Ballarat firefighters learn clifftop-rescue in Werribee Gorge

The park, west of Ballan, is one of the closest natural rock climbing sites to Melbourne - and a definite hotspot for lost, stuck and injured hikers.

Fire Rescue Victoria personnel along with 12 firefighting students dangled from cliffs up to 40 metres high this week, including a series of popular rock climbs at Falcons Lookout, which is visible from the Western Freeway.

"This sort of rescue is not that unusual," Senior Station Officer Luke Shearer said.

"We had an outdoor rescue incident on the Yarrowee River the other night.

"We probably go to wilderness high-angle incidents like this once a month on average.

"Only nine FRV stations have the crews, training and equipment to do cliff rescues.

"We can get called out to Mount Arapiles, the Grampians or Werribee Gorge. They're the three most common places for us."

Mr Shearer said experience was not a factor in who got stuck - with "newbies" caught out as often as veteran rock climbers.

Another problem was adrenaline junkies with no safety equipment at all.

"We always work with police on these wilderness rescues. They are the lead agency," he said.

"The SES will often help out too, especially when you have to carry a casualty out."

The Werribee Gorge training involved seven instructors - many of them acting as patients who were lowered to safe areas on solid ground.

Mr Shearer said with heavy gear, the hike to the main rock climbing sites normally took 45 minutes.

"We've trained here before. We've been working with Parks Victoria for 10 years now," he said.

"They've been really good - and so have the nearby landholders."

It complements a Delacombe exercise on Tuesday, where firefighters worked around a series of 10 metre silos.

Mr Shearer said crews at Ballarat City (station 67) and Lucas (station 68) were called to an average of two or three mineshaft rescues a year.

"Generally it's in warmer weather," he said.

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"A dog or a kangaroo will get stuck down there, then you risk people trying to get them out and getting stuck themselves."

The FRV will also conduct specialist confined space training at a later date.

Mr Shearer said cliff rescues in the Brisbane Ranges National Park, south of Ballan, were generally covered by stations in Melbourne.

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