Short glimpse in the world of canyoning

Canyon Richiusa on Corsica Island. Photo: Klemen Humar

It is always a question: Why?

I myself can't recall anybody particular that introduced and hooked me to the world of canyoning. Maybe it’s the fact that I worked for many years in a stressful environment as a developer and product manager for a small company that developed software for many Slovenian companies that lead me in this exciting world. But without a doubt these kind of extreme activities and mountain sports were given to me through my family’s blood. My grandfather was one of the best alpinist in the post-war generation in the Kamniška region and in all Slovenia and was one of the top climbers that were the first in former Yugoslavia that were given the opportunity to climb in the Himalayas. My other family member also aren't the »normal« sort, because everybody was involved, in one way or another, in mountain climbing. My aunt was a member of the National ski team, mother, even to this day, still competes in master competitions in the neighbouring countries, as well as father who on the other hand enjoys his spare time as a landscape photographer, where he takes pictures of mountains, cycles and does the ski-touring.


Canyon Rio Cuestis in Italian part of Julian Alps. Photo: Žiga Humar
 

Legal drug

For me canyoing isn’t just a sport, it has become more of a way of life. In the narrow, millions of years old canyons you are so very aware of your mortality. In the deep and strong currents in the cracks you can only rely on yourself and your friends, which you trust 100%. One small mistake and you can endanger yourself and the ones dear to you. To reduce the risk, I have done the courses to become a canyoning guide with an international CIC license. And why do I take such risks? The answer is simple: The beauty of nature itself, in which man did not leave any footprints so far, makes the risks worth it all the while. The exploring of the canyons becomes like a drug, and I get my “shot” with every new part I discover. When we come to a waterfall we have to use our analytic skills. By look only we measure the height of the waterfall, check its pool and slopes. If the waterfall is not too high and the water is deep enough we decide if we will jump or slide. If it’s not possible, we install a rope and rappel down. Safety is therefore anyways in first place. On the list of activities we can also add climbing, swimming and walking. We normally climb the way through the canyons downwards. The difference to other sports is that when normally you get out of breath when you climb a mountain up, here, you lose your breath when climbing down. After about 1 hour of walking we can enjoy some exciting hours while doing the canyon.


Canyon Globošak in Savinska Valley. Photo: Žiga Humar
 

Canyoning as a project

Maybe you will ask yourself, where does even the crossroad of informational technology and canyoning meet? On the first glance you can’t see any similarities, but as an expert on both these fields I can show you exactly where they cross. Before any project begins we have to prepare ourselves and know the field of the project exactly. The same rule applies to canyoning – we look at the maps, gather information of the highest waterfalls, because only then we can decide about the length of the ropes needed. Then we prepare the project plan. In canyoning, we decide about the approximate duration of the plan – gear, the height of the climb, shuttling, the duration of the canyon trip, etc. During the project we decide on many things. When you are doing the canyon, these decisions are a bit more frequent than in IT projects, but the principal is the same. The technical aspect of canyoning is similar to a computer program. For anchorpoint rigging and rescuing systems we use all kinds of accessories (knots, carabiners, figure 8 devices, ascenders, webbings...), following a strict sequence in which we wire the rope through the equipment mentioned. The same principle applies in programing, just that instead of a rope we “wire” data thought functions. Canyoneers therefore make more than 10 of these “programs” in each canyoning trip.   For the beginning I have shown you a short glimpse in the world of canyoning. More about this sport will follow in the beginning of the season, so stay tuned.  

Few photos from various canyons