We know, the term Cayoning may make one think that it is an activity that was born and developed in America but in reality it is not so, this activity was born in Europe, more precisely in France.
Edouard Alfred Martel, a French caver, carried out the first scientific exploration of a canyon in 1905.
He brought to light the Gorges du Verdon (the Gorges of Verdon), today one of the most famous canyons and routes in France.
The Gorges du Verdon are a spectacular canyon named after the river that carved them into the limestone plateaus of Haute Provence. 21 km long, with walls up to 700 metres high, and with a base ranging from 200 metres wide to 1.5 km, these gorges are the largest canyon in Europe.
At the same time as Martel, other French cavers, such as Lucien Briet, dedicated themselves to the exploration of other canyons, in other geographical areas such as the sierra de guarda and other regions of the Spanish Pyrenees.
From the beginning of the 20th century, several explorations followed, again by French cavers, who in 1958 carried out the first exploration of the Clue de Riolan gorges in the Esteron valley of the Alpes Maritimes. Subsequently, they started an exploration of the Pyrenees and Provence gorges, considered by all to be the place where today’s canyoning began to take shape.
It was only in the 70s and 80s that the exploration of canyons and gorges began to take on a more sporting and modern practice.
This transformation also started in France, influencing other countries such as Italy and Spain.
Canyoning in Italy only began to take off at the end of the 20th century
where athletes from other disciplines, such as caving and mountaineering, began to take an interest in this activity.
Today, canyoning is practised throughout Europe (particularly France, Spain, Italy, Austria and Greece), in many Eastern European countries, the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Nepal and South Africa.
But not only exploration continues and the number of canyons is growing by leaps and bounds, in France there are more than 2000 open canyons of varying interest, while Italy boasts more than 1000 canyons with a greater concentration in the north.
Recently, a number of sports groups from different countries, such as Italy, France, Belgium and Switzerland have also conducted explorations in the Himalayas, where some of the longest and most technical canyons in the world have been opened.
But fear not, canyoning although it has a beautiful and recent history, and although it has seen considerable development in a short space of time, it still has many places to explore.
