A more detailed version of my article published in Hürriyet Seyahat
- If you would like to read my educational adventure at Manisa Spil Mountain, Yarımkkaya Kuru Kanyon Click.
- Click if you want to read my Ayvaini Cave Crossing Education adventure too.
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A New Experience, Canyon Sports
I had to try something new now. I realized I was smiling while looking at the canyon photos. Every time I visit a waterfall or stream, I had to experience my desire to jump into those waters and see the traces of water on the stones.. I don’t know if you feel such requirements in your life.. It happens to me too. I do everything I say “No, I won’t do that anymore”.
I love adrenaline. I love nature. I already do many nature sports.. I think the time has come this year for the canyon sport, which is one click up and actually one of the most dangerous, I took action.. I registered somewhere.. There are canyoning trainings for 200 TL per month.
My friend Ömer, who accidentally made my site while talking on the phone, suggested me his friends. When I heard about the positive experiences of this association, I turned my route this way.. We have been training for a month.. There is 2 hours of theoretical training once a week.
After a few weeks of training, we are on the way to the closest training area to Istanbul, Ballıkayalar>, for rope descent.. It will also be the first camp for me.. Like many friends, I preferred to go with my own vehicle because it was close.
I have always seen people climbing and descending in Ballıkayalar, where I have been many times before.. This time I hit the road for the same reason. I came early with my friend and walked to the waterfall in Ballıkayalar. I had a very nice day accompanied by magnificent views.
- Click to read my Ballıkayalar Waterfall adventure.
Canyon Team Campground
Association prepares all meals. doing the shopping. In the past, it was charged according to the sharing method, but now the system has changed.. For dinner, there is bulgur pilaf and salad.. I came with my own vehicle. I pay 50 TL for the camping area, 50 TL for the meals and 100 TL in total. We buy the drinks ourselves. Those who came with the service paid 130 TL. While we were lying in the tent, watching the stream, after the waterfall, the fire in our camp was lit and the food was prepared.. nice conversations started. After eating our meals, chatting by the fire, getting to know each other, listening to music, I hear the word “breakfast” at 7.30 in the morning.. So early to get up. Fortunately, I’m not in the first team.
The majority of the team is from Kastamonu. Everyone who introduces himself says Kastamonu. Kastamonu is a canyon paradise. The people living in the village, located at the exit of Valla Canyon, which is the second deepest canyon in the world, have never entered that canyon.. Now they are here for education.
At the same time, the Loç Valley HEPP project located in this region will be flooded with water.. They have been struggling with this for 8 years.. I’m not going to tell you to go and see it before Loç Valley is flooded.. I will say to support them so that they do not get flooded.
We are making 4 o’clock at the fireside while the team is slowly falling apart.. I never thought of getting up early in the morning. I missed chatting, laughing and having fun at the campfire.. We’re already too crowded. In the morning, when the crowd of people decreases, I throw myself off the mountain.
When I opened my eyes around 10 o’clock, they had already started the landing work at the campsite.. Have a snack and try it too. It doesn’t seem very difficult, but I don’t know how to deal with my fear of heights.
- Ballıkayalar Campground suitable for caravan cam. There is a facility.
Canyon and Nature Sports Research Association
KAD ie Canyon and Nature Sports Research Association provides trainings on a voluntary basis to popularize canyoning.. All materials are provided free of charge by the association and after the completely free theoretical training, they take you to the places where this sport is practiced for practical training.. The fee varies depending on the destination.. You do not know what you will pay before the event ends.
Canyon crossings are shown in the category of extreme nature sports. All experienced instructors work tirelessly for hours to make you love and teach this sport.. Because it is a dangerous and difficult sport.. Serious enough to result in death. Yes, I may have climbed the mountain without any training, but training is essential for the canyon.
I am not already at the canyon crossings, we are there. The lifestyle that I have adopted the most in my life. This is the case I noticed at the campsite.. Everyone is holding the edge of a job in line with their own ability.. I meet people who are at peace with nature and cheerful. Did I mention I’m with honey?
A large group of us are on our way to the mountain. I am among the athletes that I have been coming to and watching for years.. Of course, it wasn’t good that I tired myself so much the day before.. my body is tired. Let me go down I’m having a hard time getting up. If you are going to do this sport and you are in training, do not tire yourself.. Do not drink alcohol the night before. Go to bed early.
I’m a spectator when I go upstairs. I’m sitting closest. While listening to how they do it and the suggestions of the teachers, I look down from time to time and give up.. Then I say “I will”. I keep kidding but I’m trying hard not to run away. It goes on like this for an hour. Finally, I decide that I have to try it once.
Let’s Throw Ourselves Down the Mountain
The first sentence our teachers say is “trust the rope”. yes i trust the rope. I try to make the bindings as we learned, and with the instructions of my teacher, my toes are at the tip of the mountain, my body is in the void.. I’m usually brave, but this is something else.
It’s not like diving into 45 meters of water, jumping into rough waters in a boat, or gliding down a mountain with skis.. they were nothing. Trying to land at the end of a rope, coping with the fear of heights… I was afraid of something too.
I’m pushing my limits.. All my competition is with myself. I just didn’t throw myself off the mountain.. It does too, thank goodness. In this life that I have come and gone, I say there is nothing I haven’t tried.. I have to go home and cook beans, but for some reason, I hang myself from the end of a rope on top of that mountain.
My teacher İbrahim motivates me so well.. “You’re great, you’re so good, if we teach, I’ll show it as an example,” he says.. I’m sure he said the same thing to all of us but in that moment I want to believe him.. I have a hard time in the part until you get yourself on the rope on the first landing.. I even cling to the rocks. it pisses me off. I’m not used to failure.
When I’m angry, there’s nothing I can’t do. I, who don’t speak fluent English, got ripped off and had a fight with an Italian in Egypt.. Who is going on this mountain? Time to stop shivering and apply what I’ve learned. You haven’t been to classes in vain for weeks.. The song that plays inside me is “if I don’t die today, I will never die”.
What a pleasure to succeed
And yes I manage to land. It’s nice to start. You make the first try with double rope.. it’s easier. I even get lost on my way up the mountain for the second. Afraid to go to the edge, I lie on the ground, put my head down, look at where my friends are, and if something happens, I’m still alone for some reason.
Fortunately, I hear the sound of the music and find the way. Music turned on, people had a few landings, relaxed, happy… It’s comforting to learn that I’m not the only one lost in later conversations.. I’m on the mountainside again for a single rope. It’s slipping, I can’t hold it. I’m descending, although it’s harder.
I can do these descents up to three at the most.. Normally we have five strokes, try. My knees no longer carry me from the physical fatigue and stress of the day before.. Tiredness like last year after 12 hours of climbing on Mount Khacha. There is no need to force. Every mistake and accident happens when we are tired.
We return to our campsite and critique the day.. I love conversations like this.. teaches a lot. No one is going. Everything is fine, everyone is happy. I think I have added a new excitement to my life.
Clothing Suggestion
I used thermal underwear, waterproof and windproof treking pants inside a thin windbreaker as an outfit.. I was very comfortable. The association gives all the rest of the material.
