Gorge Walking

cat_with_no_tail

Just been on one of those adventure day whatsits with work, managers team building day thingy. It was great fun!

We did Shooting on a rifle range, followed by Archery, followed by an awesome assault course. Spot of lunch then spent the rest of the day Gorge walking.

Never been gorge walking before and wasnt sure what to expect, it was so much fun! I'm seriously considering taking this up as another hobby now. Should be fairly cheap to get into too. Anyone else ever tried it? What did you make of it? Is it as simple to get into as getting a helmet, using an old wetsuit and lifejacket and taking a few mates?

Anonymous

What is it? Is it like Coasteering or Canyoning? They both striked me as absolutely pointless, but utter fun!

I mean, you can always go "I'm just off out for a ride, love"
But it doesn't really work with coasteering
"I'm just off out to dick about in the sea, by the cliffs, love"

Not the same, is it?

Foot_of_travel

I have done some gorge walking, great fun..

Really wet.

Needs a wetsuit wet.

Don't do it when there is rain or rain is likely, it could end up being 'too wet'.

I walked a nice gorge in Wales right near a road..

It is fairly easy to do, grab the kit, ie wetsuit, helmet and buoyancy aid, grab a few likeminded and likewise experienced individuals and drive to a gorge you have scouted for access, you need that easy access at both ends. No out is a hard slog back. Check make sure you are not trespassing (access can be sought), don't leave a mess.

cat_with_no_tail

Yeh, the wetsuits we used all had massive holes in the knees and elbows. Easy to see why though. Luckily, I have a few old wetsuits and lying around from the Jet-ski that I'm not bothered about wrecking.

yeehaamcgee according to our instructors, it's like canyoning, only going in the opposite direction. In Canyoning, you are following the flow of the water downstream. Gorge walking goes the other way, against the flow.
Not entirely sure if that is an accurate description of the activity as a whole, but it was for what we did.

We were in the water for around 2hrs 30mins and we went about 1km. It's slow progress but very physical stuff, especially the bits where you are clinging to a rock, trying to pull yourself up onto a ledge with the full weight of the water falling on you too.

It's easily the most exciting sport I've done since getting back into mountainbiking! Can't wait to go back!

thekickingmule

We went gorge walking for a mates stag do in the Lakes. Fantastic fun!
Though wet suits!?! Wuss's :P In the lakes, they give you a bear skin suit, which is not water proof at all, in fact, it soaks up the water, however it does keep you warm. It too had loads of holes in it. Then you wear some water proof clothing over the top of it (more to keep some dignity rather than keep you dry )

We went down stream though, not up. But there that meant jumping off 10ft drops into tiny little pools, and crawling under water going under tree branches and stuff. Fantastic fun! Would definitely do it again.
The female instructor, Sam, wasn't bad to look at either....

Anonymous

^^
You are aware that wetsuits don't keep you dry, right?

thekickingmule

Nope, never been in one

But this definitely isn't a wetsuit, it's more like a really tight body suit made of fur. Get's very heavy.

thekickingmule

These are the suits. I'm neither of the blokes though, no idea who they are