Cold, wet, isolated and imposing. An iconic rock climb due to the unpredictable and dangerous nature of the weather and sea state below, the Totem Pole is a narrow dolerite sea stack at Cape Huay in the Tasman National Park, Tasmania, Australia. It stands 65 metres (213 ft) tall from the mean sea level, yet is only a few metres wide in any direction. The southern ocean often pounds into the sea stacks and makes even getting to the pole quite difficult.
Its notoriety further increased after leading British climber Paul Pritchard suffered a severe head injury in 1998 rupturing his skull and losing half of his blood causing a hemiplegia or partial paralysis. His female climbing partner spent three arduous hours hauling him up to a ledge halfway up the pole where she could secure him and then ran 7km to arrange help. Due to the narrow channel the rescue team was not able to get a helicopter close enough for a direct rescue and ambulance service had to down climb from the top of the Totem Pole to the ledge. Pritchard spent a total of 10 hours on the ledge before the rescue was complete.
If you would like to learn a little bit more about my background in photography you can read the interview @photofeed did with me here.
Robert Downie
Love Life, Love Photography
All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com