A brief introduction to Canyoning The relatively new sport of canyoning was largely unknown until the 1990s, and not until nineteen tourists were killed in a canyoning accident in Switzerland did the sport get wide public attention. In a nutshell, canyoning simply consists of hiking, climbing, or rappelling to the bottom of a river canyon, then following that canyon to a logical exit point, often a spot at which it's easy to hike back out.
Every canyon varies, but the following description, from our New Zealand trip, is typical.
First, you'll put on a wet suit. The wet suit also provides protection against scrapes if you get too close to a rock wall. Then, you proceed into the canyon. On our New Zealand trip, that means hiking briefly uphill, then over through forest to a spot where there's easy access to the water. Now, you start down.