What exactly is Canyoneering .???

[Zarff]

Ok the new guy [me] still clueless.
I've heard the term before .... but,

What exactly is Canyoneering.???. :

FYI - Matt,
I stopped by REI last week.
Hoped to meet you and talk GPS stuff.
Maybe next time.
Dan

[joebartels]

Oh boy Zarff, great question!

I quote Tyler Williams as he says it best and intrigued many such as myself.

...anyone who walks, hops or swims down a canyon is a canyoneer

Checkout the Canyoneering Index on site (which was suggested by the soon to be world famous Lizard)

or jump to my favorite


or simply put
Canyoneering is a reason to live!

[Zarff]

Just Canyons.???.
Nothing like some kinda combo between hiking & technichal/rock climbing.???.

Dan

[te_wa]

wait a minute... so any hike in the Grand Canyon is considered "canyoneering"? oh crap Im so confused...

[mttgilbert]

I think of canyoneering as any hike/backpack that includes a "technical" traverse through a canyon. And by 'technical' I mean anything that isn't straight up walking down a trail. Usually this means swimming, scrambling, bouldering, rock-hopping, crawling, wading, falling, climbing, etc. So, just because you're in the grand canyon doesn't necessarily entail 'canyoneering'. The dynamic of the hike should be adventurous, you should have the feeling that you are doing something that few, if any, have done before. There shouldn't be any prescribed "method" or route, to get to the end of the trek.

[Lizard]

I agree with Matt. A trip becomes canyoneering once the terrain moves beyond simple hiking- whether it be wading, swimming, scrambling, climbing or rappelling.

[big_load]

I like to think of it as breaking your leg and drowning at the same time .

[hikngrl]

I like that answer big load! Canyoneering is hiking at it's finest! Once you have tried canyoneering just plain hiking will never suffice.

[montezumawell]

or jump to my favorite
or simply put Canyoneering is a reason to live!

Well, I couldn't help wondering if Joe's "favorite" was what I thought it might be -- and it WAS! WOODS CANYON!

For all the extreme hiking Joe's done, it is quite an honor for Woods Canyon to be Joe's "favorite." Frankly, I am so jealous! I want to do Woods Canyon so badly. Joe's pix and story about hiking down there just fuel a personal obsession to go there someday.

It would appear that Woods Canyon is a textbook lesson in Canyoneering for the day hiker.

Thanks, Joe, for bringing Woods back into the forefront! This winter's floods undoubtedly scoured out a lot of the brush up top. It peaked at 16,000 cfs on 12/29/04 but it also had a lot of other big flows, too.

j