Search and Rescue
Who to call in a canyon related emergency?
In the event of an emergency, or if someone is overdue from a canyoning trip, please call 111 and ask for the police.
Police will contact local CanyonSAR teams, as required,
If you’re in a canyon, you are very unlikely to have cell phone reception, so you should activate your personal locator beacon (PLB). More on this below.
If you are concerned about someone at the Makarora Canyoning Festival 2024, see the Incident Response plan on the festival page.
How to be prepared
Always leave your intentions with someone (where you are going, what time you are expected back, time to contact the police, etc.).
There is rarely mobile phone access inside canyons, so carry at least one Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) among your group. Ensure your PLB registration is up to date and that canyoning is listed as one of your activities.
Carry appropriate emergency gear – remember that if you are overdue or activate your PLB, it may be a long time before rescuers reach you. See kiwicanyons.org for more info,
What is CanyonSAR?
Canyon Search and Rescue (CanyonSAR), or SARChasm as we affectionately call it, is a Specialist Discipline of LandSAR. LandSAR is an organisation providing volunteer search and rescue personnel to assist government agencies’ official search and rescue response.
SAR services are provided for free to anyone in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Canyoning Association (NZCA), as an Associate Member of LandSAR, advises LandSAR on CanyonSAR around the country. Nationally, NZCA provides specialist advice to assist the development of SOP’s, group integration, training and rescue methods.
Regionally, NZCA liaises with local SAR groups to identify what they want/need for their regional capability and help develop it. NZCA can provide specialist Canyon SAR training to existing LandSAR volunteers with canyon skills and ‘recruit’ canyoners who wish to become involved. NZCA also has some ability to assist the procurement of specialist Canyon SAR equipment. Depending on the local situation, NZCA can also help source volunteer Canyoners be on “call-out lists” and/or join the local LandSAR group’s official canyon SAR team.
CanyonSAR capability and organisation vary significantly by region due to history, frequency of canyoning callouts, number of active canyoners etc. For example, in Wanaka/Southern Lakes, a CanyonSAR sub-team sits within the Wanaka SAR Swift Water Group. In Canterbury, CanyonSAR, combined with Swiftwater, has its own team. And in Wellington, CanyonSAR expertise is limited to a few individuals that operate separately from the local LandSAR group. CanyonSAR was only established within LandSAR in 2019, so the situation is still evolving.
Rescue response is typically coordinated in one of two ways:
- If you activate your PLB, the signal will be received by the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ). If a rescue helicopter can be dispatched immediately, RCCNZ will typically coordinate the rescue. If helicopter support is not possible (for example, due to no helicopter being available, bad weather or the canyon being too narrow to winch from) and ‘ground troops’ are required, RCCNZ may hand over coordination to the NZ Police.
- If someone reports canyoners missing or injured via a 111 call, the NZ Police will coordinate the rescue via their local station. The Police will contact local CanyonSAR and LandSAR groups as appropriate.
Want to get involved in CanyonSAR?
The vision is to build up small to medium-sized groups of CanyonSAR specialists around the country, dedicated to SAR and trained specifically in canyon rescue.
Skilled and experienced canyoners who want to volunteer should contact their local NZCA representative (see the list at the bottom of this page). Since we are developing the capability around NZ, each area is organised slightly differently at present. The NZCA rep will have the most up-to-date information and act as the liaison between local SAR groups and those wishing to volunteer.
If there’s room for recruits and the local LandSAR / NZCA reps think you are suitable, you’ll be invited to get involved. The nature of the involvement varies from region to region; It could be an official application to join LandSAR and become a canyon specialist attached to a local LandSAR group and/or canyon rescue team. It could also be as simple as your name and number on a ‘call-out list’. Each region has a different approach, which is appropriate for that area. Your NZCA rep can discuss how it might work for you.
As a general rule, we will only accept people with several years of recreational canyoning experience who are permanently resident in NZ.
Those officially enrolled in LandSAR will be encouraged to attend (free) courses to build general SAR skills and understanding. And you can go on the waiting list for the next round of NZCA 3-day CanyonSAR courses and SAR exercises (usually run annually).
It’s up to local groups how the priority for call-out/training goes, but in general, it will start with people with suitable skills and who have done the applicable training. So if you haven’t done the courses, you might not be first on the list, but you may still get a call depending on the circumstances.
To remain involved, there’s an expectation of ongoing participation in training events and responding to call-outs. Your local rep can discuss what that means for you.
CanyonSAR resources for RCCNZ, Police, LandSAR groups
First, a few basics:
- Perhaps stating the obvious, but canyoning is not kayaking or caving. Kayaking is on bigger rivers and involves a kayak. Caving is underground. A typical kayaker is more comfortable in big whitewater but lacks technical rope skills for steep environments. Cavers have strong rope skills but tend to avoid water, whereas canyoners seek it out.
- Canyoning requires particular skill sets. Canyons are not places where you want to send non-canyoners, even if they have whitewater/swift water training.
- Canyoners can be useful even when there is no true ‘canyon’ involved. Canyoners are experienced in moving through the steep bush (to access canyons, often with ropes) and in steep creeks. CanyonSAR team members have been used successfully in several recent SAROps.
- A key lesson from past canyon specific incidents is that RCCNZ/Police/LandSAR IMT should involve canyon specialists in operational planning as early as possible.
- NZCA runs 3-day CanyonSAR specific courses through LandSAR. All rescuers entering a canyon should have recently been on one of the NZCA CanyonSAR courses or have been recently vetted by an NZCA CanyonSAR representative.
Key resources:
- CanyonSAR FAQ for LandSAR groups. We put together a list of frequently asked questions about CanyonSAR to help LandSAR groups understand how we fit into the LandSAR puzzle.
- Operational guidance. Standard operating procedures for CanyonSAR. The purpose of this document is to help an Incident Management Team (IMT) plan a CanyonSAR operation (in particular during a search for overdue canyoners). It focuses on gathering the right intelligence through discussions with a canyoning expert. It is a checklist of questions. It looks long, but our experience has been that IMT can move through it very quickly and dramatically improve the operation’s efficiency.
- Information on canyons. The Canyoning in NZ Guidebook has detailed information on most of NZ’s most popular canyons. We recommend all local groups have a copy. In an emergency, contact the author (Daniel Clearwater, 021 215 7059), and he may be able to email you canyon info. New canyons are being discovered all the time and are added to the kiwicanyons website. Local commercial canyoning companies can also provide up to date info. NZ has many undiscovered canyons, so just because a creek is not in the guidebook or on the website doesn’t mean it’s not a canyon.
- Funding CanyonSAR teams. CanyonSAR receives an annual budget from LandSAR. We use this to fund national courses and exercises. We also make a portion of the funding available to regional CanyonSAR groups. Our Funding Policy describes this in more detail, including how regional groups can apply for funding. We also have a Reimbursement Policy that explains how CanyonSAR team members can recover expenses.
- Regional groups are responsible for CanyonSAR. The role of NZCA is to support local CanyonSAR teams. Those CanyonSAR teams take a different form in each region. As far as we understand it (and it is constantly evolving), the current lay of the land is as follows. We’ve also included the contact details of the NZCA Representatives who can put you in touch with the local group leaders if necessary.
Region | LandSAR team | How CanyonSAR is organised | NZCA regional representative |
Aspiring & Fiordland | Wanaka Swiftwater | Subgroup | Daniel Clearwater 021 215 7059 |
Westland | Westland RiverSAR | Subgroup | Keith Riley 027 291 0440 |
Canterbury & Mackenzie | Canterbury CanyonSAR and Swiftwater | Standalone team | Grant Prattley 027 241 9948 |
Top of the South | Tasman Swiftwater | Subgroup | Richard Bramley 022 045 0920 |
Lower North Island | Wellington CanyonSAR | Standalone team | Warren Fitzgerald 027 511 1599 secretary@nzcanyoningassociation.org |
Central North Island | Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation | Subgroup | Russell Hodgson 021 456 682 |
Upper North Island | Upper North Island CanyonSAR | Standalone team | Russell Hodgson 021 456 682 |
- For general queries, contact: Oli Polson, CanyonSAR National Rep, 027 5738049, sar@nzcanyoningassociation.org