Bridal Veil Falls - Abseiling! [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:03

On sunday a few friends and I visited the Bridal Veil falls, near Raglan, New Zealand. This is a massive(!) waterfall. We went with the intention of abseiling the fall!

Heres a view of the fall from the bottom :
You can just see our two ropes to the left of the fall.
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And a View from the edge, note my barefoot in the foreground!

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Wazza

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:05

Heck, you're crazy.

Those falls are 55metres high!

Next time I'll come along for a laugh

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:06

Heres a couple actions shots from one of my friends on the ground.

The top had a nice view of the 60meter fall to the ground below :D
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Thats alot of water!
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MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:10

Here you can see the crowd watching us! There quickly gather a large crowd on the platform at the top, and twice as many people below stopped to watch!

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And another shot which shows just how big this waterfall really is!
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MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:13

Here was a cute girl we met and took abseiling. She was incredibly brave considering this was the first time she had done anything like this!

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Thats alot of water!

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MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:14

Last shot, honest!

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tim

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:35

Looks like fun! Cute girl too, fill flash time though... :p

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:38

I dont like taking my 580ex off cliffs with me.. theres no way to secure it to my harness. The cameras connected, but if the flash came off..

Having said that, wazza's 580ex has gone over Hunua falls twice :P

forsaken

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:39

Wazza

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:41

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:44

That brings back memories.

that bar along the top may protect the ropes but man is it a pain in the ass when trying to send down 2 peole at once. The only photos I have from back then are in that starnge film format :)

Nah! its fine! we went two at a time, I just went about 2 ft past the bar then waited for my mate to jump off. Once then it was fine. Especially with the girl, because having the two ropes so close together meant we were quite cosy the whole way down :-)

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:44

TWICE!?!

I thought it was once.

:lol: *whistles idly by*

forsaken

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:47

might have to join you on your next trip. its been so long sine I last threw myself over a cliff

Wazza

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:48

:lol: *whistles idly by*

Don't worry mate. It's all good. I borrowed two of your girls. I said it was only one. :)

Anyway, those other shots look cool. Glad you had fun, and sorry I wasn't able to come along. All I can say is my head was hurting at 10am on Sunday morning!

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:49

Sure thing. We're always looking for people to split gas money with.

We were actually thinking of buying another couple harness / ropes / decenders etc, and taking people down the falls for $60 or so a pop. The two girls we took down said they would have paid us if we had a sign!

All I need now is a sign! lol

What sort of gear do you have forsaken?

forsaken

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:52

just harness, caribener and figure 8 decender

Wazza

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:53

Who needs gear. I'm a freestyler

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 03:54

Full body / half body? No rope?

I'd be inclined to charge you a small fee for going down on one of my ropes - figure 8s destroy ropes!

Get a descender that doesnt twist the rope into little dohunts! :P

forsaken

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 04:06

just a 1/2 harness, rope fee is all good I know they can get pretty expecive especiall for one long enough to do bridalveil

forsaken

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 04:07

Who needs gear. I'm a freestyler

that I would like to see :)

I'll be off to one side with the camera :rolleyes:

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 04:10

yeah exactly. if you actually saw how high that is from the top, you'd be running the opposite direction with your tail between your legs warren.

Wazza

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 04:28

I can appreciate the height of the falls

http://wazz*****scity.com/potn/12.jpg

I've also done some silly things in my time, such as climbing cliffs with no gear... :rolleyes:

MattL

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 04:31

you cant appreciate the hight from a viewing platform :P

We swam under them too. that was pretty intense!

Becca

23rd of January 2006 (Mon), 06:16

You are a lot braver than I am! Great shots, though. The one with your foot gave my tummy a tickle... yikes! That's a long way down!

NoLight

3rd of July 2006 (Mon), 16:37

What do you guys think about the gregre from petzle I'm sure it is spelled wrong but you'll know what I talking about. I have use one to belay with but never repell and thoughts?

MattL

3rd of July 2006 (Mon), 18:07

Grigri's are great for belaying, and they are fine for repelling too. I use the next model up from a grigri, a petzel I'D

the griri :

http://rescuerigger.com/addins/Grigri.jpg

the I'D:

http://www.rothbergsport.ch/sommer2000/Petzel%20ID%2020.gif

The grigri is a much nicer price though, about 1/3rd the cost of an I'D.
The Id has some nice features tho - such as being able to take it on and off the rope without detaching it from your harness - so theres no chance of dropping it and getting stuck at the top of your rap.

blu82

21st of August 2006 (Mon), 04:30

I can't think of much cuter than tatoos Matt

MattL

21st of August 2006 (Mon), 04:35

Holy Thread-revival batman!

Sorry I dont quite understand you.. You think tatoos are cute? whats that got to do with this thread?

Matt

beckybun

2nd of October 2006 (Mon), 00:58

That is amazing!!

blu82

9th of December 2006 (Sat), 16:37

"Sorry I dont quite understand you.. You think tatoos are cute? whats that got to do with this thread?"

You mentioned that a tatooed damsel was cute.
Just a question based on your comment Matt.