by Chris Webber | Nov 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
On Thursday 9 May 1996, 18 year-old Simon Lubranski went from St Marys to East Blaxland to have some fun with some old school mates. They found an old rope tied to a gum tree above a 15m high cliff. One of his mates swung on the rope over the ledge three times, then...
by Chris Webber | Nov 5, 2026 | Uncategorized
April 9, 1996 – at about 4 pm a young Blaxland woman was left hanging by her hair halfway down a cliff face after it got caught in abseiling ropes. Luckily, she was only stuck for half an hour before Police Rescue were able to cut her hair and free her. (BMG...
by Chris Webber | Nov 4, 2026 | Uncategorized
(Blue Mountains Gazette 17 January 1996): On Thursday 11 January 1996, A 21 year-old Faulconbridge man was fired at by an unidentified person after discovering cannabis plants while bushwalking. The man was walking along a bush track off Chapman Parade when he came...
by Chris Webber | Oct 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
You have three opportunities to hear a “Mountains Mishaps” update this month, (November 2026) two in Penrith. I’ll be talking about the history of search and rescue operations in the Blue Mountains (and all the other things in the book), including...
by Chris Webber | Oct 21, 2026 | Uncategorized
The Blue Mountains City Council is currently dealing with the results of 101 such rock falls. At the moment, landslips have closed many major roads, such as the Mt Wilson Road, Jenolan Caves Road, and Wolgan Gap. The Great Western Highway is closed at Victoria Pass...
by Chris Webber | Oct 20, 2026 | Uncategorized
I contend that, with increasing frequency of rain storms in the Blue Mountains, there will be an increase in the number of rock falls and land slides. I just found a very interesting article that supports this contention, to the extent that it says that most such...
by Chris Webber | Oct 19, 2026 | Uncategorized
I was expecting to find that wind strengths in the Blue Mountains have been increasing over time, due to the increasing intensity of storms. Wind storms cause extensive damage to structures, cut power, block roads and even occasionally kill people in the Blue...
by Chris Webber | Oct 18, 2026 | Uncategorized
For the Science at the Local Talk (November 18, 6pm, Penrith Library) I have found some more evidence of climate change in the Blue Mountains. To start off, here’s the graph of average extreme temperatures over the past century or so. This was obtained from the...
by Chris Webber | Jul 7, 2026 | Uncategorized
May 2024: Despite being reasonably well prepared, Olga got lost in the Devil’s Hole and spent the night near the Water Board ladders before being rescued by SES (probably BSAR) the next day. This story has many useful lessons and interesting insights and is well...
by Chris Webber | May 9, 2026 | Uncategorized
I have written an article about the likely effects of climate change on bushwalkers in the Blue Mountains. So far, nobody is responding to my emails but I hope to get it published some day. I thought the Blue Mountains Conservation Society might publish it, but it...
