For a while, Kanangra Main was considered the epitome of New South Wales canyons, before NNSW Canyons were opened that is (I think Glennifer now takes that cake). In some regards, I think it still is.
Kanangra Main is a huge undertaking, taking most groups between 9 – 12 hours to complete. HUGE non-stop abseils and on hell of a climb out. The exit climb isn’t called manslaughter ridge for nothing…
I met up with some of my canyoning friends the day after completing Dione Dell, exited to tackle this beast of a canyon.
The walk into the start of the canyon is very cruisy. Knowing we were in for quite a long day, we started very early!
In typical Kanangra style, the first pitch is the biggest! A staggering 135m drop across 4 pitches.
The enormous drops allows epic views as you set off from the top of the cliff, with the thundering Kanangra falls right next to you.
The team pulling ropes on the 6th pitch, right at the base of the main falls. You can see in the back of this photo the infamous Kanangra Slot, which is an alternative way down the main falls but best left for low flow.
Mark making his way down the 7th pitch. As you can see, the scale of the falls here are huge! We haven’t progressed through much of a horizontal distance yet are already onto the 7th pitch of the day.
The views back up towards the main falls are epic!
One of the pitches after the 7th was also the first and only time I have ever gotten my foot stuck on an abseil. I have learnt through courses and through canyoning that this is a risk, but never had experienced it first hand.
Unfortunately the first abseiler moved onto the next abseil out of view (not sure what they could have done to help anyway), and the abseilers above at the anchor were out of view and ear shot.
Once I realised my foot was stuck (and I do have little feet) I felt my brain almost immediately hit the big red PANIC button, but somehow I was able to catch myself first, was able to remind myself that my chest and head were out of the water (meaning I could breath) and all I needed to do was wiggle my foot loose. After a few failed attempts I started thinking through my options… I could release the rope, let the force of the water pull me free and risk either breaking my leg or drowning upside down (no thanks), or keep wiggling. I could have also blasted my whistle to let the others know I was in trouble but I honestly didn’t think of this at the time, I just kept wiggling until… I WAS FREE!
A little panicked and a little too much adrenaline for my liking, I safely finished the abseil.
I think I have lost track of the pitches now… the canyon has 16 pitches in total!
The waterfall above is my second favourite after the main falls, beautiful green ferny back drop and just one hell of a delicious waterfall.
This canyon was also the first time I have ever experienced abseil fatigue, there is so much abseiling and such large drops my body felt physically tired from the motions.
Finally at the end of the abseils, we had a surprisingly long creek/boulder hop to get to our exit ridge. I remember feeling so utterly exhausted moving along the bouldery creek I wasn’t sure how I was going to go getting up the 600mm elevated exit, especially being the only woman in the group.
Its quite a simple answer really, steadily! Mark shot up the exit like nothing else, but gladly (and selfishly of me) the others were not much more energised then I was, and I never really fell behind the group.
I believe we did the entire canyon in something like 8 or 9 hours, which we were very impressed with at the time. We used solid technique and carried 4x 60m ropes with us so we could bunny hop the abseils.
I then drove the 4+ hours all the way home.
An absolutely wild and unforgettable trip!
Rachmartee 
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