into tiny plunge pools or a chastening “death talk” at the
start. “Never step in front of the guide,” said a grim-faced
Fabio. “Always be ready to stop at any moment. Don’t be
afraid to be the slowest in the group. And have fun,” he
added with a mischievous grin.
Canyoning – or canyoneering in the United States – has
only become popular in the past 10 or 15 years. Though
some of its principles are a couple of centuries old, and
American pioneers used basic canyoning skills to cross
the continent in the 19th century, the sport had to wait
for high-quality mountaineering kit and suitable wetsuits
before ordinary people were prepared to do it. “White-
water rafting without a boat,” they call it, and it’s in the
same panoply of extreme or semi-extreme sports. You
start near the top of a hill and follow a river, clambering
over its rocks, jumping into its deep pools, abseiling down
its waterfalls, swimming, falling and splashing your way
exhaustingly to the bottom.
It’s not without danger. The rocks are slippery and
ankle-twisty, and the water is cold and unpredictable. The
sport is most popular among people in their 20s and 30s
who aren’t afraid to bash their knee on something, but its
hazards are part of the thrill and for semi-fit people who
lead relatively sedate existences, canyoning offers that
little bit of risk to make it exciting.
At least 30 countries have now established canyoning
routes, and France and Switzerland are probably the main
centres in Europe, but I’m in Madeira. You may know
it as a winter-sun destination beloved of, shall we say,
more mature travellers, but this Portuguese island in the
Atlantic may prove to be one of the great destinations for
the sport. Most of the island is covered in very steep hills,
the highest of which is almost 2km and plunges into the
sea a few kilometres away. Madeira also contains one of
Europe’s highest sea cliffs: a 589m sheer drop. The island
reared from the ocean roughly five-million years earlier
and grew progressively over the ages. Thankfully, all
volcanic activity stopped some 6,500 years ago.
Our canyoning took place in a national park deep in
Madeira’s ancient laurel forest, the Laurisilva. Fifteen
to 40 million years ago, such forest covered most of
southern Europe, but climate change over the eons
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C A N Y O N I N G
M A D E I R A
CHASING RAINBOWS
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This particular descent
included three abseils
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Don't look down!
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Madeira has some of
Europe's highest sea cliffs
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As well as an adventure,
canyoning provides a
unique way to commune
with nature
