A successful exercise by the Upper Yarra SES has given the Upper Yarra community faith in its ability to respond to mountain bike rescues.
The training exercise was designed to replicate a Warburton Bike Park incident in order to test the capabilities of local emergency services and give all members a chance to experience a mountain bike (MTB) rescue.
Upper Yarra SES member Garion Hall planned and organised the exercise on Thursday 4 September and said it was a good chance to have all members learn the nuances of an MTB rescue.
“After 18 months of trial runs and planning, we did our first real mountain bike rescue in the newly-opened mountain bike park in late August 2025, after a young man who came off his bike on a challenging section and was injured pretty badly.
“That incident happened on a weekday at 1pm, so we only had a small crew responding… it meant that many of our members were not able to experience what happened,” Mr Hall said.
30 members from the Upper Yarra SES and the District 13 Rope Rescue Team placed a life-sized training mannequin named Roger a few hundred metres up Barefoot Wizard, a highly difficult track at Warburton Bike Park.
The team met at 7pm under the nighttime rain where Upper Yarra SES unit controller Hannah Brunton delivered a briefing.
“The more experienced crew headed up the tracks with the Rope Rescue Team to find Roger based on GPS coordinates, and rig a steep angle rope rescue system to get Roger down the trickiest sections of the track, which was about 200 metres in distance.”
“Then Roger was handed off to a crew on an easier section of track who used low-angle rescue techniques for 200 metres.
“Finally, newer team members used the mule, a one-wheeled casualty transfer tool, to wheel Roger about 200 metres to the waiting ambulance at the rendezvous point at Scotchmans Creek carpark in Warburton,” Mr Hall said.
Mr Hall said the mountain bike tracks were “incredibly well designed and maintained” which greatly assisted in the rescue operation.
“The bike tracks were initially concerning for us, but the tracks are incredibly well made and maintained, which reduces the incidence of serious injuries.
“When they do occur, the access and rescue systems work well,” Mr Hall said.
Local emergency services have been preparing for the rise in MTB rescues with a range of training exercises and collaborations in recent months.
A shared training session between the Upper Yarra SES and the District 13 Rope Rescue Team (which consists of the Wandin and Monbulk CFAs) in August highlighted the importance of high-angle rope techniques during MTB rescues.
Ms Brunton said the newly opened Warburton Bike Park has a lot of steep and hilly terrain where a rider may require a high-angle rescue and therefore it was essential Upper Yarra SES members have the knowledge on when these rescues will need to be deployed.
“Because of the bike tracks, there’s a lot of drop-off points that we may have to respond to with [high-angle rescues], so that’s why we want to do that familiarisation training.”
Wandin CFA and Monbulk CFA specialise in these high-angle rescues which make them crucial in MTB rescues.
Additionally, Exercise Trailblazer saw 70 emergency service personnel from the SES, Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and Yarra Ranges Council collaborate in May to improve communications during mountain bike rescues.
Mr Hall said there’s many steps riders can take to reduce the risk of an incident, and also help assist emergency services when there is one.
“We encourage parents of kids riding the tracks to understand how track difficulty levels work, how to read park maps, and to make a plan with their kids on what they plan to ride.
“Installing an app that can provide easy GPS coordinates such as Emergency Plus is very helpful when calling triple-zero – the quicker we can find the casualty, the safer they will be.”
Those interested in joining the Upper Yarra SES can apply here: ses.vic.gov.au/join-us.
