Situated in the South Island’s Southern Alps, The General is one of New Zealand’s finest alpine canyons. With 45 pitches and almost no escape options, the canyon requires real commitment and dedication to descend.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks of this canyon was its anchors. Most pitches had only a single bolt, and the majority were old, corroded, and in need of replacement.

This summer, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to re-bolt the canyon, replacing corroded quick links and installing additional bolts so that every pitch now has two anchors for added redundancy. To complete this project, we needed bolts and hangers – lots of them. We estimated we would require around 45 bolts and 85 ring hangers. Fortunately, the New Zealand Canyoning Association (NZCA) was willing to fund the project, provided we installed a specific type of bolt and followed the NZCA bolting code of practice.

The project was completed over two separate trips. The first trip was in January, which turned out to be the driest and warmest month of the summer. Our objective was to enter via the Intermedio entry and upgrade the lower half of the canyon.

We started walking at 7 a.m and the approach took 1.5 hours, which was good going considering the weight of our bags. We then descended 40 metres down the canyon wall and began our descent proper. In total, it took us six hours to reach the end of the canyon. We placed over 20 bolts and replaced 20 hangers, not a bad day.

It would be another three months before we could return to complete the upper section. By late April, conditions were far from dry and warm. Snow had started to fall, and river levels in the area had begun to rise. To add to the challenge, only two of us were available for the descent.

Our objective was simple: enter the canyon from the top, descend until we reached the 40-metre escape rope located at the Intermedio entry, and exit from there.

We started walking at 7 a.m and it took us almost four hours to complete the approach and rig the escape rope. The approach to the top is long, steep, and particularly challenging above the bush line, where thick alpine vegetation makes progress slow and exhausting.

When we reached the top of the canyon, we found it covered in ice and patches of snow, far more than we had anticipated. This meant we needed to stay in the flow to avoid slipping on the ice. It wasn’t until we had descended 15 pitches that we finally dropped below the freezing level.

During this descent, we placed another 20+ bolts and replaced a further 15+ hangers. It took us just over six hours to reach the escape rope, and the walk back to the car took another 1.5 hours. By the time we returned, we had been out for just under 13 hours.

What a brilliant trip.