Greece

 

GORGOPOTAMOS canyon

 

 

This trip has a very ambitious target, the descent of one of the top 3 canyons of Europe: GORGOPOTAMOS. It’s a very long, huge, deep gorge where you will need to have some good previous experience in challenging canyons. Everything is big here: a deep gorge with some walls up to 700 meters, big waterfalls up to 80 meters, a strong water flow, big and deep pools. All to make any passionate of canyons fulfilled for his lifetime.

The canyon is located in central Greece nearby the town of Lamia. We will be hosted in a mountain hut unique in the world, with some Hobbit rooms, at 1250 meters on sea level with a view on the sea ! The extra days of the trip will be used to do other canyons in the same region. Some thermal baths are part of the trip.

 

Group size: 5 per guide.

Travel complexity: low.

Requirements: good canyoning curriculum.

Duration: minimum 3 days.

Period: from mid-september to mid October.

 

 

Pascal van Duin

 

Guida Alpina - Mountain Guide

Specializzato in Canyoning dal 1993

Specializzato in formazione ai  lavori temporanei su funi

Istruttore corsi specializzazione Canyoning Guide Alpine

Iscritto al UIAGM e Collegio Nazionale Guide Alpine

Specializzato ALSI (Falesie a vie ferrate)

Specializzato in Spelelogia dal 2019

Iscriz. Albo Professionale Regione Lombardia al n° 144

 

Canyoning experience

 

I know around 500 different canyons and with my passionate guests and friends i continue to discover new ones. From our base in Val Bodengo we enjoy the canyons of Ticino, Liguria, Provence. Some longer trips took us to Corsica, Sardinia, Pirenees, Reunion Island and recently to the USA and Tassili N'ajjer (Sahara), all kind of paradise for this sport. I started in 1993 with a course in Swiss and today i have explored more than 170 new canyons and descended like 350 others. In 2005 i have published the first guidebook of the "Lombardia" canyons and in 2009 a selection of the best canyons of the "North of Italy".

 

I have explored new canyons in Italy, Switzerland, Albania, Zambia, Algeria, Turkey, USA, Bosnia.

 

Some trips report here: http://pascalvanduin.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Mallorca

 

 Period: April-May or fall.

 

 

General program : arrival friday evening,

From saturday till tuesday canyoning every day.

Tuesday evening flight back.

 

 

Experience curricula : you need to have a basic canyoning experience, good physical conditions.

 

Activities planned :

Canyoning in the Serra de Tramuntana. This mountain region of Mallorca forms a limestone barrier that is facing the mediterranean sea, some canyons are ending on the beaches or even directly in the sea.

 

This region is classified as UNESCO heritage.

 

The main canyons  and their international rating:

Gorg Blau i Sa Fosca - 4/4

Mortitx 3,5/4

Na Mora - 3,2/4

Biniaraix - 2,5/4

Coanegra - 2,4/4

Valdemossa - 2,2/4

 

The canyon of Sa Fosca is worth all the trip by itself, it's one of the top 5 canyons of Europe, and you will pass through a dark section of more than one hour because the canyon is so deep and narrow !

 

 

Services included:

-Group equipment and personal gear,

-Mountain Guide for 4 days

-Wetsuit, harness, helmet, canyoning shoes, headlamps.

 

Cost: € 310.

 

Not included: -Flights, car rental, Lodging and food.

 

Lodging will be organized in the region of Porto Soller.

On request the trip can be longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Switzerland

 

I can guide you in the best canyons of Switzerland, from may to october-november.

 

Ticino

 

Also know as "Eldorado" because in a small region there are many good quality canyons.

A place for canyoning gourmets, spectacular canyons of any level and lenght, once in life trip.

 

Possible periods : from mid-June to September.

 

Some examples in Ticino: Lodrino, Pontirone, Osogna, Ri delle Sponde, Iragna, Soladino, Bignasco, Val Grande, Val di Gei and many others more hidden.

 

 

Oberland and Graubunden - East and West

 

This two regions offer some unique canyons, usually more difficult and possible

 only in specific periods, mostly in fall.

 

The most famous: Fluaz, Aua dil Mer, Segnes, Flem, Turnigla, Vorab, Zanaibach, Sandbach, Schwarzbach,

Sefi, Trummelbach I to V, Gries, Fulbach, Teifflaui.

 

.Pricing depends on the group size and duration of the trip.

 

 

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Italy

 

The best Italian canyons

 

I can offer a weekly trip, each in the 2 main regions.

 

1 - Lombardia and Piedmont

2 - Dolomites of Venice and Friuli

 

In a 6 day trip we will visit the best canyons of those regions,

the most famous, of international level.

 

In Lombardia: Val Bodengo, Val Bares, Cormor and in Piedmont : Rasiga, Isorno, Variola, Mondelli.

 

In the Dolomites: Soffia+Pisson, Val Fogarè, Val Clusa, Val Zemola, Val Vielia, Val Maor, Val Maggiore

 

Ideal period : June or end of August - September.

 

Group: 6 persons, medium difficulty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SVALBARD Island - Spitzbergen

 

 

Backcountry ski in the Atomfjella mountain range

 

Ideal Period is mid to end of April

 

 

This is a seven day trip in to the most exciting area of the north part of Spitsbergen. The Atomfjella is an area with mountains with hundreds of steep mountainsides and fabulous peaks. Many of them known only from the maps, not yet climbed. Since all mountains in this area are from 1400 to 1700 meters high, most routes on this trip will have a differences in altitude of around max 1000 meters. The first and last day of the trip will be spent on transportation by snowmobile to and from Longyearbyen, approximately 180 kilometres one way. The rest of the time, six days, will be spent exploring this spectacular mountain area, climbing some of the peaks; among them mount Perrier (1717 meters over sea level). We will have a base camp for all the seven nights we spend in big warmed tent, and every day we will do day trips starting off from the camp. To participate in this trip you have to be in very good physical condition, as well as a good skier and you should be experienced in outdoor winter activities. In my opinion one of the most fantastic country on the planet to do backcountry ski with nobody else around.

 

 

My experience

 

I did this trip with clients in 2018. It has been by far my best-in-life ski touring experience. The landscapes, the immensity of the glaciers, the whiteness, the remoteness; an unparalleled mixture of feelings that is still calling me back everyday.

I want to invite you to share this once-in-life experience. I’m committing in organising for you this program, applying some improvements to make the trip as comfortable as possible.

 

The Trip

 

This is the only ski program i offer because i know it's the best experience of this kind.

You can extend the invitation to your friends if they have a good ski-touring experience, the group size is limited to 10-12 persons.

This trip requires a special expertise, you will not find it in the guide’s catalogues !

The local operator is organising it since almost 20 years for a very small number of people.

 

 

Traveling

 

Traveling to Longyearbyen is not like other destinations. Flights are not very frequent. It is advisable to start your travel in advance, and being sure to have all the luggage and gear ready.

Longyearbyen is a very special town where most of the polar expeditions are starting, people live there all year.

 

 

The Camp

 

The camp is set with big tents heated with a stove; inside you can stand up, they fit easily 4 persons.

 Down Polar sleeping bags arerecommended. You may bring along a silk or lycra lining for the down bag.

The sun is up 24 hours a day.

There will be a toilet, made like an igloo, outside the camp.

Wet wipes may be used for personal cleaning, no showers are available.

 

 

Driving snowmobiles

 

To reach the camp and back at the end of the trip we will use this facility.

You have to carry your driving licence for motorbike or auto. Each snowmobile can fit 1 or 2 persons.

 

The Gear

 

We will ski with the normal Alpine winter ski outfit: for the legs underwear and a windproof shell (very rarely

double underwear). For upper body various layers up to the shell jacket.

The temperatures are always under zero. It can happened that in some tours, in protected bowls,

you end up walking in t-shirt, but on the summit you will feel again some cold and wind.

There is very limited ski rental in Longyearbyen. It’s better you carry or send your personal ski gear: boots, skis, skins, poles and ski-crampons. We will also need boot-crampons (light ones), ice axe and a light harness.

Personal safety gear: shovel, probe, transceiver.

I can organise some gear for you if needed.

 

Telephone

 

There is no phone connection at the camp. During the tours, in proximity to the summits, there is cellphone network.

Roaming is free in Svalbard.

If you have special requirements for communication plan to rent a satellite phone.

 

The Polar Bears

 

They are around 3.000 in the region. They are very very rarely seen inside the island, there is no food for them, they hunt on the frozen sea and the coast.

There will be a guard duty organised at the camp, each guest is usually doing a 1,30 h shift during the sleeping time.

 

 

 

How to book

 

I will need minimum 5-6 persons.

You will receive an invoice for a deposit of 25% in NOK.

The remaining balance will be paid, with a second invoice, 4-5 weeks before the trip start.

 

 

 

 

Standard Day by day program:

 

Day 1: pick up at your hotel in Longyearbyen. Briefing about the trip and transportation by snowmobile, last preparations and packing of snowmobiles and sledges before dressing up for the snowmobile trip. We start as soon as we are ready, and drive eastwards, through Adventdalen and Sassendalen. If we are lucky we will spot Svalbard Reindeer in this area, late afternoon we will reach Tempelfjord and before crossing the fjord ice we will make a stop at Fredheim, an old trapper’s station. After crossing the fjord we will drive through valleys and glaciers over to Bünsowland. We will have a warm lunch in the bottom of Gipsdalen before driving up Lomonosovfonna and drive north over the glacier. After app. 50 kilometres we will se the Newton area, and we will eventually stop by Gallerbreen, in the Atomfjella area. Here we unpack the snowmobiles and set our first camp. The snowmobiles will return to Longyearbyen the same day, and then pick us up again after 6 days. Dinner in a big warmed tent and sleeping in tents heated with a stove.

 

Day 2 to day 6: breakfast and preparations for the trips. We will choose witch peaks to climb from an enormous and varied choice in the area. We will pack our small rucksacks for the day, and we will always bring warm lunch. The routes will be decided by the participants and the guide together, depending on weather and snow conditions as well as the participants condition. On this trip we may climb the top of mount Perrier (the highest in Atomfjella) and many other mountains around 1400-1500 meters. At night we will have dinner in the basecamp in a big warmed tent, where it is possible to dry clothes and shoes.

 

Day 7: Breakfast and clearing the camp area. There is the possibility to do a small tour in the morning. We will have a warm lunch outdoors and early afternoon the snowmobiles will arrive from Longyearbyen to pick us up. We dress up for driving, pack our things on the sledges and start the ride back to Longyearbyen. We will make breaks on the way. Estimated arrival back in Longyearbyen is 20.00. After unpacking the sledges we will bring you to your hotel in Longyearbyen.

 

 

Included in the price: overnights in tent/jurts with stove, rescue insurance, camping equipment, full board, 2 experienced Guides, emergency/safety equipment, transportation as described in program (by snowmobile, car).

Not included in the price:  flights, meals and overnight in Longyearbyen, beverages in town, mineral water, personal travel insurance.

 

Price per person, approx.: € 4.000,00=

 

Direct informations Mountain Guide Pascal +39 3355470126 or from december +41 774859727  -   info@topcanyon.com

 

Warning: this trip is taking place in a remote region above the arctic polar circle, complex to organise and very exclusive.

 

Link to VIDEO 2018

 

 https://vimeo.com/287507793

 

Password: 888

 

 

 

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Link to PHOTO Album 2018

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/woixyYG6TzGwFeG49