I came across the use of the adjective "bootleg" to describe a type of canyoneer some time ago, and it occurred to me that it is such a good way to describe both a type of canyoneer, and a way to canyoneer. Just like an unlabeled container, or an item acquired in a back alley, you just don't know what you are going to get with bootleg goods, or bootleg canyoneer practices.
Is Bootleg canyoneering bad?
Bootleg canyoneering can be good, or bad. You just don't know.
You just don't until you join that person, or team out in a canyon. Will they know navigation? Or weather conditions? Will they have all the ropes and gear needed? Will they rig static or releasable? Do they belay partners or not? How they communicate? Do they know how to self-rescue? Will they know how to assist you if you need indirect or direct rescue? You just do not know...until you need the skill that they may or may not have.
Bootleg or Generic Brand?
As time has passed by, in some communities, especially ones where some members have acquired formal canyoneering training, Bootleg canyoneering has transformed into something akin to a 'generic brand'. GPS navigation, copious beta and canyon conditions, along with various flavors of Releasable-Rigging have become the generic brand of canyoneering, leaving "biner-blocking-everything" and "ghosting-everything" squarely as bootleg canyoneering.
The tipping Point
In different communities happened at different times. In the SW, I think it happened around 2015. The passenger to leader ratio tipping point. That point where there are not enough competent leaders to take newcomers/passengers into canyoneering trips. You could tell this by attending canyoneering rendezvous before and after that year. Before, there were enough leaders posting trips, and passengers could have their pick. After, the scheme got inverted and there were passengers posting trips or permits asking for leaders. Eventually, this has devolved into no one asking for leaders, just asking for partners.
Autonomous Canyoneering
During my involvement with the American Canyoneering Association, I suggested adding to the classic progression format based on professional guiding (Passenger > Assistant > Guide) an updated curriculum titled "Autonomous Canyoneer". This new curriculum attempted to address this new tipping-point reality by focusing on basic skills plus indirect-rescue by release & lower and self-rescue. The ethos of this program was something similar to "defensive driving" while driving an automobile. This curriculum also took into account the new reality of a diminished interest in training to be a Lead/Guide, and newcomers just wanting to "go to canyons with partners".
Branded Canyoneering?
In recent years I've seen organizations and groups that look more like "clubs" coming with their "flavor" or canyoneering. A selection of practices and rigging variations practiced by all members of that group/club. After all, putting together a set of these practices is like cooking with a set of known ingredients (skills list). By organizing practice sessions and assessments, the club not only has a Label in the front, but a list of expected ingredients on the side.
L2, Intermediate or Assistant?
A couple of organizations in the USA have published an Open Source list of canyoneering skills organized by levels. The American Canyoneering Association, and Canyon Guides International. Both lists are based on the initial efforts by Rich Carlson to establish a set of common practices. Different subsequent organizations have named each level differently depending on who concocted a derived curriculum. The level labels read something like:
L1 or Entry Level or Passenger
L2 or Intermediate or Assistant
L3 or Advanced or Lead
Brand or cult?
These lists have provided an open-source-like access to a list of skills that organizations interested in developing their own flavor of training have modified/diluted. During this process, some cultish attitudes have surfaced. The main source of these attitudes seems to be "instructors" or "learning-by-doing-types" telling students or newcomers that anything not listed in their brand-new concocted recipe is "unsafe". Students from certain instruction outlets go around thinking or saying that only their "recipe" is the "safe" or "better" one...with very little knowledge to back those beliefs, hence the "cultish" feel to these claims.
Bootlegging and accidents
There seems to be a connection of accidents or “epics” and bootlegging, i.e assembling and canyoneering team of partners of unknown training levels of origins. In the past, people used to do “shake-down” canyons with new partners before engaging in higher rated routes. More on accidents here…
The future is generic
Hopefully, as the sport moves forward, so will its practices. Practices based on safety and conservation by means of low impact and a common vocabulary of ingredients to come up with the right recipe for each region and community .