Travel Bug Goes Extreme Sports

~just reposting here the article I wrote for our department's quarterly newsletter about the Canyoning and Rafting experience I had last July 5 and 6 at Fox Canyons, Minakami~

My friends and I initially planned to have a weekend rafting experience. But as the slot we got for rafting was only on a Sunday morning, we were forced to look up another activity as filler for our Saturday afternoon and hence booked for a canyoning activity - a hybrid sport that combines swimming and rock climbing with the thrills of rappelling and rafting (without the
raft!). Canyoning websites were not a help on my nerves though and I almost got cold feet as I donned on my double wetsuits, life vest and helmet. I can only gulp and heave a deep breathe as I (tried to) prepared myself from what lay ahead of me. And what happened was far beyond what I imagined.

The first few tasks of dodging boulders and stone chutes as we swam with hands stretched in front of us (to keep our elbows from hitting the rocks) were real easy and not enough to prepare me from the slider waterfall. At the top of the 20m waterfall, our guides oriented us that once we get into the whirlpool below, we should not try to stand but keep our feet up, stay on our backs in the water, and use the force of the water to walk across the wall below. Okay, now try keeping
that in mind with jarring nerves and giant butterflies on your stomach. But there’s no way but down and so down I must go. I was lowered by a rope attached to my carabiner in my harness for a couple of meters until I felt like I was one with the waterfall. And then wham! The next thing I knew, I was without a rope, hurtling down the waterfall into the whirlpool below. The “Wall Walk” later was real cool!!

The big slide was not the finale though as we still have to summon the risktakers deep within us as we coursed through yet more canyons and waterfalls in different positions. There’s the Abyss (“hands up, push off the ledge on the far side”), Superman-style (sliding on your belly with the
water, headfirst) or Goodbye-world-style (not the official name but just tagged by friends since you’re sliding on your back with the water, headfirst, with nary an idea where you’re heading
– which, by the way, is my favorite).

Really scary, yes indeed! Dangerous? During canyoning, it sure feels that way. But looking back, I think at some point, our guides may well have been exaggerating what for them is like an
everyday simple task. We were equipped with proper gears and guides are everywhere in every obstacle – one gives instructions, another secures you in your harness or helps you get positioned in your slide and yet another waits for you down below should you have difficulty swimming your way to “safety”.

Rafting the following day was an easier feat after the canyoning we had. But mind you, with the churning water tossing your raft around, and trying to keep yourself inside the raft whilst trying to paddle still needs some daredevil spirit. And yet again, the key here are the right gears and skilled guides.

Should I do it again, given the chance? You bet! Come join me! =P