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Technical Canyoneering - Getting Started
People become canyoneers from a few different paths. This sometimes makes me scared because - as an old-fart trad climber - I think the basis of technical canyoneering is technical rock climbing. People who are not climbers are at a distinct disadvantage when the merde hits the ventilador. Especially when getting started, the most important technique is to select adventures that are within your capabilities.
There is nothing like experience and practice. Technical canyons are a lot like doing a big wall, requiring a solid base of ropework and problem solving skills. I have a few notes here for beginners and a few notes for climbers who are venturing into the world of the canyons for the first time.
Non-Climber Beginners
How do I start doing more technical canyons safely on my own?
Well, actually, you don't. Several important aspects of technical canyoneering require a developed sense of judgment about things like anchor quality, rock quality, and climbing difficulty; plus problem solving skills that can only be developed by several years of climbing with experienced climbers or canyoneering with experienced canyoneers.
The best way to get started in technical canyoneering is to get taken by people who know what they are doing. One of the nice things about canyoneering is that it is not actually very difficult, so competent canyoneers can take their non-climbing friends on canyon trips and everybody has fun.
Getting Trained
Canyoneering-specific training programs are very worthwhile, whether you are a complete bumbly or an experienced big-wall hardman. I learned more about ropework and rigging in a week with Rich Carlson of the ACA, than I learned in 20 years of climbing (including 2 ascents of El Cap). Canyon ropework is different than climbing ropework and, dare I say it, more advanced.
There are three primary training programs in the USA. The American Canyoneering Association offers a series of courses in several locations across the west. Check the website for upcoming classes. The ACA also offers Canyon Rendezvouses - great places to learn skills and meet other canyoneers - as well as other services to the canyoneering community.
| "Coming from a climber's background, the very IDEA of rapping off a pile of stacked rocks no bigger than I could move around was initially utterly horrifying and a touch hard to believe. Obviously I've gotten quite used to it, and find it an integral part of the experience, and an enjoyable part of the challenge. The proposal that a climbing guide might give a newby some parameters on rock stacks is a HUGE stretch in my feeble imagination. Frankly, I find assessing trees a lot to ask. I personally would leave that skill firmly in the go-with-someone-who-canyoneers, looks grizzled, and will always go first category!" - Larry Halford |
Canyon Seminars offered by Jonathon Zambella at the Zion Adventure Company make a great way to get into the sport. They are offered in the canyons near Springdale, Utah, and make a great start to a Zion vacation. Technical Gear is available for Rental or purchase. Call 435-772-1001 to arrange an adventure.
Also in Springdale, Zion Rock and Canyon Guides is a full retail and outfitting shop that offers one to three day curriculum-based courses that will give you the knowledge and experience necessary to travel safely in the vertical realm of canyoneering. Courses take place in the canyons near Springdale, Utah, and Zion National Park. Call 435-772-3303 or Click to sign up for a course.
Climbing instruction services can teach you some skills, but few instructors know anything about canyoneering. The curriculum should include, at a miniumum, the following skills:
- Rappelling single and double strand on small (8mm) and large (10mm) ropes.
- Using bolted anchors as rappel points.
- Evaluating trees, chockstones and other natural anchors as rappel points.
- Basic knots: tying two ropes together. Tying webbing into loops.
- Wearing a helmet at all times.
- Basic downclimbing, spotting and partner assists.
- Intermediate Rappelling Skills: stopping hands-free on rappel, adding more friction while on rappel, setting the rope up so it will pull, overhangs, rappelling with a heavy pack (dangling), not tearing up the rope!
Canyoneering requires considerable improvisation and judgment. This really is a wilderness adventure. Rappels are often done using improvised anchors - trees, bushes, jammed rocks, stuck logs, spikes of rock. Canyoneering rappels are often exceptionally awkward - wet, through narrow slots, often muddy, with difficult starts, with a pack on, often into pools, off of bad anchors and often with problems pulling the ropes. And the ropes have to be pulled, or the canyon cannot be continued.
Admittedly, many people just kind of went and figured it out as they went along. I suggest making it easier on yourself by finding people who already have it figured out, and tagging along with them for a couple of canyons, till you see how things work. One good place to meet new canyoneering partners is the
Canyons E-Group on Yahoo. Put yourself out there and get invited on someone else's trip.
Notes for Climbers
For competent climbers, doing canyons is a lot like doing your first big wall, without the work. There's a lot of rope management issues, new things to learn or figure out, and a fair amount of problem-solving required. Once you've started down a canyon, there can be a vague sense of uncertainty about whether you are up to the challenges ahead. Canyoneering provides numerous opportunities to screw up, preferably avoided. The ability to yank your body up "License to Thrill" or some heinous crimp-fest does not help much. Except once in a while, when it REALLY helps.
I'm always amazed at how bad my competent climbing friends are at canyoneering. There are specialized skills needed for canyoneering, that are developed by doing canyons. Climbers should spend a while doing 3A and 3B canyons before pursuing more committing objectives. The rating system is a big help: canyons with a technical rating of "3" are generally straightforward and trad-climbing ropework skills are usually sufficient. Canyons with a technical rating of "4" require canyoneering-specific skills.
Specialized skills needed for canyoneering:
Making sure the rope will pull.
Rappelling on single and double strands, using thin and thick ropes.
Rappelling into pools (without drowning).
Building natural anchors in difficult situations.
Having efficient ropework for multiple short rappels.
Multi-stage rappels - not pulling the rope until the next set of anchors is in hand.
Getting past keeper potholes.
The best way to develop canyoneering technique is to canyoneer with people who have been doing it for a while. Visit the Canyons E-Group on Yahoo to get hooked into the canyoneering community, or participate in ACA and/or private Canyoneering Rendezvous to meet other people.
I've posted a few articles on specific techniques under Tech Tips. Also check out the American Canyoneering Association website, which has a section on technique.
Be especially cautious of canyons with flowing water and continuous potholes. Pothole escapes are one of the most technical aspects of canyoneering on the Colorado Plateau, and blowing it makes for skeleton soup. Practice such skills as pack tosses, partner climbing, and hooking - and have the right equipment when needed - in easier canyons, so you will know how to do them in the more difficult canyons.
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