The Origin Story of Canyon Grooves

THE PARABLE OF PETER AND STEVE, TWO CANYON EXPLORER BROTHERS THAT CHOSE DIFFERENT PATHS.

Originally published in Instructional Canyoneering Resource on 8/9/2023

Two brothers, Peter Norton West, and Steve West went canyoneering.

They got their rope stuck, and also a core shot because the rope made contact with the edge of the rappel, and could not be recovered due to too much friction at the edge.

Peter took a look at what caused the rope getting stuck and the core shot, and concluded that a better anchor location was needed, one that avoids rope contact with the rock, resulting in no rope friction for recovery and no core shots.

But Steve, taking a look at the exact same situation, concluded that what was needed was a tougher rope, one that could take the abuse of rappel edges, and also a whole new way of rigging to avoid pulling the rope over edges.

Steve went shopping and could not find such rope. So he decided to make his own rope.

When he finally finished his new rope, it was so tough that regular knots could not be tied on it. So he proceeded to modify regular knots so they could stay put on the new stiff rope. Now he needed to find a way to not get his rope stuck. He learned about how rope people used slip knots to avoid untying knots after being loaded. Although these knots were dangerous for live loads, he decided to use them for every rappel. He was so proud of his new "triple knots" and "slip rappel knots", that he published "Steve's Freedom of the Cliffs" and promoted the book amongst young impressionable new commers to convince them that this was real canyoneering, and the only way to preserve nature.

While Steve was doing all this....

Peter found better anchor locations and continued enjoying canyoning with no problems, using nice ropes, normal knots, and safe rigging.

While neither Peter nor Steve invented canyoneering, Peter's approach got adopted worldwide, and Steve's way only remained popular in a small area of the world where ropes damage rock, and not the other way around.

Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental…

Ref:

Storytelling is the original form of teaching and has the potential of fostering emotional intelligence and help gain insight into human behaviour. Storytelling also promotes language learning by enriching learners' vocabulary and acquiring new language structures.

Pregledni rad UDK: 371.3:811.111–26 STORYTELLING AS A METHOD OF EFL TEACHING