We recently mentioned having “received several troubling reports regarding the Sychryd gorge” and, regrettably, have received more since then – this time concerning gorge instructors jumping into the ‘waterfall pools’ from locations that are not permitted by the access concordat (above the top waterfall on river-right – landing dangerously close to the tree in the pool; and into the second pool from river-left). Some reports have included videos and photographs and in one case has led to NRW issuing a ‘first warning’ to a provider; and the provider issuing a ‘verbal warning’ to their instructor.
We appreciate that some instructors may be keen to show off their prowess to clients, but there is really no place for behaving recklessly or ignoring access rules in the gorges (or anywhere else, for that matter) – or for thinking that “no-one will see, so it doesn’t matter” – and this could lead to:
- clients going away with the message that ‘poor practice’ is acceptable;
- individual instructors and/or providers gaining a reputation (and/or receiving warnings) for ‘poor practice’; and/or
- individual providers, or all of us, losing access to the gorge(s).
There’s still plenty of amazing experience to be had in our working environments while keeping things ‘sensible’, so let’s “Have Fun and Stay Safe out there…“
NB please continue to avoid using the Sychryd river-left bank (including the ‘worm hole’ cave at Bwa Maen) unless you have explicit permission from the landowner; and if you need a reminder of the gorge access rules, visit our Gorge Walking or Courses pages.