A sporty discovery day at the Artigue canyon

L’Artigue, an ideal canyon for sporting discovery

The Artigue canyon is the big brother of the canyons in the Vicdessos valley. It is the most fun and the richest in obstacles.

We start the day with a coffee, because without coffee it's not the same. The reception takes place at the Niaux canyon center. Around the table in the garden, the participants meet. Rod details the day's program. We start with individual equipment, everyone receives their equipment; socks, shoes, wetsuit, harness, helmet. We make a backpack with everything that we call a "turtle". We pack everyone's picnic, we check that we haven't forgotten anything. We put everything in the truck. We're off for a short drive to the Artigue car park.

From the car park, the approach walk is superb. It starts off a bit steep and then opens up onto the Montcalm massif. In front of us stands the Pic d'Estat and the canyon of the same name. In the middle of the mountains, we frolic with our turtles on our backs. This is the beginning of the adventure. We are in the heart of the Ariège Pyrenees, in the middle of nowhere. Civilisation gradually fades away, giving way to the wild nature of the peaks. We arrive behind the Bassiès cirque and its red peak. This is "the restaurant room", the picnic area, facing the mountains. Already there, we have worked up a good sweat and are happy to eat a bite.

After a complete briefing on communication, canyoning and abseiling and jumping techniques, knowing that jumps are never mandatory, we begin the descent. The Artigue is a progressive canyon. The first part, open to the peaks, allows you to admire the surroundings while getting into the swing of the activity. A first small jump, short slides, we dip ourselves in the water, we're there. The obstacles follow one after the other, it's sporty, we jump five meters, we do dry abseiling, abseiling in the waterfall, we pass the big slide.

Already the configuration of the canyon has changed, it becomes more steep, the vegetation is rarer, we feel that we are touching the heart of the canyoning activity. In a bend, the landscape appears, dazzling. We quickly understand that there is only one way to access this very special place; by practicing canyoning. While we have already taken in the view, comes the big jump, possible up to ten meters. Adrenaline rush obliges, we do not jump ten meters every day. This is where the canyoner learns that sometimes you have to know how to give up jumping the obstacle.

We arrive at the large twenty-meter waterfall! Several options open up, depending on the flow of the water; either we pass a large dry rappel with as a backdrop this enormous turquoise water pot embedded between walls of a breathtaking ochre-reddish color, or we go on the large zip line to arrive directly in the middle of this same pot. It continues with an eight-meter jump, a last slide and we arrive at the foot of the Artigue waterfalls, a little cherry on the cake. The tributary that comes from the Estat canyon pours from the top of beautiful waterfalls where we feel small in the face of the power of the water. After a last little jump to make sure we don't regret anything, we walk to the parking lot to change.

After a day like that, nothing beats a nice cold beer! We take the opportunity to meet up around the garden table in the center of Niaux and talk about this beautiful day we just spent. Everyone has their own little story, about this moment they really loved, about this place where it was so beautiful. The Artigue canyon is a great discovery of canyoning and a superb change of scenery in the heart of Ariège. Rod is happy to be able to share with you, for a day, his lifelong passion; canyoning!

See you this summer at the Artigue canyon!