VËNDRESHË CANYON

Short, and with the interest concentrated at the beginning and practically at the end of the descent, as well as its vertical of 50 meters in a perfect circus of rock carved into the heart of the mountain; all these very interesting elements, however, are penalized by a long walk of about 800 or 900 meters interrupted only by a rappel.

Vëndreshë canyon is added to the list of canyons available for descent in Albania, offering the possibility of a break on the way between Bogove and its descents, and Çorovodes.

Descent made in company and thanks to A. Cuni, J. Gamell and J. Velasco in May 2023.

VËNDRESHË CANYON DATA

Activity: Canyoning in Albania
Other toponyms: Not known
Starting point: Shkolla 9 Vjeçare Ferit Bregu (Vëndreshë children’s school)
Nearest town: Bogovë or Çorovodë for services
Car combination: YES
Approach time: 15′
Descent time: 2h 15′
Return time: immediate
Difficulty: v4a2II
Longest abseil: 50 mts.
Rope: 2×60
Cartography:
Soviet Military ~ 1980 – 1: 50,000 (Via Russian Topomaps APP)
Bibliography:
Unprecedented canyon
Observations: Provide replacement material to install, no anchors were left.

ACCESS AND APPROACH TO VËNDRESHË CANYON IN ALBANIA

To access the Vëndreshë gorge we will drive from Berat towards Çorovode, we will pass Bogovë and Kakrukë to pay attention to the detour that goes to the bridge that crosses the Osumi river in the direction of Therepel and Vëndresh. After the bridge, we can go left or right, finding the sign to Vëndresh on the left, although we recommend taking the right, as the road is paved.

After about three kilometers, the road crosses the canyon in a very obvious way, we will leave the return vehicle here and continue up with the other towards Therepel, where after crossing the school and the small village in front, where we’ll find a grocery store, we’ll turn left along the most obvious road, and further up, we’ll leave it to take the dirt road that turns left, right at a turnoff where there is, buried, a fountain with walls white

We will follow this track without leaving it at any of the turns that we can find and we will go to Vëndresh until, already entering the scattered village, we will observe a wide embankment to the left and below the track, here we will go down to the embankment to look for a track that it leads to a building that google maps attributes to a school, we can park here or on the embankment above.

In front of the school, we will turn left along a path that after a hundred meters we will leave to, turn right to face north and after about 300 meters join a wider track, we will continue to the left for a few tens of meters with the view to the left, where a path emerges that after about 100 meters and having made a few steps down to the river bed, just about 300 meters before the large ramp very characteristic rock that indicates the start of the descent.

NOTE: If we want to make the descent WITH ONE CAR we have the option of looking for the track, which at the point of parking the return car, leaves on the hydrographic right and goes up the ridge to look for a forest service track that crosses the tributary, point where we will look for a path that leads to Vëndresh. Alternatively, you can also go up by the Therepel road, you need to allow 1h 30′ for the approach with a single vehicle.

VËNDRESHË CANYONING DESCENT

The beginning of the canyon is very obvious, at the end of a long rocky ramp we will find that a path crosses the course of the river and it drops about six meters through a corridor that makes the canyon look promising.

We will install the rope in a tree on the left and make the first abseil, with which we are happy, and start to explore this canyon. A small rise allows us to continue downriver, where we observe the walls growing on both sides of the water course, with a rather characteristic visor on the right.

We will reach a ledge of about four meters that can be climbed, with great care, on the right. Immediately and only separated by ten meters, the next abseil of the canyon, about fifteen meters and which we can overcome thanks to the roots of a weak tree that grows, up on the right. A couple of one- and two-meter jumps lead us to the first surprise of the canyon, the water catchment that completely dries up the course of the river for a few meters.

We will climb the ramp of the catchment overflow on its left, between the concrete wall and the wall. We will cross the river and stand to its right to look for the climb to continue progressing.

A recently built track emerges from the catchment on the right.

Soon we will reach a new and modest abseil, again with water, and of about eight meters that we install with a rock bridge formed by two rocks on the left. The abseil leaves us at a pool of water, and we will continue to progress walking, seeing again the track to our right, a few meters above, surely linked to the catchment, and from which in the next 150 meters of walking we will find the rocks and earth that was thrown directly into the river when making the track. When we lose sight of the track, we will continue to progress for another 150 meters, with dressed and very slippery ridges, where we will see some huge leaves that remind us of pumpkins.

This tedious section ends in a rocky ramp at the end of which we will look, on the left, for a tree that will allow us to descend the next abseil, of about fifteen meters.

Again, 300 meters of ridges, some of them dressed, we will pass a first and short rock ramp, until we reach a second, point where we find the main interest of the canyon.

In full turn to the right of the descent, we find the vertical of 50 meters. We doubt whether we will have to split and everything, since we first think that maybe the ropes will not reach us, and although there is the possibility of doing so. With everything, we install a natural in the tree that is to the right of the head, and we throw the ropes. Nerves and excitement, will the rope arrive? Jaume goes down and checks that yes, they arrive in plenty.

So, we decide not to divide this vertical and calculate it 50 meters high. However, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to split, because the recovery is delicate, and you need to manage the ropes well.

We continue walking after the canyon turns to the left just at the end of the vertical of 50, and we walk along a wide corridor guarded by high walls. It will be necessary to walk a good 200 meters to find the next rappel, again very beautiful, and which we install as best we can, since neither the trees nor the quality of the rock allow natural or artificial anchorages that offer guarantees to rappel through the active, which after all is what we want.

So you will have to look for a block just to the left of the water course where we will install, following the water, a rope on which to mount the rappel, of about 25 meters that falls down a beautiful gorge at the base of the where is a puddle of water.

Continuing our descent we will walk about 60 meters and observe how a shy tributary enters on the right, and about 40 meters further down we will pass a short chaos of blocks, 150 meters down the canyon, already with the canyon wide open and after a rocky and quite slippery ramp, the last abseil of our descent, which we install on the left and which is about 20 meters high.

We continue the descent for a hundred meters to find a new and aesthetic rocky ramp with little inclination and guarded on the left by a rock wall. Some scrambling will lead us to a final hole where we can jump from a large block of about two meters and thus complete our descent, because we can already see the road about 50 meters down the canyon.

HOW TO RETURN FROM VËNDRESHË CANYON

Immediately, we will find the car where we left it (or that’s what to expect 😜)