“This year’s RIC (International Canyoning Reunion)  had its setbacks,” stated French canyoneer Anaïs Boulay, shrugging her shoulders.

Then—with a broad smile—she added: “But that didn’t stop us from going down a whole lot of spectacular canyons every day we were in Mexico.”

Canyoning—called canyoneering in the United States and barranquismo or cañonismo in Mexico—is not everyone’s cup of tea. If, however, you get a warm tingle from the thought of sliding down a rope straight into the ice-cold spray of a waterfall, this might be just the sport for you.

Canyoning techniques

Canyoning has its origins in techniques developed by cave explorers to get to the bottom of deep pits and networks of vertical passages such as Gouffre Berger in France, which has been explored to a depth of 1,460 meters.

Ladders made of steel cable were first used, but with the advent of synthetic ropes, mechanical devices were invented, making it possible for explorers to rappel or (abseil) to the bottom of deep caves and climb back up the same rope.

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