TECHNICAL PROWLS CANYONEERING AS CHALLENGING AS HIKERS WANT TO MAKE IT.

Byline: Bill Becher Staff Writer

ZION NATIONAL PARK, Utah - The first step is the hardest - backward as you rappel over a 100-foot high cliff with only a 3/8-inch rope to keep you from smacking down on unforgiving rock.

This is technical canyoneering - long popular in Europe, where it's known as canyoning. Whatever you call it, the sport is growing in the U.S., particularly in the Southwest, where many colorful slot canyons can only be explored with the techniques adapted from rock climbing.

But you don't need to make the backward step of faith to go canyoneering.

In Zion National Park, many visitors explore the upper stretch of Zion Canyon with nothing more than high-top sneakers and a wading staff. Two local companies offer rental gear for exploring the Narrows, as this section of the canyon is called. You can rent staffs and special canyoneering shoes with sticky rubber soles. In winter, when the water is especially cold, dry suits are available.

Most first-time canyoneers at the Narrows start at the bottom of the canyon and hike up. A 45-minute ride from the visitor center on the park's shuttle bus to the end of the line takes you to a spot known as the Temple of Sinawava. From here, it's a 1-mile walk along a paved path before you descend into the canyon. Along the way you pass surprisingly lush vegetation. Cottonwoods line the lower sections of the canyon.

A sign warns, ``All narrow canyons are hazardous. Flash floods, cold water and strong currents present real dangers that can be life-threatening. Your safety depends on your own good judgment, adequate preparation and constant attention.''

For most of the year the Virgin River flows gently through the Narrows. Last July, a sudden rainstorm caused a flash flood that swept through the canyon. The water volume quickly rose from 33 to 1,500 cubic feet per minute. Kimberly Clark at Zion Adventures, which provides maps and a basic Narrows orientation with rental gear, warns first-timers to look for changes in the color of the water. Brown water is a sign a lot more is on the way and it's time to look for higher ground.

As on most canyoneering experiences, you will get wet at the Narrows. Once in the river. there is no maintained route - the river is the trail for more than half of the hike. The red and yellow sandstone cliffs begin to close in as you ascend the canyon.

Along the way you can encounter waterfalls, depending on the season. Most of the year you can make it to the ``Wall Street'' section of the canyon without getting in water deeper than your knees, but you always can go swimming if you make a mistake.

In sections of the Narrows, rock walls are only 22 feet apart and reach 1,500-feet high. At mid-day, sunlight illuminates both sides of the canyon and visitors can get a sore neck marveling at the multi-hued sandstone overhead. If you're lucky you might glimpse a peregrine falcon. Mountain lions, wild turkeys, desert bighorn sheep, kangaroo rats and jackrabbits also inhabit Zion. Fall foliage, which peaks in November, is brilliant as cottonwoods and aspens turn golden and oaks are an intense crimson.

Hikers can turn around anytime when they are tired or have seen enough and wade back to their starting point. At Big Springs, about 5 miles in, bottom-up hikers must turn around.

The entire Narrows section of Zion Canyon is 16 miles long and it's a 10- to 12-hour hike if you try to do it in one day. Most through hikers spend a night in the canyon at one of the dozen designated campsites on higher ground. A wilderness permit is required for through hiking. This trip was ranked fifth in National Geographic Adventure magazine's list of the 100 best adventures in the U.S.

For those who want even more adventure, Zion offers slot canyons accessible only with technical gear. Though paid guiding is not allowed in the Park, Zion Adventure Company and Zion Rock & Mountain Guides, both located in Springdale, Utah, at the entrance to the park, offer different courses in technical canyoneering. Graduates often start with the short Keyhole canyon descent and then progress to other, longer canyons.

Skills needed by technical canyoneers include tying knots, how to set up safe rope anchors and learning to rappel under control, sometimes into icy pools of water. But canyoneering is physically easier than rock climbing - gravity is working with, not against you. Good judgment is essential for technical canyoneering, especially as flash floods can turn canyons into death traps in areas where you can't climb out.

Enthusiasts say technical canyoneering is the most fun adults can have.

All it takes is that first step.

IF YOU GO

Zion National Park, about a 7-hour drive from the Los Angeles area, is open year-round, though certain hikes might be closed in winter. Camping, food and lodging are available in the park or in Springdale. A mandatory shuttle bus system operates from April through October. Entrance fee is $20 per automobile for seven days. More information is at www.nps.gov/zion.

Zion Rock & Mountain Guides offers shuttle services for hikers, guided canyoneering and rock climbing and instruction outside the park, gear rental, showers, route descriptions and multi-sport activities. Information can be obtained at zionrockguides.com or by calling [phone].

Zion Adventures provides gear rental, shuttle services, instruction and information about canyoneering and rock climbing. Call [phone] or visit zionadventures.com.

The American Canyoneering Association's Web site at www.canyoneering.net has information about canyoneering, courses, technique and gear. The San Gabriel Chapter of the American Canyoneering Association has a discussion board at groups.yahoo.com/group/sangabrielcanyons.

Canyoneeringusa.com (click on Tom's Utah Canyoneering Guide) offers information including route descriptions on technical and non-technical canyoneering destinations around the Southwest.

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(1 -- 3) Dean Woods, above, is among a growing number of outdoor enthusiasts who have tried canyoneering. He rappels into Pine Creek Canyon. Once he reaches the bottom, he checks his map. He also makes his way through Spring Creek Canyon, left, and wears a waterproof suit just in case he falls in for an unexpected swim, right.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News

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IF YOU GO (see text)