
| 2 | 15m | River left | Bolts |
| 3 | 25m | River left | Bolts on wall under chock stone |
| 4 | 45m | River left | 4 rusty pitons. Exit possible left or right at this anchor. |
| 5 | 60-70m | River right | Tree |
Exit[edit]
Red tape[edit]
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
David Noble : Colong Caves and Bindook Chasm - 1975- Bindook Chasm - Sleep When We Are Dead
- YouTube.com : Richard Pattison, Bindook Chasm movie