Seven and half cups Canyon – ( Ezharakundu Falls )

On December 6th, 2018, our team did the first technical descent of a canyon in Kannur district of Kerala, India. The canyon has been named as “Seven and half cups canyon”. The name is just literal translation of the vernacular name of the waterfalls. In Malayalam, this waterfall is know as “Ezharakundu” which translates into “7.5 pits”.

Team:  Vijay Nandani, Pravin Kumar, Salam, Ikarus, Lena and Gokul R
Support Team: Praveen Yadav, Robin (Homestay owner), Baby (Panchayath Member)

6 out of the 8 potholes in
Seven and half cups canyon.

Ezharakundu Falls – How I heard about it

Sometime in 2017, I first heard about Ezharakundu falls through the facebook forum named “Sanchari”. The reminded me of the famous Seven Teacups Canyon in Southern California. Immediately after hearing the name, it stuck to my mind and I wanted to put together a team and go there for a first descent. Just that, it never happened.

Ikarus and Lena after the first rapel of Seven and Half Cups ( Ezharakundu Falls)
Ikarus and Lena after the first rapel of Seven and Half Cups ( Ezharakundu Falls)

How the plan materialised?

Ikarus and Lena are from Germany. They were visiting India to attend a friend’s marriage in Bangalore. They were searching for canyoning around Bangalore and chanced upon our website and then sent us a message in WhatsApp. Sometime in October 2018, Ikarus and Lena contacted me and requested for a canyoning trip. We put together a team and went to Wayanad and then to Kannur.

The Canyon

The canyon is a series of 8 waterfalls that plunges into a pool. one of them is a small pool and the rest 7 are nice and deep. Hence, the name of the waterfalls. This waterfall is gaining popularity among the local tourists and they were building a cement walking path. We were glad that we got to descend the canyon before it became a concrete mess.

There are trails that take you to the top of the first falls and to the bottom of the first falls. Many people had visited this waterfalls to take a deep in those pools but, this was the first time, anybody rappelled through the waterfalls. We got 2 mandatory rappels, 5+ jumps, 2+ fun slides.
For the first rappel we used the tree that was present on RDC and a little away from the watercourse. For the second rappel, we setup a twin bolt achor so that we get to rappel exactly through the waterfall.

After the seven cups which includes the 2 rappels of the canyon and the 8 pools, you can continue down canyon for almost another kilometer where you reach a small bridge. This is where the canyons ends. During that 1 km walk, there are several slides and jumps you can enjoy!

Cliff jumping at Ezharakundu waterfalls.

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