Captain Chaos
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| | Difficulty:3B III (v3a2 III) Raps:
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-44.6492, 168.3565
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Introduction[edit]
Captain Chaos was named in order to stick with the military type theme of the creeks draining the flanks of Turrent Head (2350m). Chaos is also the French word used to descibe a "boulder field" in a canyon, which fits with this creeks many "chaos" sections.
Captain Chaos has short interesting sections of narrow slot, generally with abseils, followed by open boulder walking sections. It is a very low flow canyon which makes it ideal for descent when others in the area are flowing too high, or you are uncomfortable with higher flow canyons but are looking to put your rope skills into action in a canyon environment.
First descent was completed by Greg Tilden and Joe Bugden in January 2016.
The reference picture (below) was taken at the jctn of The General
Approach[edit]
Park your vehicle in the small area (room for one or two cars) either side of the final creek crossing on the dirt road that leads to the "Dart Track" (DOC toilets available at end of road). The approach starts on flat ground and faint Deer trails can be followed at first. Follow the creek to the junction with the General. At the junction with The General the terrain gets steeper. There is no real track, but terrain is through open old growth Forrest (the big green monster) and navigation is relatively straight forward. Climb the broken ridge that separates the two catchments. At about the 1000m contour begin climbing down and into he Captain.
Below is a link with a rough guide to the approach marked in red
Descent[edit]
Captain Chaos has short interesting sections of narrow slot, generally with abseils, followed by open boulder walking sections. It is a very low flow canyon which makes it ideal for descent when others in the area are flowing too high, or you are uncomfortable with higher flow canyons but are looking to put your rope skills into action in a canyon environment.
There is plenty of opportunity for escape throughout the canyon. As this is a fairly easy descent, no Canyon Topo is provided. 2x 60m Ropes will be plenty to get you through. The canyon has a combination of blots and natural anchors. There are only a few locations where bolts are 100% required and if care is taken prior to committing to any one section, it is *almost* always possible to back-track to a point in the canyon where you are able to escape. Having said that, I still recommend carrying a emergency bolting kit and definitely carry some sling/webbing to replace natural anchors.
Exit[edit]
the canyon finishes at The General jctn, retrace your steps back to the car.