Читать книгу Canyoning in the Alps. Graded routes in Northern Italy and Ticino, Austria, Slovenia and the Valais Alps онлайн

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The risks of canyoning

Although most trips will pass trouble free, accidents do happen. Understanding the risks can help prevent accidents and prepare for their eventuality.

High water

Drowning remains the number one cause of death when canyoning. Sudden flooding is the main culprit (see ‘ssss1’, below), and in addition many people underestimate water levels even before committing themselves to a descent. Prolonged periods of rain or a wet spring mean that the canyons will be wetter than normal in the summer, thus increasing their difficulty above the grade quoted in this guidebook. Get an idea of the water levels in the area before attempting more difficult canyons. Keep an eye on the weather a week or two before you arrive, and bear in mind that the flow rate in dam-regulated rivers may change over time (see Route 54 Grigno or Variola Inferiore, in Route 4, for a case in point). Comparing current flow rates in rivers with historical data is a useful trick, but such data is hard to find and will not be easy to access when abroad. For Ticino, hydrological data is available at www.bafu.admin.ch.