Some trips require a very particular set of skills – skills we have acquired over a very long career. Just kidding, it hasn’t been that long (I just love that scene in Taken), but you do need a particular set of skills – generally we’re talking about canyoning/canyoneering skills, but a technical cave would also warrant this rating or a packrafting trip that involves whitewater. We’ve denoted these trips specifically to make sure no one gets confused and tries to go without the appropriate knowledge or equipment – look for this symbol: ⊗.

If you don’t have these skills, don’t try these routes. And don’t assume that because you know how to climb and build climbing anchors that it’s close enough for anything requiring rope work. You can probably survive in canyons and caves on these skills, but I don’t like “probably” when we’re talking about your life.

If you have an interest in doing some of these trips and don’t currently have this skillset(s), we highly encourage you to take a course and learn – you won’t be disappointed. Zion National Park is a wonderful place for an introduction to canyoneering – Zion Adventure Company offers some great courses, after which you’ll be ready to tackle some of Zion’s beautiful canyons, and packrafting is growing in popularity. Companies like Packrafting Queenstown offer “Packrafting 101” courses that will give the basics to get you started safely in just a day.

If you’re interested in the type of equipment you need for running canyons, or you’ve done some canyoning and are interested in getting your own gear, visit our canyoneering gear post for what we use.