An Indian expedition to Slovenia

Slovenia before the expedition to India

We left with Rod from Tarascon-sur-Ariège early in the morning for Slovenia. That was where the preparatory meeting for the 2020 expedition to India was taking place. We were going to meet canyoners from all over the world. Adrien Paris is a renowned French videographer, who you may know, since he learned his trade at Spéléo Canyon Ariège. He was coming from Montenegro with Julien Fichot, a French canyon photographer, and Louis Rogissart, a Belgian instructor. All three had spent the summer season at Adriatrek Canyon and were driving back from the Balkans. Olda Stos, a leading canyoneer in Eastern Europe, originally from the Czech Republic, was joining us for the weekend from Brno. His partner Katka Hebka was supposed to be there but due to a medical problem she was unable to join us. One of Olda's teammates in the 2018 expedition to Chamjé Khola, the Italian Jari Triboldi, would also be there with his girlfriend Lia. They were coming from the Aosta Valley. A Slovenian canyon photographer would also come from the capital Ljubljana, it was Ziga Humar.

Yann Ouzoux, who participated in the Chamjé Khola 2011 expedition alongside Lionel and Rod, who worked in Ariège for a long time and is now president of the association Himalayan Canyon Team, will be live from Reunion, the island this time, to participate. But I admit that the one who interested us the most in the truck while crossing France in its length before attacking Italy, was Lionel Rias. Lionel, besides being an excellent caver, had worked for years with Rod in the Chassezac canyon and both had participated in the 2011 Chamjé Khola expedition, but above all, above all, Lionel had an apartment for the night in Kobarid, Slovenia, and that was worth all the gold in the world.

After 14 hours on the motorway, we met up with Lionel to spend the night. The next day, the three of us went for a tour of the Slovenian Alps around Bovec before meeting up with Adrien, Julien and Louis in Ljubljana. It was on Friday that we met the entire team, in a lodge near Bovec, for the first meeting concerning the 2020 expedition. The idea was to open the Khoksar canyon in India, in Himachal Pradesh, at the start of the Himalayas, after the famous Rohtang Pass, in the Spiti Valley. Opening a canyon is no small feat. You need information about the canyon itself, of course, its height difference, its configuration, but also about the surroundings, the weather conditions, everything. The meetings were a way to take stock of the information already collected, and about the team. Because going down a canyon where no one has been before is also a team effort. Everyone in the team has specific tasks, everyone has their role, and everyone is linked. Behind these names that have already done great things in the world of canyoning is a human being. Everyone is alone facing themselves in these extreme conditions and well, it's good when you face your fears to be well surrounded.

Various meetings took place during the stay. The team was formed; Rod, Olda, Jari, Lionel and Yann will ensure the technical aspect in the canyon, Adrien will be with them to film the adventure. On site, an external team will be present in case of need for intervention, with Julien and Katka. Locals like Monish Dave and Titli will help with the preparations. A helicopter was made available to the team. The roles of each person were distributed to prepare the expedition, the technical aspects were discussed, the planning and the organization on site, the logistics and the communication. Adrien and Julien presented their film project for the expedition. Adrien will be at the heart of the action to cover the event but his project is larger and more human than making a simple action film. A crowd founding will soon be opened by the way if you want to participate in the adventure!

To bond the team and to get to know each other in canyoning, it was a question of going to practice all together. The second day, we went to the Kozjak canyon. You should know that the Julian Alps, in Slovenia, are a magnificent place. The setting is superb, beautiful massifs stand imposingly around the Soca river, it is a superb playground for canyoning. Kozjak, not far from Kobarid, is a fairly short canyon, very steep, cut into the rock, rated V4A5II. The team met at the entrance to the canyon and everyone launched into this large fault. We only put a rope at the end, facing a waterfall about twenty meters high. Faced with each obstacle in the canyon, everyone jumped hop hop hop, it was not easy to follow! A waterfall? We jump. Another one? Same. As we left the canyon, we were asked to practice rope cutting near the river with its turquoise blue waters.

The next day, we went for a walk in the Predelica canyon, a little longer and more technical. It was a good opportunity to put into practice the techniques developed by Himalayan Canyon Team in their previous expeditions. The beginning of the canyon is superb, open to the peaks opposite, very mineral. We alternate between slides and abseils, then a long horizontal progression, and the last part ends with a beautiful 45m waterfall. It was interesting to see the techniques put in place by the team, to test the theory on the ground, to see what worked and what didn't.

After these few days spent in good company, we parted ways. Everyone went back to their own business, while waiting for the next meeting to finalize the preparations for this promising expedition! To be continued...