By Bronwyn Scott
Published: July 17, 2013
Rappelling through waterfalls, cascading down rock walls and diving into pristine pools is what Damien Briguet and Francois-Xavier De Ruydts do best and De Ruydts’ movie Down the Line, set in Squamish, captures it all.
The 22-minute film is being screened on Wednesday, July 17, at the Eagle Eye Theatre as part of the Squamish Mountain Festival.
It documents De Ruydts and his friends’ canyoneering excursions through remarkable, previously unexplored, geological structures in Squamish.
Canyoneering is an emerging sport that involves hiking, climbing, jumping, swimming and rappelling down and through canyons.
It’s better established in the Alps and in Utah, and although recent publicity has triggered an interest, canyoneering here is an activity championed by a select few.
“It’s still top secret,” said Robin Rainer, an employee at the Sea-to-Sky Adventure Company.
But thanks to De Ruydts, that’s beginning to change.
The photographer from Belgium learned canyoneering in Spain and France.
He’d found his niche in cave images and was eager to transition to canyons, but didn’t want to explore them himself.
He sought to establish a community of local adventurers, with limited success, but then a chance encounter led him to a fellow explorer and immediate friend.
De Ruydts was getting footage at Cypress Creek, a canyon on the North Shore, when he heard something below.
“I see this guy splashing down the stream, and, hello?” he recalled, chuckling.
It was seasoned canyoneer Damien Briguet from Switzerland.
Seeing one another was a surprise. Only three or four others were canyoneering in Squamish when De Ruydts got started.
“Most of these people learned canyoneering in Utah, in dry canyons, and then they tried to reproduce that in B.C.” De Ruydts
Waterfalls, deep pools and strong currents define canyoneering here.
Unlike Utah or Europe, B.C.’s canyons are wild, said Briguit.
“They’re not easily accessible, some haven’t been descended or haven’t been equipped, so it’s different here.”
The thrill of the unknown led the pair to try to find a canyon at Monmouth Creek, opposite Squamish River. They’d seen pictures online and sought it out.
After their descent they noticed a trickling creek coming down the mountain. Taking a chance, they followed it up, and were amazed by their discovery.
“That was 100 per cent unknown and it turned out to be the most amazing canyon we’ve ever found,” said De Ruydts.
In places the water was 50-metres deep, and the smooth, water-formed rock was incredibly narrow, just two- or three-metres in places. It was steep.
Unsure if they had long enough rope or where the next turn might take them, they kept on.
Down the Line tells the story of their descent through Box Canyon and the challenges they faced along the way.
Tickets to the Mountain Film Festival, featuring presentations and movies, are $15 in advance and $18 otherwise. Doors open at 6:30 for a 7:00 start.
The film can also be viewed for free at the Squamish Adventure Centre theatre.
Jim Harvey says
Not exactly ‘Top Secret’ when all you have to do is visit Monmouth Creek and see the gear left behind to facilitate the descent. Canyoneering looks like a lot of fun but I wish its proponents (or at least the ones who left their gear on Monmouth) would clean up after themselves.
Murray Sovereign says
I’m with Jim on this. I rappelled down Monmouth Creek with a couple of friends many years ago, using nothing but natural anchors (trees, boulders, logs) all the way down. We had a ball, and it was a great way to beat the heat. But if anyone is thinking of doing the same, I would ask them to give some thought to all the people who hike that trail just to enjoy the natural beauty of the place. Don’t leave big loops of nylon sling hanging right in the middle of the waterfalls, as this canyoneering group did – they’re eyesores, they’re garbage, they don’t belong there. If you have to build anchors, go back after you’re done and clean up after yourselves. It’s a beautiful place, so by all means enjoy it, but please leave it in its natural state so others can continue to enjoy it.
Dave says
Murray and Jim; just an observation for discussion:
I absolutely agree that unsightly garbage and stuff that is past it’s use should be removed from such sites. I am appalled at the stuff that is left on Everest, for instance ….and that includes the ragged fading Buddhist Bunting…faith or not!
However, my wife and I recently went to Costa Rica; a truly emerging, progressive Country with a real environmental conscience. We did a number of G-Tour activities which included some controlled canyoneering in a beautiful setting. They had a anchor platform station, painted green, which was a permanent structure and this gave an opportunity for many to experience the environment and the activity. The tourist industry was served and I saw no real harm to the area. We have our own Gondola controversy which does have some similarities to this issue. The environment, wherever it is, should not be the exclusive domain of the young super-fit few as long as it is done tastefully. We also did “Superman zip-lining” and “Mega Tarzan swinging”….all set-up properly with nothing unsightly or harmful to the local flora or fauna. We are both sixty seven and enjoying the outdoors…. please don’t wish us to be excluded.
In my opinion , what they did is no worse than carving out biking trails through our forest…which is good too, if the ultra purists can bend a bit.
Let all of us have the opportunity to enjoy what only the few seem to want to own.
Murray Sovereign says
Hi Dave, if the anchors in question were tastefully and properly set up with nothing unsightly, I would have no objection, but that isn’t the case here. They set their anchors with no regard at all for the visual impact, apparently with no thought even that other people might visit the area. The falls on Monmouth Creek are a true gem, visited by growing numbers of people every year, and leaving long nylon slings hanging in the middle of them is just plain lazy, or ignorant, or both. It’s got nothing to do with Jim or I being “purists”, it’s about respecting the natural beauty of a special place, and respecting everyone who hikes that trail specifically to enjoy the natural beauty. Why should the “few” (in this case one group of three people) feel they can walk away leaving a trail of garbage behind, detracting from everyone else’s enjoyment of the place?
Leaving Monmouth Creek in its natural state also has nothing to do with restricting it to the “young super-fit”. The only aspect of rappelling down Monmouth Creek that requires any fitness at all is the hike up. Once you’re at the top, gravity does all the work on the way back down. Nylon slings hanging in the middle of the falls does absolutely nothing to make the hike up any easier, it merely diminishes the enjoyment of the experience. And if the group in question were fit enough to hike up in the first place, then they’re also fit enough to go back later and clean up after themselves.
Far from “excluding” anyone, I’ve taken many, many people across to Monmouth Creek over the past dozen years in order to share it with them, and I encourage each of them to share it with others in turn. Jim has been doing the same, and for longer than me. I’ve also put quite a bit of time into clarifying and maintaining the trail to make it easier for others to follow, and I established an entirely new trail from above the falls up to Echo Lake, not because I want to “own” the place, but so others can enjoy it. I’ll be happy to take you and your wife also: just say the word. It’s a great hike, arguably the best in the area.
To your point about tasteful and properly set up facilities such as you encountered in Costa Rica: if someone from the canyoneering community wants to put in permanent anchors down the falls I wouldn’t have a problem with it, provided they were placed in unobtrusive locations that don’t detract from everyone’s enjoyment of the natural beauty of the place. In fact I’d like to help them with it: I’ve often thought about doing it myself. But leaving big loops of nylon webbing hanging in the middle of the falls, at eye level, in plain view from the trail, doesn’t cut it. If those are the type of anchors they’re going to use, then they should go back when they’re done and clean up after themselves, which is all Jim and I are saying.
Murray Sovereign says
OK, so good news. I’ve just had a telephone call from one of the members of the canyoneering group from the film, and we are hoping to spend a day or two on Monmouth Creek together some time in August, with an eye to setting permanent anchors so that people can rappel the falls without the visual impact of the current nylon slings. If we can get it set up well, with a good route topo for directions, it could become a popular summer activity, particularly for climbers looking to beat the heat. I’m looking forward to it – it’ll be good fun.