Emergency rescue volunteers are appealing to hikers in the Stirling Ranges to be prepared for the tough conditions before they set out. There's already been five rescues this year with climbers getting into difficulty on the slopes of Bluff Knoll. Rescue authorities say it's putting a strain on their local volunteer and professional teams.
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TVTranscript
00:00 It's not WA's highest mountain, but Bluff Knoll stands tall in the popularity stakes.
00:07 I saw this really beautiful mountain close to Albany and I decided to come here and I
00:13 found this amazing scene.
00:15 Step by step.
00:15 The trek to the summit attracting more than 56,000 hikers last year. The 3km trek was
00:23 rebuilt in 2020 and realigned with more steps. Rated as a hard grade 4 climb, it surprises
00:30 many first timers.
00:33 Fairly physical. This is the first time we've done it. You're not sure exactly how physical,
00:38 you're not sure exactly how steep it's going to be.
00:40 It's actually quite difficult. Yes, thousands of steps. Yes, strenuous.
00:45 It's not just a walk in the park, there's a lot of steps.
00:48 It's quite a long walk up.
00:49 Yeah, longer than you thought?
00:51 Longer than we thought.
00:51 A fitness challenge for the young.
00:53 My average time usually takes me about 2 hours, but about an hour and 45 is sort of my best
00:59 go.
01:01 And the young at heart.
01:02 87 birthday.
01:03 Well done.
01:04 In the clear case you've used it or lose it, eh?
01:07 Absolutely. If you don't use it, you rust out quicker than you wear out.
01:12 But this year for some it's proven too tough with 5 rescues from the bluff, mostly visitors
01:19 new to the ranges.
01:20 The one thing that catches many climbers by surprise is the temperature difference between
01:26 the car park down there and the temperature up here on the summit, which can be dramatically
01:33 lower.
01:34 If you roll an ankle up there, there's no elevators back down. You're going to have
01:37 to rely on other people to rescue you.
01:39 So I think it's just becoming a more popular and well-known hike that more people are going
01:43 to there, which means higher chances of someone getting hurt.
01:46 It's putting pressure on the local SES volunteers.
01:49 You generally need anywhere from 15 to 30 members and from the top it can be anywhere
01:53 from a 5 hour to a 10 hour carry down.
01:57 The mountain with many moods, not always picture perfect.
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