It's been a while since we dropped a blog post - but December seems like a fairly opportune time to reconnect. 2023 has been another good year and it has seen a significant development in our 'Guidebook' project. We long ago gave up on adding beta to sites like ropewiki.com That wasn't because there is anything wrong with the website (in fact, we highly rate it), but rather because canyoning in Korea is a slightly different beast and the format wasn't quite convenient enough for us (excuses...) Having abandoned making contributions to other online resources, we were becoming increasingly aware ..read more

On a recent hiking expedition, with a group of middle schoolers, I overheard them direct one another to go "downstairs" whilst we were on the mountain. Now, anyone who has spent any time on the mountains, in Korea, could be forgiven for thinking that was a perfectly apt instruction. However, there were no stairs (not even a single step) in sight. What lay before the group was a simple downward slope. I paid it no heed. Then, throughout the week, I heard the word "downstairs" used repeatedly to refer to any occasion where we made a descent. Two weeks later, I was on another expedition with a si ..read more

This is something that comes up regularly enough to be discussed here. We don't provide canyoning shoes on our tours (or footwear on our ridge climbs). The reason for this is that, to some extent, they are a non-essential item. We can't take you into the canyon without a helmet or harness (or wetsuit for most of our canyons, for most of the year). Canyoning specific shoes are expensive and relatively short lived. For our canyons, an old pair of trainers will suffice. We do provide 5mm neoprene socks to wear inside - keeping your feet comfortable and warm. Our guides have run our canyons in sa ..read more

It's no secret that we've had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with social media - especially instagram - but it seems like the latest development is the appropriation of the #캐녀닝 by an escort agency. It is fairly amusing, for now, but not a trend we wish to enjoy any longevity. I'm not sure if this says, or is meant to say, something about the canyoning community - or the kinds of people they think might be interested in canyoning - but we're not following that train of thought any further. It's odd. It's not hugely irritating as of now. We'll see how the levels of spam in our feed grow or ..read more

We track the appearances on social media of posts with the hashtag #캐녀닝 (and its many spelling variations). Partly by necessity - our trade is selling tours, so we monitor levels of interest - but also because we are more generally interested in how the sport is developing here. The majority of tags, especially on instagram, are for holiday photo posts from Koreans who've recently been to Cebu or Interlaken. But, there is also (especially this year) a growth in its usage for actual canyon descents. photo from a recent private 1:1 kids tour, at a location close to Seoul For the most part, cany ..read more

The kids at Matari Forest School, with which we have been affiliated for 4 years now (!), have finally got some new uniforms - so you'll finally be able to recognise us on the mountains. When we began working with Matari Forest School, we did one 2 hour session a week, which was supposed to be centred around learning English in the outdoors. We now average three sessions a week and have been allowed the freedom to build our own curriculum over the years. Whilst we still build our sessions around teaching the young kids a second language, we have always geared our classes towards teaching life ..read more

⇪ Bukhansan and Dobongsan, on a recent Hiking Tour Things are beginning to warm up again, and once more we have our sights on an upcoming Canyoning Season. We've been busy on the mountains but it has been a long time since we got really wet. Hopefully, the worst of covid is behind us, and things return to some semblance of normality here. Unfortunately, the cost of living is on the up everywhere. Whilst we weathered the storm of the pandemic, we are now facing some tough decisions for 2023. Despite rising costs, we kept our prices down during the last 2 years. Now, however, we are going to ha ..read more

It used to be, that there was a wider recognition of the value of discovering something for yourself. It was fun chasing rumours of hidden caves or cool scrambles and climbs. Technology, social media especially, has done a lot to undermine some of this - and as a canyoneer, frequently visiting new places, I do actually understand the value of shared, easily accessible information. However, the easier you make it for anybody to discover places, the faster they fall victim to abuse. 6 Peak Ridge on Gwanaksan is a special trail, by my reckoning. Fixed lines are cut, and steps are taken to preserv ..read more

I have over 90 of these things. I have been picking them up from mountain trails, here, since mid April of this year. Currently, they live in my spare parts box; I have a multitude of colours: red, yellow, purple, navy, cyan, purple, brown, green, black and grey... lots of grey. In all the different countries I have climbed and explored, I have never seen so many just lying around. Is it something unique to Korea - the way people wear their backpacks? Or is it more to do with the weather and trail conditions? - that these bands just remain where they fall. I started picking them up as part of ..read more

We're still busy with guided mountain tours and kids outdoor activities, but our wet canyoning tours have been closed for almost a month now. It is during this time of the year that we do a full review of our operating procedures. In receipt of our highest levels of attention, this week, have been our environmental policies. During train commutes, to and from some of our Gwanaksan Forest School classes, we've been reading though Outdoor Recreation: Environmental Impacts and Management by Huddart and Stott. A lot of the sources and studies cited within the text are already familiar to us (some ..read more