The stunning Arizona is known as the land of canyons, with many beautiful and diverse slit canyons, steep rock cliffs, deep natural pools, and breathtaking waterfalls and waterfalls. Many of these beautiful canyons are still relatively unknown, rarely visited, and not far from the lesser-traveled places, which can be reached in a day trip. In order to go deep into these remote canyons, “canyoning” includes hiking, rock climbing, boulder jumping, climbing, swimming, and abseiling. abseiling is the most technical and most dangerous of all canyoning skills. Therefore, when rope descent is required or ropes are used to safely continue descent and explore the canyon area, canyoning becomes a “technical canyoning”. So if you are looking for greater adventures and more outdoor challenges and the ability to further explore more beautiful and remote rocky canyons in Arizona, then you will need to check out and learn how to do a abseiling adventure where you will start Exciting technological canyon adventure world!
Abseiling is defined as “a specialized climbing technique that uses a rock climbing rope fixed to the top of a cliff ledge to control sliding down, used to descend mountains or cliffs.” abseiling is considered an advanced canyoning skill that requires Before departure, formal training and practice will be conducted under the guidance of a guide or go out by yourself. After being exposed to canyoning sports recently, I was inspired to continue to improve my canyoning skills so that I can explore more of these remote and remote canyons. Therefore, when a local hiking group called Hiking Hikers Hiking Group (aka Triple H) announced that they would introduce downhill courses to beginners at the Coon Bluff Recreation Area in Xiayanhe, I quickly and excitedly signed up!
Coon Bluff Recreation Area is located about 17 miles northeast of Mesa, at the lower reaches of the beautiful Salt River in the Tonto National Forest. It has beautiful scenery and is a popular spot for camping, picnics, fishing, and wildlife and bird watching. They said it is common to see vultures, turkey vultures, and even wild horses strolling through the desert in the early morning along the sides of the river and its lush bank habitat. To visit the Coon Bluff Recreation Area, you must purchase the Tonto National Forest Pass one-day pass, which costs $6 per car. You can purchase the pass online or at a local sporting goods store (such as The Big 5 Sporting Goods) before you leave.
So, on a sunny weekend morning in November, after stopping to collect the Tonto National Forest Pass, I set off from North Phoenix and headed south along I-17 to meet with my good friends and hikers and join our The first downhill course and adventure. We learned that Coon Bluff has a 92-foot-high vertical cliff, whether you are a novice or a beginner, or more experienced and advanced For those of you, this is also a popular place to practice abseiling skills. As someone with a real fear of heights, I thought, my goodness, 92 feet? I feel very nervous, not even sure if I can actually complete it, at least not without the huge thrust from the back!
After picking up our last friend in Gilbert in the East Valley, we were finally ready to set off for Coon Bluff. To get to Coon Bluff from Phoenix, the directions are to drive east on Highway 60, reach the Power Road exit, and then drive north on Power Road, which turns into Bush Highway. After about 12 miles on the Bush Highway, you will first come to Phon D. Sutton Recreation Site Road, but continue on for 1/2 mile and you will come to Coon Bluff Recreation Area Road on the left. We turned left and arrived at Coon Bluff at approximately 1:40pm, just in time for the beginner rope course at 2pm.
We parked the car in the Coon Bluff Recreation Area parking lot, where we also met several other class members who had just arrived, including our good friend and TLC Hiking member Dan Myers and his daughter. After we got out of the car, packed our backpacks and gear, and posed for a photo, we started a short hike, walking along the path to the river at the bottom of the cliff and the 92-foot rock face that we would soon descend. The closer we get, the higher it looks. By the river, while we waited for everyone to arrive and start the class, we enjoyed watching because there were still people descending from the rope during the class that morning. Wow, I looked up in surprise. Looking straight from the ground, you will swear it looks like 200 feet!
Soon everyone arrived, and within a few minutes, our event organizer and coach, professional world climber Michael Marin, arrived after they descended to the bottom on their own. In the introduction of this downhill course, Michael said that we will learn everything about downhill techniques, choosing and building anchors, knotting, equipment, terminology, what to do, what not to do, and how to get yourself out of trouble. Get into it. But most importantly, whether you are a novice or a learner, or an experienced canyon explorer or climber, Michael first emphasized the importance of safety, safety and even more safety. He said that carelessness is the main cause of accidents and deaths and can be prevented by correctly learning basic skills and always using good common sense.
When learning how to rappelling, after you first establish a safety foundation in everything you do, then we introduce the equipment and equipment we need and use in our first rappelling adventure. The basic equipment list for downhill you can buy at your local REI store is: 1) a suitable seat belt, the price ranges from US$40 to US$55, 2) a lockable carabiner, US$10 to US$20, 3 ) Downhill equipment such as the number 8 or ATC, US$15-30, 4) 5ml prusik rope, US$10, and last but not least, the most expensive one, your climbing rope, for For technical canyoning and beginners, it is recommended to use non-stretched, dry-treated ropes, ideally about 9-10 ml, with a length of 60 meters or 180 feet, and the price range is about US$160, excluding the one that you also need about US$40 Rope bag. In addition, when packing equipment and venturing into wet canyons for technical canyoning, backpacks start at approximately US$129. For safe storage of your equipment and evaluation, there must be a dry bag to prevent water leakage. Regardless of size, the price is approximately US$10 To 20 dollars.
After we fastened our seat belts and equipment safely and securely, we walked to a tree behind us, and Michael fixed the rope firmly there, ready to let us start learning downhill techniques and exercises, while still on the ground, understanding the equipment How it works and why, and gives us all the opportunity to get familiar with how to use ropes with rope devices. He demonstrated that you don’t need “white knuckles”, just use your right hand to guide the rope behind you to your back, and then release the pressure and resistance to get faster speed or hold tighter behind you, for your The brakes add more pressure and resistance, allowing you to slow down or stop completely. Once you understand how to use this technology, all you need to do is go back to your seat belt and trust that your device will serve you. After everyone has the opportunity to practice and feel comfortable enough, we can start practicing our first real live abseiling!
We followed Michael, and he led us along the trail to the top of the cliff. The view overlooking the entire Lower Salt River valley below was really beautiful. Wow absolutely gorgeous! After the last minute tips and instructions on setting anchors, how to set them safely, where and what type (natural and man-made) is best to use, we walked over the edge of the cliff and Michael introduced us to the double we are going to use Ropes and tell us the importance of redundancy in any type of downhill or mountain climbing, especially for beginners like us.
Now we are ready to start our first rappelling. Michael asked, “Well, who will go first?” After taking a quick look at the edge of the cliff and taking a photo of my friend Scuji waiting below, I could barely see him. At that time my heart began to beat wildly, and my palms began to sweat. Wow, I think, that’s really a long way, and it’s a straight decline! I have a lot of butterflies, and the longer I am there, the more nervous I am. So I quickly jumped into the queue after my friends Caroline and Bob, and when I started to tremble like a leaf, I walked to the edge where Michael hung me on the rope, and I was instructed to call below, “Protect ??”, and after hearing the call back “continue”, he said he wanted to call back again and said “rapid drop”. I kept staring into Michael’s eyes and kept asking: “Am I doing it right?” When he repeatedly answered “Yes, you did it right, you did it well, move on!”, in his confidence and With assurance, I began to walk slowly back to the edge of the cliff, leaning back to my seat belt, and at the same time I used my right hand to pull the rope behind me to keep my speed slow and my decent stability, but I never bowed my head, just focused Because of what I was doing, until about halfway through I heard my friend Scuji yell at me, “Laura, look left!”. I hesitated, then lowered my head reluctantly so that he could take a picture. At that moment I realized I was really doing it! Now it starts to feel more relaxed, I even feel comfortable, I can loosen the rope a little bit and increase the speed, and as I continue to get closer to the ground, I swing from the wall a little bit. Wow, what an incredible and exciting experience! Once I landed safely on the ground, my good friend Bob was there waiting for me to unhook the hook. I was again instructed to go back to the top and “drop the rope” to let the next person know that I had finished the rope drop.
After completing my first rappelling, I waited for other friends and classmates to come down safely. First is my friend Dan, then Scuji, and the rest of the class members, because I continue to take as many photos as possible to capture their first abseiling experience for them. When the last group of members went down the mountain, the sun began to go down, and by 6 pm, the last person had arrived and the rope fell, indicating that the course was officially over.
It was a very beautiful day, incredible experience and an excellent course organized by Hiking Hikers Hiking Group (aka Triple H) and taught by our friend, professional world climber Michael Marin. Real heartbeats, sweaty palms, thrilling adventures, and a wonderful introduction to downhill and technical canyoning, I will never forget! Therefore, if you are looking for greater adventures and more outdoor challenges, and want to be able to explore more beautiful and remote rural rock canyons in Arizona, then I strongly recommend that you learn downhill and start your adventure into the exciting world Technical canyon adventure!
