Rent a Drone for Canyoneering

[Sombeech]

First of all, no, I am not offering this service. I came across it on the interwebz.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Drones offer some unique perspectives to the canyons you already know. I can see this service getting popular among the Mountain Bikers and Snow Skiers/Boarders. I've been invited on a few canyoneering trips to bring my drone along, unfortunately I wasn't available to go.

Besides the obvious noise they make, and restrictions in the National Parks, I think we are going to see more and more drones filming slot canyons. (And a lot of crashed drones too)

What do you think about this service, will it become popular in the Canyoneering community? There are both sides of the issue, folks who don't care for them one bit, and folks who want to share a more unique perspective of the canyons.

Another thing, I'll betcha that the services like this one will get certain passes to film in National Parks where the private drone pilots can't fly. They can already fly at a lot of the Ski Resorts where the private drone flying is banned.

I'm not promoting anything, nor am I affiliated with this company in any way, but could you see yourself using a service like this?

www.cape.com




And I only think it's a matter of time before there's a Canyoneering promo video

[ratagonia]

I think you should make the canyoneering promo vid.

I see a bunch of shots of the drone flying down the canyon, then smacking into a wall and going dark... over and over again. Maybe some shots of drone parts scattered in a canyon...

I'm not suggesting you deliberately crash your drone. I wonder if you could find crash footage and splice in the last couple of frames. maybe fly the drone slowly till close to the wall, speed up the footage 2X or 3X to make it look like flying at regular speed, but not actually crash YOUR drone.

T

[Scott P]

Slot canyons and drones do not sound like a good combination.

[deagol]

Agreed, you don't need to photo document everything you do in your life, and this method would really detract from the experience for you (maybe) but definitely for others who happen to be around.. not to mention whatever little wildlife there may be out there.

[Sombeech]

I agree that most of this concept is a bad idea, drone pilots are going to watch their investment explode into little tiny plastic parts when they give in to the peer pressure of "fly through that crack and under that log".

But for the tourist who wants "sick footage" of surviving where that 1 armed dude went, I see a niche industry on the rise.

I also think it's perfectly fine if your group are the only people around, and the whole group thinks it would be interesting to get some drone angles to add to their canyon experience video. But a lot of people are going to find out quickly that carrying a gopro drone into a canyon is just about the only thing they'll be carrying. The backpack is huge, larger than the average day pack.

There are a lot of talented canyon videographers here, I could see a drone adding some good and interesting variance to the film.

If you can imagine sending the drone out for half a mile across the desert above the canyons, and then to fly in to where your group is down in the canyon, that kind of shot would be quite impressive, and this is the kind of shots I think we are going to start seeing.

And yes, there are going to be some idiots and irresponsible people that ruin it for the rest of us. But nonetheless, I can see this niche getting popular.

[ratagonia]

Business Opportunity!: Drone repair/rebuild service.

T

[Sombeech]

Business Opportunity!: Drone repair/rebuild service.

T

Now THIS is a business that is starting to boom, overpriced drone parts are starting to flood the market.

You've got 2 types of drone pilots.

• The grown up kid that received the drone as a gift, doesn't care where he flies, crashes it, and receives a new drone because the first one "sucked"
• The grown up "adult" that saves money to buy or build his own drone, is very careful where to fly because if it crashes, he's got to rebuild it himself and save up for new parts.

I relate to the 2nd group, and it's usually the 1st group that causes all of the commotion.

[harness man]

We are dealing with drones at Red Rock in 'Vegas. They are banned by the BLM but continue to fly and have nearly collided with some of the low flying helicopter tours.
Big whirly birds and little whirly birds, GEE WILLIGERS folks, what ever happened to nature?

[deagol]

laws without enforcement don't do that much.....
I wonder how these agencies would realistically enforce drone bans?

[Sombeech]

Money talks. Even the largest and most brutal "ban" can be bought. This has been proven in National Parks and some film agencies.

[Scott P]

Although I've never flown a drone (so maybe someone with more experience could elaborate), I think most canyons would be difficult to fly though most slot canyons without crashing. If I had a drone (most of which aren't that cheap), I don't think I would send it through a slot canyon unless it had some sensors that would help it avoid a crash into a wall.

Drones provide some spectacular climbing photos on cliffs and big walls, but slot canyons are so confined, I wouldn't think they will become popular in there unless they had crash avoidance sensors (which may happen in the future).

In many canyons, it's hard to get yourself and a pack through, let alone trying to fly something through (unless it was the size of an insect or something).

I would assume that drones would have a very short expected lifespan in a canyon. They might be OK getting through something like Little Wildhorse, Pine Creek, Keyhole, etc., but getting them through the tight slots sounds difficult.

[Sombeech]

Although I've never flown a drone (so maybe someone with more experience could elaborate), I think most canyons would be difficult to fly though most slot canyons without crashing. If I had a drone (most of which aren't that cheap), I don't think I would send it through a slot canyon unless it had some sensors that would help it avoid a crash into a wall.

Absolutely true, and they can be more difficult to control if it's not in GPS guidance mode. I think the most popular shots by drone will be flying from a slot canyon straight up and across the landscape, flying in from the landscape and carefully landing in a slightly wider spot in the slot canyon, or hovering above the canyon edge and looking straight down at a skinny spot as people pass through.

The opportunity for gorgeous scenery and vantage points are truly there, and as alluring as that is, I think we'll see a lot of amateur pilots make many mistakes, aiming for that perfect shot that nobody has captured before.

When the GoPro started gaining popularity, a similar hesitation existed with certain people, claiming "there is only one true way to see this trail, canyon, mountain". And although there is a lot of GoPro footage on YouTube that is complete garbage, there are a select few clips that really capture the beauty of the outdoors as you truly remember it.

My suggestion is to expect the flock of drones, educate yourselves with the general rules, if pilots break those rules then they need to face the consequences.

If anybody finds themselves "harassed" by a drone, your best defense will be your own video footage of it hovering too close or out of boundaries. Then you can report it. But you won't be able to report it verbally and expect consequences. Most pilots will have the flight logs available with a geo track of where the drone was flying, so they've got a leg up on the dispute.

I'm a big drone advocate, but I know how crazy it's getting out there and how much trouble is on the way. So just be prepared.