Tag:Vertical Rescue
VR Practice In Serendipity Canyon 8 January 2026 This was an opportunity to play with the not so lightweight vertical rescue gear while one of the team members was getting assessed! The temperature forecast was above 30˚C: it would be great in the canyon but I was not looking forward to the climb back up! We set out early and were soon enough near the first abseil. We built a rope system to “assist” a member down to the creek […]
Devil’s Hole VR Practice 7 October 2025 It has been a while since we touched the lightweight gear so this practice was welcome! We set off to Devil’s Hole: the first challenge was finding the anchor… We headed off in the general direction, walked around a pagoda (a bit dodgy so a handline was installed). Eventually we reached some old rusty but solid chains. I was the first one to abseil and the Devil did his deeds! I descended to […]
Multi-Agency VR Practice 30 November 2024 Today’s training was a treat! The Blue Mountains SES Vertical Rescue team and BSAR had a joint training session with Blue Mountains Police Rescue and the NSW Ambulance’s Special Operations Team (SOT). Police Rescue demonstrated the use of what they called a game changer in their operations: the battery-powered personnel winch! The winch can be installed on the rope or at the anchor. This model can take the 8 mm lightweight rope. The range […]
Lightweight Gear VR Practice 26 October 2024 Today’s training was the use of the lightweight gear for vertical rescue. Lightweight up to a certain point as everything must be redundant! So we end up carrying one kg of hardware and software. The highlight was the use of the 8mm rope: it does require some finesse, attention and care. We set up the anchors and practiced going up and down. I got re-acquainted with the Shunt which is not my favourite […]
