I try to breathe in as I'm falling

As promised, here’s the low down on canyoning! 

Friday is our last day in Slovenia and we’ve organised to do this canyoning lark in the morning.  When we spoke with Primoz, the owner of Sport Mix, he suggested an early start, meeting at the shop in Bovec for 8am.  This would mean doing the half hour hike to the top of the canyon before the heat of the day really gets going.  Swimming cosies and paddle shoes at the ready, we arrive in good time and meet Barna and Barny our guides for the trip.  We sign the paperwork, get our equipment and get organised then we all pile in the minibus for the half hour drive. 

Once at the car park where we will finish the canyoning run, we have a half hour hike to the get in.  We carry the neoprene (thank god) and put everything on once we’ve reached the top.  It’s a decent hike and it’s already very warm.  There’s a small slippery path at the end to into the woods towards the river, and then we get a bit of a safety talk once we’ve all kitted up.  Barna (I think, the names are so similar I had to check the website to know the spellings and I thought they had the same name at first) takes us through some signals they use when communicating.  Messages can be passed from the front of the line back, for example to let everyone know an extra slippery section is coming up, and then there’s the signal to let them know you are ok after each jump or a signal to let them know there’s a problem if you have one.  At times the waterfalls are loud and the canyon echoes, so shouting isn’t that useful. 

Everyone is ready, and safety brief complete, we head down the last slope to start the canyoning.  The slope is steep and slippery so there are ropes tied between the trees at some points for you to hold on to, and it takes us straight down to the first jump.  It’s huge.  I’m sure most of us have the same thought… If this is the little jump, how big do they get!!!  Anyway, I’m not backing out now.  The equipment is good, the guides seem to have everything very well in hand, so I’m putting my trust in them, just like I ask people to do when I’m at work (That’s both my work at Go Ape in the Wyre Forest, and as a Riding instructor which I do self-employed).  Keith goes first and I video him taking the leap.  From where I am standing you can see him jump off and begin to fall but you can’t see him land.  I go next, if I think about it too long, I might back out. 

I get to the edge and Barna points out which direction to jump and where to jump from.  They know exactly which bit of rock is slippy and which is good to jump from.  Just then, Barny shouts up to him and I have to wait while they signal to each other.  Barny has gone down a little further with Claire to do a lower jump, but even there she’s a bit too nervous and she’s decided that she shouldn’t continue.  That done, I get ready again, check where I’m aiming for and…. “okie dokie” …. JUMP…. I try to breathe in as I’m falling but I can’t, my mammalian response has kicked in early and I can’t, the jump has literally taken my breath away, it feels like so far down… and then, splash, the water rushes past my ears, I don’t quite reach the bottom of the pool and then I’m floating up, the water rushing past me the other way.  I surface, relieved, but I still can’t quite get my breath.  I remember to give the signal I’m ok, and swim to the side, where Keith is sitting.  I don’t start breathing until I touch the rock at the side of the pool.  Well, this is going to test me!

We watch the others come down, one by one, and it’s not long before Barna follows us and lets us know that’s one of the biggest jumps.  I must admit I’m quite relieved by that, and now I can just enjoy from here.  Barny is going to catch us up as he is taking Claire back to the main track to make her way back to the minibus.  I may not get all of this in the right order, it’s been a few days, and adrenaline rushes don’t tend to do much to help you keep those sorts of detail.  However, we make our way through the canyon, climbing over rocks and trees that have washed through and got stuck, into small pools created by these and swim along some little narrow gorge type bits.  All above us is the huge walls of the canyon, and at times the most magical little places where the sun shines through, and you could be in a fairy tale.

Fairy land

There’s a jump that we come across which is a narrow part of the canyon, fairly high and we have to jump out quite a way so that we miss the rocks.  I’ve had a good look and watch the guide show us how it’s done and I’m going to get lowered down.  I don’t have enough faith in my ability to jump far enough out, and not slip at the top.  Rob gives it a go but then the guide at the bottom (Barna I think) tells Barny to lower the rest of us down.  Even with a good jump out, you slide down a little rock in the pool.  It’s after you enter the water and it’s a smooth slide out, but they aren’t taking the risk.  The rest of the group are lowered down the waterfall.  This is quite an experience in itself. 

The remains of someone who got it wrong?

Being a climber, I’m used to abseiling, so being lowered by someone else, especially when communication is difficult, is a strange feeling.  Sometimes you want to move faster or slower than they are lowering you.  It’s not too unpleasant though, and I take my go at being lowered down, Barny sets me up, attaching one of my safety lines to the rope, and he lowers me down the waterfall.  The water rushes over you as you get lowered into the flow making it difficult to see anything.  You feel around with your feet as you’re lowered so you can step backwards down the wall and eventually you end up in the big pool at the bottom.  You release your safety line and swim away to the others.  There were a couple of water falls where we were lowered like this, the pools at the bottom being to shallow or small, or the jump too risky or high. 

Deep in the canyon

There was a jump on the way which was quite narrow but into a nice deep pool.  Barna emphasised the need to aim well for this one and gave us some key pointers on where to look and where to jump from.  I decided to give this one a go.  It didn’t take my breath away like the big one at the beginning, but the adrenaline was definitely surging through me.  The gap seemed to be only a few feet wide, I looked out to Barna who had jumped first to show us how it was done and give us something to aim for, Barny counted, “one, two, three…” and I jumped.  I landed well and swam along the gorge at the bottom.  It was so beautiful, and there was no other way to see the amazing structures deep down in the canyon. 

The final jump was incredible.  We jumped from Slap Kojak into the deep pool below.  Slap Kojak is approximately 19m (62ft) high.  This is too high to jump from the top, so we were lowered down to a ledge part way.  Barny went first, so he could help us at the ledge, un-attaching us from the rope, and pointing out where to jump.  Attached at the top I climb around Barna who will lower me down, and using the holds he points out I climb over the edge.  He lowers me down to where Barny is standing on the ledge, and I have to reach out to Barny for him to pull me over to the right spot.  We’re just off to the side of the waterfall itself, on a huge ledge in the rock.  Steady on the ledge now, Barny checks I’m ok and takes off the rope!  He shows me where to jump (pretty much anywhere as it’s a huge pool) and tells me which technique to use, (there’s two techniques depending on the height of the jump and depth of the pool, and then some other pointers along the way for each individual jump).  I’ve been lowered about 8-9m so it’s a 10-11m jump in front of me.  Barny has to count down for me again, “one, two, three…”, this time my breathe in works, I plunge in to the deep pool at the bottom, the cold water has been inviting at each jump as the neoprene does an excellent job of keeping you warm, especially when you’re moving around.  I signal I’m ok.  I’m more than ok, that’s been one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far. 

Barny has asked me to get his bag that he throws down into the pool and to take it with me to the side.  Once I’m over I sit and watch all the others take the leap.  Matt and Chucky get lowered all the way on this one.  Matt had twisted his ankle a bit further up the canyon, and Chucky, not being the best with heights, felt this was just a bit too far out of his comfort zone.  Once everyone is down, Barna follows us, and then we head out.  The strangest thing about this final jump was the audience.  For a small fee you can walk into Slap Kojak, and there’s a wooden walk way to save you scrambling over rocks.  Check out my blog from last year when access was not restricted or charged for and swimming had not been prohibited.  We scramble across the rocks and through the water under the bridges of the walkway (avoiding the traffic of those coming to see Slap Kojak while staying dry) and it’s just a short walk and over the bridge back to the minibus.  When the water levels are high enough, they finish the canyoning by jumping off the bridge.  Unfortunately, the levels are not high enough now, so we just look and imagine.  

Back at the minibus we track Claire down, she’s gone for a wander while she waited, get changed and drive back to the shop.  We’ve had some photos while we’ve been on the way, which will be sent to us on email for free, and we fill out the forms for these.  There’s also a short questionnaire about the experience.  Every answer was 5*, top marks, absolutely brilliant!  I was impressed not just by the experience itself, but the attitude and proficiency of the guides was excellent too! 

It’s a relaxed afternoon for us now.  Keith, Chucky and I walk into the town for ice cream and the others pop to do a little shopping before we all meet back at the house.  We’re eating out tonight so we can do the ‘clean up’ and packing today, and not have to worry about washing up after dinner.  We leave first thing tomorrow for a long day’s drive.  Destination Tobadill, near Landeck, Austria!