WHERE NO MAN HAS SET FOOT BEFORE

Crete, with its high-relief landscape is a paradise for canyoning, a term that means exploring gorges using alpinism techniques. This sport can be practiced in Crete even in winter, as there isn’t much rain and the temperature remains mild. The level of difficulty of a gorge is defined by 3 basic factors: the flow of the water running through it, the techniques suitable for its descent and the height of its vertical descents.
Some gorges in Crete, as the Kourtaliotiko, have water flowing all year long. Some others, as the Ha gorge, the so-called “king of Cretan gorges”, do so only for 2-3 months a year. This last one is considered to be one of the 5 most beautiful gorges of Europe. Its walls are vertical; it is very long and demands a great number of different techniques to be crossed.

Very long is also the Kamaraiko gorge in the mountains of Psiloritis and the Klados gorge near Chania. The Asteroussia mountains have some gorges with very high rappels (vertical descents), as the Abas gorge with a waterfall of 145 meters, the 3rd highest in Greece, and the gorge of Aghia Paraskevi with a waterfall of 110 meters. The most difficult gorge in Crete is considered to be the gorge of Portella, near Keratokambos..

Maria Sarri