These days many people like to experience the latest sport trends in their leisure time – the sport of canyoning combines adventure and the testing of personal boundaries with experience of nature. Canyoning is a physical challenge, not only for the providers, but also for specialists in mountain rescue when limits are exceeded.

With canyoning, ravines are traversed from top to bottom – by moving downstream in different ways. Many tours offer canyonists a mix of abseiling in and around waterfalls, climbing up steeps steps, sliding into different water levels and last but not least, jumping into deep water basins. Canyoning requires a certain level of specialization in both Alpine and water techniques. With this type of adventure sport, serious accidents can occur very quickly, as a result of carelessness or arrogance, and often where normal rescue techniques have reached their limits. For this reason, in the mountain rescue service for South Tyrol, specially trained canyoning riders are available to provide rapid assistance in case of an accident.

Training includes a 16-hour basic course, undertaken after the mountain rescue examination. Training includes proper techniques in whitewater rafting, special abseiling techniques and advanced first-aid training. After subsequent practical exercises, which are offered at the individual districts, and a three-day training course on special rescue techniques and deployment tactics, the mountain rescue worker then qualifies as a canyoning rescue worker. These specialists are kept regularly up-to-date with regularly offered and continuous training in the field.