GJËRZEZE CANYON

The younger brother of the Holta, the Gjerzerze canyon, which promises us a deep gorge and continues to be excavated in a beautiful white limestone.

However, what is certain is that everything that has surrounded our stay in the valley, and the experience of making the descent of the Gjerzerze has made it possibly what travelers tend to say “the most authentic experience” that we have had during our trip, although we don’t like the expression very much.

Given that during the journey through the valley we have seen some crops that have worried us, the day before our descent we went to Poroçan, where there is a small bar, where some “farmers” spend a lot of time, we made sure everyone knew we were in the valley just for canyoning, who knows what we might find on the approaches to the descents.

GJËRZEZË CANYON DATA

Activity: Canyoning in Albania
Other toponyms: Gzezerze
Starting point: Dirt track towards the Holtit dam
Nearest town: Poroçan (bar with some basic foods)
Car combination: NO
Approach time: 45′
Descent time: 2h
Return time: 5′
Difficulty: v4a2III
Longest abseil: 35 mts.
Rope: 2×40
Cartography:
Soviet Military ~ 1980 – 1: 50,000 (Via Russian Topomaps APP)
Bibliography:
Canyonisme en Albanie – Guillaume Coquin
Albania Canyoning – Pascal Van Duin
Observations:Provide replacement material to install, just in case.

ACCES AND APPROACH TO GJERZËZË CANYON IN ALBANIA

Coming from Cërrik we will come across an imposing dam that the road avoids due to its hydrographic right. We will cross several bridges, until we find a turning on the left that leads to Kotorr, passing through the exit of the Holta canyon and up the mountain to Kabash and then to Poroçan.

In October 2021 this track was in good condition to do it in a van, but be very aware of the exit from the valley, the track is quite muddy and in case of rain it can lead to problems leaving the valley.

The approach path begins on the other side of the Holta river, which we can cross with care thanks to a suspension bridge and which leaves us in a large garden that we will cross with care, since on the other side we will find a canalization of water that we will follow for a few minutes until we find a track that goes up to the left of it. Little by little, it will become a path and it will take us across some meadows to a house, which we can skirt below (on the right) by a very obvious cow path. Following this path we will go up towards a hill where there is a small crop of panís and behind which you can see the rocks that crown the walls of the canyon.

Arriving at the pass we will realize that we are in the middle of a private estate, and we will pass between the crops and the house, always with the utmost respect and discretion. The house is located on top of a hill, on the other side and below which there is a good plain where we will equip ourselves to start the Gjerzerze canyon.

GJËRZEZË CANYONING DESCENT

We start the descent excited, since the canyon promises, it is very congested and it took us the fact that we had discarded the Holta because we did not have the logistics to do the combination (nor had we asked, in fact, why Poroçan goes up some bus every day). It should also be said that although the guide mentions the coldness of the canyon, we did not appreciate it too much, because the feeling of cold in the hands was similar to other Albanian canyons.

The canyon starts straight enough, immediately entering a white limestone and the first obstacles are unremarkable, until you pass the large “baume” on the left, from where we will find the first relevant highlights.

The first two indicated in the review of Canyonisme in Albanie we unclimbed them with all probability, because the first installation we use is that of the 15 rappel, installed on the left with a double point, the opening one plus one bolt with ring, very possibly from the Italian expedition that preceded our steps a few weeks before.

Further on, a narrow corridor separates us from a 15-metre abseil, we can travel this section safely thanks to the installation on the left, which consists of a bolt with a ring.

We will continue to overcome a very narrow corridor to find some embedded blocks where we find the next abseil, of which we can’t remember what the installation was like, which we find located on the left.

We will leave the hole at the base through a small step that is below a block of rock, and we will arrive above a chaos of huge blocks, where we will find the most important waterfall in the canyon.

Although we have not seen it, an installation allows you to go down outside the asset, through a large cavity that forms to the left of the Gjerzerze, we have arrived directly at the 35 meter waterfall where the water We will find it on the right, with two points, one of them a good bolt with a ring.

The waterfall could not be more aesthetic, and at its base we will find ourselves in a large room where the light penetrates dimly.

We follow Gjerzerze down to find the next obstacles ahead of us, arriving at some embedded blocks under which the water passes. We will look for the step that goes up to them on the right, be careful where we put our feet, because it is a little unstable, and we will find a bolt with a ring on the right thanks to which we can go down under the blocks, where we will find, now on the left, another bolt with a ring, thanks to which we will rappel the 7 meters of the jump.

A short section of swimming plus a bit of walking will take us to the next abseil, equipped on the right, under an embedded block.

A small ramp that looks like a slide will lead us to a new abseil, still with the opening equipment, on the left. The exit is a bit bad, and the rappel does not quite reach 10 meters.

We follow the Barranc de Gjerzerze along an elongated ramp without too many complications and we won’t have to walk too far to find the next abseil, to the left, followed by another, again to the left and at the same time followed by another, from nine to the left about 5 meters, maybe a few more.

The next ridge, we will avoid it by a step on the left bank and we will find a section where we will walk for a few minutes and where we could get out of the canyon by a very obvious path to the right; with everything, however, it is very interesting to finish the canyon by the Gjerzerze stream, because after a small succession of jumps, we will do yet another abseil outside the asset, unattractive it must be said and equipped to the left, to go in search of the last abseil, crossing an interesting rock bridge, all this separated into two sections.

The first will be to go down to the hole, the water from which flows through the rock bridge. We will find the installation on the right. Afterwards and always with the rope as a safety element, we can look for a new installation at the right foot of the rock bridge, to finish descending the fifteen or twenty meters that separate us from the end of the canyon, where it turns to the right to meet the Holta river.

HOW TO RETURN FROM GJËRZEZË CANYON

Leaving the canyon, we will cross the Holta river at its arrival at the reservoir at the head of the Holta canyon, and we will thus leave on the track where we have the car.