100 Places Every Woman Should Go

Abseiling and Canyoneering Sites

FIRST, SOME DEFINITIONS ARE IN ORDER. ABSEILING IS THE PROCESS of descending on a fixed—that is, secure—piece of rope. It is also known as rappelling, abbing, jumping, rapping, or snappeling, depending on which country you are in. As a technique, it is used by everyone from window cleaners and firefighters to rescue teams, but adventurers employ it for exploring the bowels of caves and valleys as well as the full expanses of mountains and waterfalls. Good equipment is essential: helmet, gloves, sturdy footwear, knee and elbow pads, a comfy harness, some hard-core rope that stretches about 2 percent under your body weight, and a descender (the safety device that lets out the rope in a controlled fashion).

Once you’ve mastered abseiling, graduate to canyoneering (also known as canyoning), a young but evolving “multi-disciplinary” sport that entails abseiling down ravines, swinging Jane-style over rapids, scrambling through caves, traversing over boulders, and finally—plunging from cliffs into pools of icy water. This is what Aron Ralston was doing in Utah before he got pinned behind a boulder and hacked off his own arm with a pocket knife to free himself, so in addition to the abseiling equipment, bring a buddy or two (along with a knife and perhaps a nice tourniquet).

Scared yet? Well, that’s the first obstacle to conquer in extreme sports.

“Even after three years, there are still times when I sit on a ledge and cry and say, ‛I can’t do it, I can’t do it,’ and then I calm down and do it,” says Shelley Buckingham, an avid canyoneer from Utah. “The first step is trusting your equipment and believing it will work, because it will. Then you start with small canyons and work your way up. It has been a great confidence booster for me, as well as a self-affirmation in overcoming my fear of heights.”

The robust-of-heart can abseil and canyoneer in scenic spots in Spain, France, Scotland, and New Zealand, as well as the following:

• At the crossroads of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert, Utah’s Zion National Park offers 229 square miles of sculptured canyons that seem like hallowed ground. Indeed, the ancient Anasazi dwelled here for 700 years; the Paiute were so struck by its grandeur that they wouldn’t even enter the Upper Canyon. Today, Zion is a pilgrimage site for canyoneers. Novices opt for the “Subway,” which entails three abseils of up to twenty-five feet, hiking, and a bit of swimming; experts attempt Heaps Canyon, a strenuous two-day hike that includes at least thirty rappels—the last of which is a 280-foot, free-hanging descent over Emerald Pool. Zion Adventure Company offers outings for all levels as well as a three-day course for those who wish to canyoneer solo. Temperatures in the canyons can top 110 degrees so bring a tub of sunscreen and gallons of water. Also, be extremely cautious of flash floods in the narrower canyons: if the water turns murky or the clouds turn gray, seek higher ground immediately.

• Australia’s Blue Mountains are named for their thick haze, created when sunlight ricochets off the eucalyptus oil hovering in the air from the gum trees. Based about ninety miles west of Sydney, High ’n’ Wild Mountain Adventures offers training programs for all levels. In the Empress Canyon expedition, you’ll work your way from ten- to thirty-three-foot drops into frigid water before the clincher: abseiling down a 100-foot waterfall into a deep rock pool. Sleep off the post-adrenaline crash at the Kanimbla View, an eco-lodge tucked in the bush-land that offers overlooks of the canyons below. Soak away any soreness in the glasshouse spa before retiring to an adobe cottage complete with mud-rendered walls, solar lighting, composting toilets, and hemp bed sheets. Rise with the sun and do it all over again.

Zion Adventure Company offers rock climbing, canyoneering, and tours to Zion National Park (www.zionadventures.com).

High ’n’ Wild Mountain Adventures leads daily adventures in abseiling, canyoning, rock climbing, and more in Australia (www.high-n-wild.com.au).