The number of people lately who have gotten in touch about the Landsborough River lately has grown exponentially. The reason for this is two fold, obviously we’ve started to guide there, but the elephant in the room is the info on the Packrafting Trips NZ website isn’t up to the normally high standards. To be honest, we noticed it too when we ran it for the first time too and it influenced our decision to name our film about the expedition, “Shrodinger’s River”. The description on the excellent Packrafting website differed so much from beta we got from friends, guides, locals and other trusted sources. It seemed to be, at once, Good To Go and somehow an Ego Crushing Shit Magnet…. so lets dive into the info out there a bit shall we. I think the genesis of the weird write up stems from a re-write from the original submission, by a packrafter who has never paddled the Landsborough as far as we know. So there is a mix of really good write up… and some odd takes. I know a lot of folks will be keen to know if they are ready for the Landsborough or if it remains aspirational for now. Here we go….
The start of the description talks about how exciting the whitewater is and how dramatic the landscape is. Which is spot on. It’s incredible. It’s definitely no place for the inexperienced either as it does well for pointing out. Neither is it good to go for those who have an inflated sense of their own ability. So far I’m in vigorous agreement with the description.
However, it then goes on to make some pretty hyperbolic statements from here on out. The intention reads super clear: This is a serious undertaking. But in some ways this message is diluted as the dramatic flourishes are either misleading, inaccurate or subjective. The trip needs thorough planning for sure. That means a comprehensive understanding of the weather, the flow of the river and the likely impacts of the conditions prior to an expedition. It also means assembling a solid crew with the capability to deal with all that the river might throw at them. Being capable to paddle the rapids or making individual moves is not sufficient to undertake expeditions like this. Every team member on a recreational trip should be capable of meaningful contributions to the safety of a trip. This is a team game and sitting in an eddy simply waiting for you turn to paddle the next drop does not cut it on this kind of river. You should understand the needs of the group and allow it to influence you positioning on the river, have a sharp throw bag throw and boat based rescue skills. We are all in between swims and as the water gets harder, so do self rescues. Even world class paddlers need help on swims so “reliability” of self rescue is irrelevant. Being an asset to your team is what counts.
The Packrafting Trips page states that your best bet is to either stay away and keep building your skills if you have doubts, which is solid advice. It also advises to go guided. I couldn’t agree with this more. In a guided trip, all the necessary requisites are put into place. The prep, the training, the forecasts, the assessment of your paddling, the safety, even the logistics and food. All with some of the most qualified and experienced packrafting guides in the world. The biblical high-water trips that you hear about, are entirely possible on the west coast. Flows can go from 150 cumec to 4000 cumec in one storm cycle… but this is unlikely to happen on a guided trip where the forecasts and flows are forensically studied in the build up to the trip.
Greg Duley, who is as far as i can tell, an experienced TV personality and Hunter, is then selected as the best person to give advise on packrafting…. which is much like asking an electrician to build you a house. Yes they might go to the same job sites, but there’s no equivalency of skills. I can tell you from first hand experience that packrafts can be used to set safety as can throw bags in the right hands. That’s not to say that long swims aren’t possible, but it’s certainly not as binary as the gun enthusiast suggests.
The gauge section of other beta is normally one of the most reliable and objective pieces of info proffered. And yet somehow this is made into an ambiguous mess. First of all, if you need a rhyme to help you decide if there’s too much flow in the river of not, you are not yet ready for the Landsborough. If you are unaware of seasonal implications of spring melts or recognising when a river is running rich, then the Landsborough has indeed got the potential to dish up mis-adventure to recreational paddlers. If in doubt, take a guide. The author then goes on to encourage readers to take perfectly reliable data and do some dubious maths in order to decide if the river goes or not. If i’m understanding the instructions right (and I’m genuinely not sure if i am) the flow suggested as Good To Go, is 75 cumec on Roaring Billy gauge. I can tell you that at 3 times that flow it can still be runnable although and that around 150 cumec at roaring billy is probably close to that “Sweet Spot” the author is reaching for. But “Sweet Spots” are also subjective. Some rapids are harder at lower water with holes becoming sticky or rocks becoming exposed, some rapids are harder at high water when they are pushy. “Sweet Spots” are difficult to define. My thoughts are that the author is inserting himself into his writing here and suggesting that it might be the sweet spot for him. This is further evidenced with the revelation that Class V is apparently “untenable by packraft”. I guess George Snook, Ryan Lucas, Jeffrey Creamer, Charl Van Neikerk, Mike Dawson et al never got the memo. Again, it feels as if, with a little slight of hand, personal limitations have been suggested as being representative of the entire community.
The description from here on out is pretty handy with one of the biggest take aways is that scouts are imperative and portages a likelihood for some if not all team members. And obviously the strong encouragement to hire a guide. Even then, the suggestion that the guide runs all the safety for you is not accurate. It’s a team sport, even with a guide. This is not a river for social loafers unwilling or unable to contribute to the collective safety of the team under instruction of your guide and after some good practice of setting dynamic safety cover for you team mates.
Anyways, all of the above is to say that please don’t read the Packrafting Trips description as gospel. The hyperbole of a very well intentioned trip description detracts from the reality of the situation. It’s a shame but perhaps the natural limitation of a resource that is community fed. Descriptions and trips are often presented as definitive when, in reality, they are peppered with subjectivity (or attempts to protect fragile egos?). Often what is presented as “This is the way…” is no more than “…this one time that i ran that river, with this crew, at such and such flows, with this forecast, before that flood…. this is what happened”. It’s useful but perhaps not as reliable as sometimes presented. Pinches of salt are necessary. The website is an incredibly useful resource and we’re lucky to have it. Not all countries have something like this and it will continue to grow like a living guide book. All of this is the result of the incredible vision from Dan Clearwater and deserves our wholehearted support. But’s lets acknowledge the inherent limitations of the format. It’s different from a guide book with a consistent author or perspective and should be used (enthusiastically!) as such.
That all said, we’re super excited to be putting this trips on as guided trips. It’s truely a seminal trip for many paddlers and we’re thrilled to be able to offer a pathway for some paddlers to train up for this mission along with the support both on and off the water to help advanced intermediate paddlers achieve their goals and create epic memories.
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