WETSUIT, HELMET, HARNESS
The Gear That Keeps You Warm and Safe in the Gorge
A thick wetsuit, a helmet, a harness and grippy canyoning shoes — here's what each piece of kit actually does and why none of it is optional in a glacial gorge.
See canyoning trips on GetYourGuide ↗The wetsuit is doing more work than you'd think
Interlaken's canyons run on glacial and snowmelt water, which stays cold even in the height of August, so every trip issues a full-length wetsuit — noticeably thicker neoprene than a typical surf wetsuit, and sometimes paired with a separate jacket or vest on the coldest, most exposed canyons. It works by trapping a thin layer of water against your skin that your body quickly warms up, and because you're swimming, sliding and climbing almost constantly rather than standing around, most people stay comfortably warm for a couple of hours even though the water itself is genuinely bracing to the touch.
The helmet is for rock, not just falls
You wear a helmet for the entire descent, and its job is less about falls than about the rock itself — loose stone dislodged by the group ahead of you, a ledge you brush past mid-jump, the low ceiling of a narrow slot canyon you have to duck through. It's fitted and checked at the base before you set off, alongside the rest of the kit, and guides will happily adjust the straps on the spot if it feels loose or sits wrong, since a helmet that shifts around isn't doing its job properly.
The harness connects you to the rope
A climbing-style harness is what your guide clips into the rope for every abseil, and on some canyons for the zip-line crossings too. It's adjusted to fit properly at the start of the day — snug around your hips and upper thighs, not just pulled tight — and checked by a guide before the very first rappel. That double-check habit is borrowed directly from rock climbing, where a second pair of eyes on every buckle and carabiner is standard practice before anyone weights the rope, not a sign that anything is wrong or that you've been fitted incorrectly.
Canyoning shoes and why trainers don't cut it
Wet, water-polished granite is far more slippery underfoot than it looks from photos, and ordinary trainers, sandals or bare feet lose grip within the first few steps. Operators provide purpose-made canyoning shoes, or sturdy neoprene booties with a sticky rubber sole designed specifically to bite into wet rock, worn over a pair of thin neoprene socks for extra warmth and to stop rubbing. This is one piece of gear worth never substituting with your own footwear, even if you've packed proper hiking boots — they're built and soled for a completely different, drier surface.
What to bring, and what to leave at the base
Wear a swimsuit under the wetsuit, and pack a towel and a full change of dry clothes to put on straight after the descent — most bases have somewhere to change and store bags for the day. Leave watches, rings and other jewellery behind entirely, since cold water shrinks fingers and loose metal easily snags on gear, rope or rock. If you wear glasses, arranging a retainer strap in advance or switching to contact lenses for the day is worth doing, given you'll be fully underwater more than once and diving to retrieve a lost pair isn't realistic.
More things to do nearby
Not sure which canyon, or whether it's for you?
Leave your email and roughly when you're travelling — we'll send a short rundown of how the Interlaken canyons compare, which suit first-timers versus thrill-seekers, how cold the water is, and what a half-day actually involves.