It was during the summer of 1999 when Valchiavenna would discover the delights of this fantastic recreation. Yes indeed fully 20 years now since canyoning began to feature as part of our fine valley’s sporting components. And it was all down to Alpine guides Renata Rossi, Franco Giacomelli and Franco Gallegioni to put the Boggia torrent in Val Bodengo firmly on the European canyoning map – taking the first Italian visitors on exhilarating new adventures. It was an innovation which was to immediately grab the attention, not only of the “usual suspects” – leading climbers and habitué – but also of a new audience to whom “abseiling” et al was hitherto a veritable alien perience.

Throughout Europe in fact and in particular France canyoning had already left its mark. And in Valchiavenna itself a small number of Alpine guides had begun to explore the possibilities of some of the most demanding torrents. The motive was partly for training purposes in the event of rescue actions on behalf of fishermen or hikers in difficulty but also to map some of the most inaccessible and little-known areas of the territory. Guides Renata and the pair of Franco’s were to become the trailblazing trio and canyoning soon spread to a variety of Italian locations. Pioneering times indeed. Yet within a short time the sport was to attract more and more aficionados – with qualified mountain guides always to the fore. As they remain today. A fundamental pre-requisite for taking on the challenging torrents and their often precipitous nature - in complete safety. And happily the Boggia in Val Bodengo has remained very much at the heart of the Italian Alpine canyoning scenario.