Canyoneering

I'm looking for some recommendations for canyoneering in southern Utah (Escalante, Zion, anywhere along the Colorado Plateau).  I'm a beginner, so am looking for some helpful links to websites, guidebooks of areas/routes and also instructional books on the technique, required gear, etc.      Thanks for the help!

good place to start:
​https://www.amazon.com/Moab-Canyoneering-Exploring-Technical-Canyons/dp/1892540924​​​

Hi, try Climb Utah and Tom's site:  Canyoneering USA

Tom jones  has a website canyoneering usa. He is an excellent resource

Boogly is the mp for canyoneering.

Tom jones has an very good guide book for zion.

Good luck and enjoy

Another great resource is

http://www.bluugnome.com/default.aspx 

It has great resources from GPS coordinates to trip reports. Not as flashy, but very helpful. 

On the technical aspect of things, basicaly the most important technique is to know how to set up a rappel using a 8-style descender such as this one https://www.rei.com/product/717878/petzl-pirana-canyon-descender (so it means you need at least 2 of it + one as a spare)
You can find really good instructional video here (in french) and with it find beta in english youtube.com/watch?v=4o1c6wG…
As usual, only practice will make it perfect

Edit: 

As a basic gear list i would say:
1 personal tether
Three 8-style descenders + 3 locking biners (the spare one can go in the bag)
1 security quickdraw (made with 2 locking biners)
2 normal biners
2/3 1.20 meter slings
1 knife on the harness
1 scuba diving mask inside the bag is often a good idea (to see how deep a pool is or to retrieve lost gear...)
Canyon specific rope - length depend of what you re doing but at least 2 times the length of the highest vertical
In the bag, in addition to the rope, the mask and at least 1 liter of water I put in a waterproof caving container (3.6 liters curtec): a turned-off phone, wallet, keys, emergency food, tissues, emergency blanket, climbing tape, headlamp, sunglasses and dry t-shirt

Be prepared to rap off some truly terrifying anchors if you get into canyoneering.   I stopped doing it when my partners insisted on using the fiddle stick and other sketchy techniques.  I get the leave no trace ethos but I see a increase in fatalities coming as the sport gains popularity combined with confusing sketchy rap anchor set ups.  

Fabien Mathieu wrote: On the technical aspect of things, basicaly the most important technique is to know how to set up a rappel using a 8-style descender such as this one https://www.rei.com/product/717878/petzl-pirana-canyon-descender (so it means you need at least 2 of it + one as a spare)

Edit:
As a basic gear list i would say:
1 personal tether
Three 8-style descenders + 3 locking biners (the spare one can go in the bag)...

Why 3 descenders?

Kevin Mokracek wrote: Be prepared to rap off some truly terrifying anchors if you get into canyoneering.   I stopped doing it when my partners insisted on using the fiddle stick and other sketchy techniques.  I get the leave no trace ethos but I see a increase in fatalities coming as the sport gains popularity combined with confusing sketchy rap anchor set ups.  

You are right, some canyonners are taking too much risk with this kind of stuff, I never saw this fiddle stick before but in France I know many people are doing exactly the same thing using their car antenna ... scary... 

Example here youtube.com/watch?v=oAkruur…;feature=youtu.be 

Marc801 C wrote: Why 3 descenders?

I use one to block the rope (see my youtube video) one to rappel down and I keep one in the bag if I ever drop one in a pool. 

Alternatively you could always go with only one to block the rope, using an atc to rappel and using a biner with a munter hitch if you drop your atc but I like the simplicity of not thinking about which device I m gonna grab for each use

www.canyonkitties.com

Tom also makes and sells Canyoneering gear, see his web site here: https://www.imlaycanyongear.com/

I would suggest starting with non-technical canyons little little wild horse, super scenic slot canyon with easy routefinding. Be careful about routefinding, I got as lost as I have ever been in the San Rafeal Swell one time!

Hi Marisa,
So...if you still need info on canyoning in S. Utah (or anywhere in Utah), you HAVE to check our Road Trip Ryan's website - it's the best, bar none.
https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/
Trip reports, all pinned on regional map, with topos, tips, canyon rating, water discussion, photo documentation, trail/approach descriptions.
And it's not just canyons, but:  hiking, roadside attractions, caving, water trips...totally awesome site

All of the most dangerous aspects of climbing, none of the safety. 

Richmond C wrote: All of the most dangerous aspects of climbing, none of the safety. 

Ha!  That's awesome...

A "good" forum:

​Canyon Collective​​​

Brian in SLC wrote:

Ha!  That's awesome...

A "good" forum:

Canyon Collective

It seems like canyoneering is in a stage where climbing was 20 years ago.  Reading some of the accident reports on that site are scary.   The anti auto block sentiment is interesting, I get it if you are in water but why is it so different in canyoneering than climbing?  Using some sort of auto block in climbing is pretty common and encouraged now but in canyoneering they keep referring to people dying while being stuck on rappel. Are these incidents where people drowned and why would you get stuck using an auto block?   I spent many years canyoneering but as it became more popular and I saw sketchier and sketchier stuff and techniques being employed by "experts" I pulled way back and hardly do it now.  I mean why use a fiddle stick when you can double rope rappel off the same anchor?  Whats the advantage?

wet canyons are the fun ones.  single rope technique is the norm for rapping waterfalls, ie, rapping down one strand.  canyoners are taught not to wet rap via double strands.  water action readily twist the two strands together.  rapping down to an unseen tangled mess to get stuck inside a waterfall can lead to drowning

another advantage of single rope technique for wet raps is that contingency blocks could be employed.  if a rappeler gets stuck for whatev reason, signal with whistle, and people on top could release one of the wraps around the blocking device, so they could lower (via the frictioned and still partially wrapped device) the stuck person the rest of way down to bottom of rap.  LAPAR (LAst Person At Risk) doesn't have that safety option, of course

pretty standard to carry rope in a cylindrical rope bag that drains.  deploying only the amount of single strand you need each time makes it faster to set up rap and re-pack afterward, and less rope handling work overall, esp for canyons with one or two long raps and many short ones

fiddlesticks are for ghosting, to leave no trace (eg, fixed anchors or tats) down a canyon.  photo just to illustrate the concept.  actual fiddlesticks are made of Lexan, much stronger than a highlighter

21 entries for SD (some are just caves) on Ropewiki.  looks like could explore and hone skills around SD before longer trips to the more spectacular canyons of Zion and AZ

beginners should go with at least two experienced canyoners if able.  that way, there's always an experienced person above and below at all the raps and obstacles. one say to rap first and fireman brake for the middle one(s), and one to stay on top the whole while to look after the less experienced getting into rap etc and to LAPAR

San Antonio Falls at bottom of Mt Baldy is a short easy wet canyon, esp via the Short Cut

Sean wrote: wet canyons are the fun ones.  single rope technique is the norm for rapping waterfalls, ie, rapping down one strand.  canyoners are taught not to wet rap via double strands.  water action readily twist the two strands together.  rapping down to an unseen tangled mess to get stuck inside a waterfall can lead to drowning

another advantage of single rope technique for wet raps is that contingency blocks could be employed.  if a rappeler gets stuck for whatever reason, signal with whistle, and people on top could release one of the wraps around the blocking device, so they could lower (via the frictioned and still partially wrapped device) the stuck person the rest of way down to bottom of rap.  LAPAR (LAst Person At Risk) doesn't have that safety option, of course

pretty standard to carry rope in a cylindrical rope bag that drains.  deploying only the amount of single strand you need each time makes it faster to set up rap and re-pack afterward, and less rope handling work overall, esp for canyons with one or two long raps and many short ones

Very  well said, thanks for this contribution. 

For dry canyons I use a classic rap on 2 strands and one strand on wet ones.

From an european perspective, wet canyons are the rule and dry ones the exception so I rarely rap on 2 strands for canyon. 

BTW if you ever want do try canyonning in Europe I highly recommend this free online topo, in french (learn it or use google translate:)

https://www.descente-canyon.com/canyoning

This is all great advice!   Canyoneering is the mountaineering of the desert. Rappelling in canyoneering is definitely a mind shift from climbing.   There are lots of great beginner canyons around Moab.  It's definitely a sport with specialized techniques to take on incrementally. Some of canyoneering is the art of getting lost and found.  I have found increasing my land navigation skills and using a GPS (garmin inreach mini) has helped tremendously.  You definitely need redundancy such as printed routes and map and compass.  Do not rely on one person's phone for info and assume you will not have cell phone coverage.  

+1 for Tom's canyoneeringusa site
+1 for Road Trip Ryan
+1 for Climb Utah site

P.S. be careful about hypothermia when doing wet canyons.