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Comment on a terrible accident, 2 August 1999
No need to introduce this sport to anyone after the terrible accident on the 27th July in the Saxeten River. Even two weeks ago it saw still posibble to see some surprising faces when I talked about my favorite summersport, canyoning, as they had no idea of it. Now, everybody knows what it is, as the only advantage from the accident. A lot of people who never were involved in such 'extreme' sports started making up their minds, mostly influenced by this terrible accident. Forbidden, restriction and irresponsible were a few of commonly used words for this sport. Everybody was blaming the sport for being dangerous and irresponsible. It was because of 'canyoning' that those 21 people died. Nobody tried to understand it was because of the commercialisation of canyoning. People should not compare commercial canyoning with the original sport. Imagine yourself sailing with a group of people on a yacht. Without any sailing experiences and blindly thrusting your hired captain, who didn't inform himself about the weather, you surely may end up in a storm. The boot capsizes and all your friends die, including the captain. After such an accident nobody blaims the sport Sailing for that and it's clear that you end up blaming the captain. Why should this be different then with canyoning? Just because it looks crazier? It's clear that the company, Adventureworld, made some vital mistakes. It's an irresponsibble behaviour not checking the whole river from the top on, when you organize a daily trip in that river. It's even worse to go with a huge group, especially when the weather looks bad, etc... So don't look at us "the canyoners" as being totally irresponsible, just ask if we pay enough attention to perform our 'extreme' sport. Canyoning 21 Juli 1999 I explore the pathway and the power of water, slither and jump in crystal clear cold water, abseil in hundreds of waterfalls. I move myself in fascinating natural landscapes, where nobody else has stepped on before. All of this is in one name, called canyoning, where you get rewarded with a good portion of adrenaline and memories. This ultimate experience is not to be missed! The history of canyoning is relatively young. Because of the high respect for wild water, the canyons were for a long time forbidden territory for a lot of explorers. Spain is the Mecca for canyoning. With her warm climate it was the first country where canyoning boomed and got popular. Later on through France, the whole of Europe was getting fascinated by canyoning. Australia (Blue Mountains), north- and south America are now following European foot steps. As islands, La Réunion and the Dominican Republic are a few examples. Switzerland where I'm living, has a lot of different canyons to offer. From novice-level to the most extreme. My favorit is Chli Schlieren, which has slides from more than 30 meters and jumps higher then 10 meters. I'm still looking for that ideal canyoning-partner so please contact me if you dare. Projects Canyon de Guara, Zwischbergen and Melch Aa.
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