Bonus Episode: Meet your hosts

Find out why we started this podcast, who we are, why we love canyoneering and what you can look forward to in future episodes!

Transcript

Bonus Episode: Meet your hosts

Katie: [00:00:00] Hey everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Katie 

Carma: and I'm Carma and you're listening to, I'd rather be canyoneering.

Katie: We're best friends who totally geek out about canyon rigging and beautifully slot canyons. Basically we'd always rather be canyoneering. But when we can't, we spend every spare minute, we have talking about it.

Carma: This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional instruction and practice technical skills in a controlled environment before entering slot canyons. Your safety is entirely your own responsibility.

Katie: Welcome to our canyon crew! 

Why we started this podcast

Carma: Okay. Everyone listen up. The whole point of this podcast is to help you become a more competent caner. That's the whole goal. So if that's something you want, then you're in the right place. Every week we'll break down a new canyoneering topic [00:01:00] so that you can take that knowledge with you to your practice wall, and then into your next canyon.

So why are we doing this? As we have sought to become more competent Canyon ourselves, we've found that it's difficult to find good information. It's out there, but it's fragmented and it's buried. We have done a ton of digging, and we want to share what we found with you so that you can get to the information faster than we did.

Who we are

Carma: But before we jump on that, why don't we introduce ourselves a little bit so that you know who we are and where. We're coming from? Our experience is mostly with the slot canyons of the American southwest. Katie has also branched out to Costa Rica and to the Pacific Northwest. Combined we've descended over a hundred canyons, and for the majority of those, we've been the leaders of our teams.

We're canyoneering geeks just like you, and we weaken warrior our way through as many canyons as our spouses and kids can possibly tolerate.

Katie: Woohoo. 

Carma: I'm Karma. I grew up in Seattle. I started rock climbing and canyoneering when [00:02:00] I came to Utah for college. I got my bachelor's degree in recreation management, specifically outdoor recreation leadership. So I literally got a degree in guiding people outdoors. I spent my last semester in Alaska where I got my Wilderness First responder certification and trained in Kavas rescue near Denali. After college, I worked for the National Forest Service. I was a river guide and a snowboarding instructor. And then a few years later I moved to Minnesota and went back to school to become a nurse. I spent eight years working in orthopedic trauma at Mayo Clinic, and I can't tell you how happy Katie was when her canyoneering buddy moved back to Utah

Katie: Yeah.

Carma: She was the one who introduced me to Canyoneering, and I'll let her tell you a little bit about herself.

Katie: Awesome. So I fell in love with rigging and rope work when I was about 14 years old and I was working in a theater in Oakland, California. Um, a retired Marine taught me how to repel off the catwalks and [00:03:00] just set me on this amazing path of loving ropes and rigging and canyons and all these places I could get to with those skills.

in college. I also majored in recreation management and I've worked in the industry since. Um, I've been a rock climbing instructor. I've worked in adaptive recreation. I've worked in wilderness therapy and I worked for the National Park Service on their cave rescue team. 

Most recently. I started a nonprofit with my husband called Pivoted Adventure, where we've worked with over 700 teens taking them out into the outdoors, rock climbing, cross country skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, mountain biking, all of those things to learn resiliency and mental health skills in an outdoor environment. 

I've also had the opportunity to be on the Canyoning Chicks Education Committee so very excited to share some of what I know with everyone here, and I hope you enjoy the podcast.

Carma: So Just to get us all on the same page, when we say canyoneering [00:04:00] or canyoning, we are referring to technical canyoneering. That means descending canyons that require technical gear ropes, harnesses, helmets, et C.

And technical knowledge to be able to repel build anchors, do pothole escapes, et cetera, and to complete a canyon route safely. That generally means class three and four canyons.

Why we love it

Carma: Now we wanna just tell you why we love it so much. Really like what's to love, honestly, what is not to love about candy mirroring.

Right. 

Katie: I would say it's like trying to solve a riddle and do an obstacle course at the same time with all of your best friends. 

Carma: Yeah, it is. 

Adventure

Carma: Each canyon is so unique and that's, what's really one of the fun things about it. It's just like how every mountain has its own personality and quirk. So does every, canyon. And they're constantly changing season to season and year to year. And the challenges is part of what makes it, a cool adventure. If there was no risk at all, [00:05:00] then you can't really call it an adventure. I don't think like there has to be some managed risks involved for it to be an adventure.

Katie: Some element of unknown, you know, some element of going into the unknown and trying to figure it out and that there are challenges. I am looking for a challenge. I want to conquer that challenge. I want my skills to be tested. I like that.

It's fun for me. 

Carma: Yeah, too. 

The nice thing about canyoneering is it can be, a few hours or it can be a full blown expedition. It can be multiple days. You can find a canyoneering route to fit, whatever type of adventure you're looking for. And I mentioned that there is some. Risk involved. So you do get to have some of the fun of a little bit of an adrenaline sport. I wouldn't say that's the main thing that draws us to it

Katie: I like the perceived risk. 

Carma: Perceived risk.

Katie: So. I like it when I'm hanging off of a 300 foot repel. And I know that the anchor is [00:06:00] bomber and that I have a backup on my repel. And I know that that there's no way I'm gonna blow this and die. It wouldn't be fun if I thought I was gonna die.

What's fun about it is knowing that I'm totally safe, even though my body is saying, this is scary. This is scary. What have you got? What are you doing? And I'm able to say, no, I know what I'm doing. I got this. I love that mode of like, I got this. 

Flow

Katie: The other thing that I really like about the adventure is I love the technical aspects. I love learning them and knowing when to choose the right one and when to apply it. And I actually really feel that kind of out of body experience. That real flow, when, what I'm doing demands my full attention.

And at that point I don't have any other. Voices in my head. I am not thinking about work. I'm not thinking about when my kid ate last. I'm not thinking about the family party that we're supposed to be planning. None of that is allowed to creep in my full attention is on what I'm doing right in front of [00:07:00] me.

And it gives me such a sense of flow to be completely in the moment. And I 

love that. 

Carma: Yeah, it really does. Like you honestly are not thinking or worrying about anything else. And that flow is what, I think makes you come back. you know, when you finish a canyon, you're already dreaming about the next one that you wanna do. 

Like on the hike out, you're talking about the next canyon that you're

Katie: and then, and then, 

Natural Wonders

Katie: and ugh, and they're just beautiful, you know, thinking through a few, I'm thinking about these chambers that we've stood in. I'm thinking about these beautiful flutes that come down and swirling, spiraling. Rappels just gorgeous. The different layers in the sandstone, the cathedrals repelling into.

A cathedral threw a hole in the top and ending up swimming your way off, out of the most beautiful place you've ever seen. It just 

blows your 

Carma: Yeah. And the hanging gardens, I'm thinking of [00:08:00] the canyons that they have Springs coming out of the walls and there's just plants hanging on the walls and you're like, I'm in the desert, but you're in this jungle Oasis. That's tucked away into this place in the desert that you would never. No, it was there unless you went down the canyon. 

And I love being able to walk through the narrow. I kind of like the narrow canyons, not super narrow, but narrow, where you can just touch both walls. You know, cuz it's that narrow and look up at this tiny little sliver of sky and you're deep, deep in the earth. And I love, kind of the Southern Utah, swirling stand stone., Those are the cans that really get me. So where you can see these patterns that were deposited.

Forever ago, And you can look at nature's artwork up close and personal. And in this place that so many people are never gonna get a chance to see. So you feel, lucky [00:09:00] to be able to see these, amazing parts of the earth.

Katie: I love that. And, I, love that feeling when I'm walking through and I feel like a true guest in nature. I love to just stand in awe of something bigger, and stronger than I am when the route is hard. I feel like I have to earn the invitation to come. And I also love honestly, Not very many people can get to these places. These canyons are super remote and you have to have done a lot of research to know where they are and you have to have brought all of the right gear. And because it's, it kind. Makes a smaller group of people who can get access to these areas. I feel like those people often, not always, but often have a lot of respect for the area that they're in and are being really conscientious about what they are not leaving behind for anyone else to find.

So I really love that feeling of. Wow. I feel like I'm on a clean trail. I feel almost like I'm the [00:10:00] first one down and that's really cool to feel like I'm exploring something a little bit more remote, a little bit more raw, a little bit more, just real. And I, do love that as well. 

Carma: I feel like the best places I've ever been are places that have been hard to get to. I'm just thinking about many different kind of adventures, not just canyoneering, but the hardest places are often the most worthwhile to get to because they are pristine. 

Friends

Katie: And I love doing that with friends. I love having a group of friends to share, the experience with. I still remember one of our first slot canyons that we did. And I remember we were down this pothole and we hadn't even, we didn't even know that much about potholes. And then it's like, we've got this sure. Here climb on my shoulder. And you're like, it's not tall enough. I'm like climb on my head, stand on my head.

Playground

Katie: And you did. And it was so silly and so fun because I felt like a kid just playing on a play. That was my size, love that. 

Carma: Yeah. I mean you really bond with [00:11:00] people when you've stood on their head, right. 

Katie: right? 

That's a real friend right

Carma: that's a real friend. That's when, you know, like this friend will do anything to help me, you know? So

Katie: Right. 

Carma: But yeah, I mean play like, as adults, we're constantly in this stressful world of all our responsibilities, but when you go in a canyon, you get to be a kid again, you just get to play you know, and the playground is big enough for you to play in,

Why we started this podcast again

Carma: so if you couldn't tell from us talking we really like being in canyons, we love canyoneering. We have all these conversations already about, canyon rigging, and, canyons were excited about, what went great on the canyon. We just did. And we feel like we have something that we can contribute to the canyoneering community. Like we wanna be able to bring the canyoneering community, high quality content 

Katie: absolutely. 

Future Episodes

Carma: What you can look forward to hearing from us in future episodes, we're planning to do some deep [00:12:00] diving into technical rigging. I know that's Katie's favorite 

Katie: So much technical 

Carma: also gear choices, techniques, and, some trip reports, hopefully some interviews, I might even bring some first stage stuff in cuz I'm the nurse over here. So if you are starting out on your canyoneering journey or maybe you've been at it for a while, and you wanna take things up a notch, we got you, we're gonna help you do that. 

Outro

 If you're totally hooked on canyoneering like us, remember to subscribe, so you don't miss any episodes and you can also reach out to us on Facebook. with questions, comments, topics you wanna talk about, or just to say, Hey, cuz We would love to hear from you. 

Carma: Thanks for dropping in with us and we'll catch you on the wrap side.