This tradition has remained because it provides one more opportunity to experience special moments with friends. Unique, surprising and always festive, this day remains etched in the minds of the future bride and groom and his/her friends.
We organize this day in advance with you so that it resembles you as much as possible by choosing the canyon most suited to the group and it's free for the bride or groom! (Offer until June 26)
Your bachelorette or bachelor party with a unique service with us
From surprise to surprise, the descent of the canyon offers you frank laughs in an unusual and new place, surpassing yourself creating a strong cohesion in the group, adrenaline, challenge, fun…
We make sure to individualize our supervision as much as possible. Thus there will be one instructor for every eight participants and therefore more if necessary, to ensure a smooth and safe process throughout the descent, for maximum pleasure! Teaching quality is a major and essential asset for us.
Making canyoning an activity that brings everyone together
It is also an opportunity for you to learn the basics of canyoning with a full briefing from the instructor upon arrival! You will be welcomed with coffee, fruit juice, and cookies... to explain the course of the outing, from the complete individual equipment to the subtleties of abseiling and teamwork!
And to make your experience as comfortable as possible, our equipment is new and of high quality! You will have canyoning shoes for even more safety, and that is unique and it is with us!
And as a bonus, our professional photographer specializing in canyoning
And since we like to bring you the best, you have the possibility to book our professional photographer who will follow the group throughout the descent to immortalize the most beautiful, funniest, craziest moments. Arthur will make your experience even more memorable by capturing the most beautiful images of your day! And no need to wait to see them! The photos will be projected on a screen once you return to our center. So you can immerse yourself together in these highlights around the special bride and groom drink that will be offered to you to close this beautiful day!
Don't wait any longer to book YOUR day by challenging your friends to live a unique experience for a unique day, because you are the center of our attention!
At Spéléo Canyon Ariège, you are welcomed in our canyoning center around a coffee to get to know each other. We take the time to introduce ourselves, get to know each other and explain the program for the day. We provide you with the equipment from A to Z, starting with canyoning shoes, the complete neoprene suit, the harness and the helmet. With us, you are above all a trainee, big or small, we train you in canyoning descent techniques. This is why you will have a complete briefing at the entrance to the canyon to be able to move safely along the course. We have been teaching each person according to their level and their desire to learn for several years now. You will benefit from the unique know-how of instructors who are also international canyoning trainers! With family, friends or for a bachelor party, we always adapt to our audience. After having enjoyed the outing, we meet at the center to have a drink and talk with you about the day.
What is canyoning?
First of all, canyoning is an outdoor activity in the mountains. Lovers of nature and wide open spaces will be able to enjoy themselves and take in the view. The idea is to descend into a gorge or canyon. To do this, you go up to the start of the canyon, this is the approach walk. The duration of a canyon varies depending on its size and its approach walk. It varies in the Vicdessos valley between fifteen minutes for the Marc canyon and two and a half hours for Estat canyon. Once you reach the beginning of the canyon, you will descend using several techniques. The first and essential one is to walk in the water, on the rocks. Then, depending on the obstacles you encounter, you will be able to jump into a "pot" of deep water. If jumping is not possible, you may be able to slide down a slide or descend on a rope by rappelling. Of course, no jump is mandatory for us. When you arrive in the water, you will swim to reach the next obstacle. The obstacles are often waterfalls of varying sizes.
Why is canyoning good for you?
Canyoning is a mix of several activities, between walking, swimming and rope, you use all your muscles without even realizing it. You spend yourself with a smile and that's good for hanging out at the beach afterwards. Your brain is busy analyzing an environment it doesn't know. Suddenly, it no longer thinks about the effort it is making or the work that remains to be done at home. Everyday worries fly away in a waterfall of fresh water. Faced with more or less difficult obstacles, everyone faces their fears and challenges. Surpassing oneself is at the heart of the activity. It's still super cool to turn around to see that you have gone down that rappel or jumped that waterfall, it's not every morning that you do that, it makes you smile and it works the zygomatic muscles, one more muscle that works!
To spend a unique moment in the heart of nature, in the heart of the Ariège Pyrenees Natural Park, where you can surpass yourself while being accompanied by professionals, it's happening with us!
So, what are you waiting for to go canyoning with us this summer?
Caving bivouac at Bufo Fret
Two days underground in the Bufo Fret network
An expedition in preparation
Let's get back to the root of the matter; what is an expedition? According to Larousse, an expedition is, among other things; "A scientific trip to a remote or difficult country, or a more or less important or eventful tourist trip; men and equipment participating in this trip: Expedition to the South Pole."Of course, we didn't go to the South Pole, but as for the eventful part, why not. Bivouacking in the Bufo Fret network is no small feat. Olivier was the first to be motivated by the adventure, he took his son Baptiste and Benoît, a friend, with him. Sandrine also joined the project. At the last minute, Morgan saw the event on social media and without hesitating for a second came to complete the team. We had our motivated team, we just had to take care of the logistics. We had to gather the necessary equipment; suits, harnesses, helmets, lights, sleeping bags... And also food for two days underground. I was in charge of preparing food for the group and ensuring media coverage of the event, camera in hand. Rod went out several times to scout the terrain, he identified the key places and the location of the bivouac. We met in Bugarach on Saturday morning, 10am.
Together, we took care of packing the things. Sleeping bags, spare clothes, food, ropes and first aid kit. It's complicated to pack bags for an expedition like this. You can't forget anything but you need the minimum, because caving bags require special attention and management. You have to take the bags with you, and that's no easy task through the bowels of the Earth. Rod explained to us how to manage the bags, a sort of third arm for the caving expert. We managed to have an acceptable number of bags, with everything we needed inside. We set off for the entrance to the Bufo Fret network.
First day underground
A short approach walk put us right in the bath, the entrance to the cave was there. Head first we throw ourselves into the unknown. At first the excitement and the management of the bags dominate the activity. We arrive in "the lake of the elves", we splash around in the water, the rock gives us a few tastes of what nature underground can offer us but no elves. We eat a bite near the lake. It is time for the first rope climb. And yes, the originality of this network is to go back up into the mountain.
Climbing a rope is one thing, our team was well briefed by Rod, we save ourselves, there is no performance to follow, we have to master the technique in order to climb up without burning ourselves out completely at the start of the exploration of the network. But lifting the bags is another matter. A team member climbs, he is followed by a bag at the end of a rope mounted on the pulley. This passage finished, we attack the section called "Pearl Harbor". A little more technical, we have to slip into a narrower passage by passing the bags to each other. A great action! The team spirit is at its best, we laugh, we sweat, the bags are passed from one hand to another, we climb into the network and we arrive at the "Grand Balcon". From there, vacation! The bags are taken up to the "Galerie des Sables", where we will be bivouac, and we can set off again to explore the network.
Another short rope climb and we enter the "Spike Gallery". The atmosphere is superb, there are seven of us underground explorers, concretions everywhere are arranged like theatrical performances by Mother Nature, with each step we discover new shapes. It's quite big and to get our bearings Rod brought with him his tablet and a PDF version of the network topography that can be enlarged to 400%. Technology is beautiful!
We discover with amusement the names given to the different parts of the network, not always funny like "the brown plague" or more cheerful; "the boubou network". For the moment it would seem that we are in the "Gallery of the Intraterrestrials". We continue to advance, we go from fairly large rooms to narrower sections, we pay attention where we put our feet. Sometimes large faults dig the ground and we can't see the bottom. It's an adventure!
In the "Galerie des petits gris", we arrive at the big clay slide. Before going there, Rod tells us that he has not gone any further in his previous explorations of the cavity. He is, like us, facing the unknown and therefore facing discovery. Going up a clay slide is not the best idea you've ever had. Rod finds a passage, we slip through, we arrive in front of a rolling mill, a passage that can be wide but has a low ceiling, we are forced to move by crawling. We come out of there above the slide, bet won! We continue, intoxicated by the discovery and the unknown.
Using the tablet, we can tell that we are making this big 360° turn, for now it's going well, everyone is smiling, everyone wants to continue. But after a few moments we find ourselves facing a crevasse where we are moving in opposition, with a little gas under our feet and it seems that we can't go very far without exposing ourselves dangerously. Rod decides to turn around, explaining to us that it is the lot of speleologists to have to give up without having seen the bottom. It is rare to see the bottom. So we go the other way, we go up or down ropes, we arrive at the bivouac. The notion of time has completely disappeared in our team.
At the bivouac, it's a question of setting up a place marked out before by Rod for the pee area, taking off the wetsuits to put on dry clothes, preparing the meal. On a tarpaulin we spread a nice tablecloth, we lay out the food. The sausage, the liver sausage, the Provençal marinated anchovies, a few radishes, cherry tomatoes, olives, a goat's cheese and a cow-sheep toudeille, the leek and potato soup, my grandmother's recipe, heats up on a stove. We eat with good appetite, everyone is smiling but fatigue is present. We have trekked eight hours in the network and when the soup arrives it is appreciated by all. A small glass of Gaillac to get the most valiant back on their feet, we laugh around the table, we recover from a great day exploring. We set up camp, a collective tent is moored in the middle of the beautiful "sand gallery", all our explorers settle in except Baptiste who is determined to face the night underground alone, but still right next to the others.
Second day underground
The night was marked by sporadic unidentified snoring, maybe the cave bear? We didn't wake up early, we had coffee and breakfast, then we tidied up the camp, repacked everything in the bags that had become lighter. The goal is to leave no trace of our passage so as not to disturb the underground world. Before leaving the "Sand Gallery", we will push a little into this gallery, to see what is further.
We pass through a rolling mill and arrive in a beautiful little room where the rock takes on unsuspected shapes. Further on, the rolling mill is too narrow for us to venture inside. We turn around and return to our bivouac. Once the reconditioning exercise is done, we can lower the bags at the crossroads between the return path and the ropes to climb up to the "Galerie des piques" from where we push on to the "Galerie blanche".
What is superb in the Bufo Fret network is that each gallery has a very particular style, the landscape is never the same and we constantly discover the different cave landscapes. The white gallery, almost unknown to Rod, is quite narrow, uneven, beautiful finely chiseled concretions extend into the rock, the atmosphere is more electric. We go up, we pass in opposition some places and then we find ourselves at the well.
It's hard to go any further, so we turn around. We find our bags and the location is ideal for a picnic lunch. All we have to do is cross "Pearl Harbor" again, the memory of which remains vivid in our minds. Strangely enough, the descent was very quick and without much difficulty. We found the lake again after rappelling down what we had climbed the day before with a rope. We found the exit under a bright sun, the beach under our bags and we went back down to the car to change, put away our gear, drink a beer and smile and chat about this outing.
An expedition like this does not leave you indifferent. The notion of time escapes, telephones no longer exist, the link with the outside world is completely cut, we are in a hostile and foreign world, far from home. We face ourselves, our fears and our desires but we are well surrounded. It is a beautiful experience and an intense piece of life. With the right team, it is a shared pleasure! If you like adventure and discovery, do not hesitate to inquire about our next bivouac expeditions!
Text, photo credit, drawing and video: Arthur Serres
Becoming independent in the Argensou canyon
The Argensou canyon and the journey towards autonomy
After a few outings in canyon, the idea came to follow a path in this field. To be able to progress, it was necessary to become autonomous. For this, Rodolphe offered training as an autonomous canyoner in June. Here I am embarking on the autonomous adventure.
I met my training colleagues, French. Together we followed the training course, between theory and technique and we had a good laugh, I must say. One fine day, we left with the equipment towards the Argensou canyon to put into practice what we had learned.
The weather wasn’t really with us, a little fine rain settled on our suits and it wasn’t that warm for a month of June. But we weren’t there to sunbathe, we wanted to become independent in canyoning. The Argensou canyon is a very easy canyon to begin canyoning when you are supervised, for us it was a challenge.
Everyone had a workshop to equip, we concentrated on knowing how to do it. The first time I found myself alone in front of the rope, it was something. What should I do again? And if I'm wrong... Concentrate, breathe, find the right solution.
Finally it worked, I set up a rope for the first time in rappel and I went down on it. I still had some doubts about the equipment. How could all this hold up? I was treated during a rope cutting exercise. I stayed a good twenty minutes above the void, a teammate had cut the rope following the procedure but something was wrong without putting me in danger. After that, I no longer doubted the equipment and for twenty minutes at the edge of the waterfall I had time to understand the fear of heights.
The training was very interesting, both in terms of canyoning and on a personal level, without forgetting the human side. We had spent a week together with colleagues, it was a good time for exchange and sharing. After this week we were autonomous in canyoning, we were certified by Universal Canyoning Academy and Rodolphe Sturm. It was the opportunity to move on to the next step.
If you are also tempted by the autonomous adventure, take a look at the training here: autonomous canyoner training
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