Rafting club Kanjon

About Rafting Club “Kanjon”

Rafting Club “Kanjon” was founded as the Association of Citizens on March 1, 2003. Our main goals are affirmation of rafting and water sports, training in water rescue and water safety, organization of environmental actions and protection of the Vrbas canyon, promotion of tourist potentials of the Vrbas river and cooperation with other sports organizations.

We have organized various events, dozens of ecological rafting regattas, Vrbas riverbed and its tributaries cleaning actions, training for skippers and lifeguards on wild waters, all the way to the major sporting events that marked the last decade in Banja Luka. We have organized three European Championships, one in the R4 category in 2005 and two in the R6 category in 2015 and 2019, dozens of races within the Euro Cup, two World Cups and the World Rafting Championship in the R6 category, which we hosted in 2009. To this day, in the world of rafting, this event is regarded as the best organized World Championship in history.

We have done a great deal of things in the field of ecology from the very beginning. It all started with the Ecological Rafting Regattas in 2003, which gathered over 300 participants, including public figures from the city of Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Within  a short period of time we achieved great results. During  the Ecological Rafting Regattas in 2003 and 2004, over 50 car wrecks and several hundred tons of garbage were removed from the Vrbas river.

As a result of our actions, the first biological device for wastewater in BiH was installed in 2004 in the Eco-Rafting Center “Kanjon” in Karanovac. We also organized the first “Vrbas Eco Regatta”, which gathered rafting clubs and nature lovers in the municipalities of Donji Vakuf, Jajce, Banja Luka, Laktasi and Srbac. This regatta aimed to awaken the environmental awareness within the population of the upper reaches of the Vrbas river and signing the “Charter for Clean Vrbas.”

Apart from environmental activities, our Association also works on the promotion of water and adrenaline sports, not only in the middle course of the Vrbas river, but also in Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska and BiH. Our activities have helped influence the awakening of environmental awareness among the citizens of Banja Luka, promote the tourist potential of the middle reaches of Vrbas, promote a healthy lifestyle and the importance of sports, especially water sports. Through the organization of sports events at the highest level, we put the City of Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska and BiH  on the Europe and the world sports map.

Thanks to our activities, Vrbas, Banja Luka and Bosnia and Herzegovina have become a regional centers of adventure tourism and adrenaline sports. As a proof, we hosted the World Rafting Championship “WRC Banja Luka Vrbas 2009”, the biggest sports event in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the Olympic Games held in 1984, the European Rafting Championship held in 2005, 2015 and 2019, Euro Cup competitions and two World Cups. We are the initiators and founders of the BH Rafting League and the Balkan Rafting League. This year, we are organizing for the second time the World Rafting Championship on the rivers Vrbas, which will be held from May 28 to June 2.

Our efforts to promote tourism potentials of our country have been recognized by all relevant institutions in water sports in BiH, Europe and the world. Among them are the local communities, the upper Vrbas course municipalities, and the European Commission in BiH.  The Association is the winner of several awards in the field of tourism promotion, among them, the Golden Tourist Rose and the awards of the Novi Sad Tourism Fair.

We have formed a high-quality rescue team, and we are an integral part of the Civil Protection of the City of Banja Luka. We proved ourselves during the 2014 floods by saving people and property. Since then, we have been constantly working on training our members, most of whom have RESCUE 3 licenses and diplomas on completed training in wild water rescue. For years now, we have been training everyone, from members of sports clubs to members of the Armed Forces, Civil Protection and police officers.

We will not stop, and we move forward, to further promote water sports, ecology and adventurous potentials of the Vrbas’ middle course. We strive forward as we know we have to and we can, because the spirit of adventure lives in our souls and because we love our Vrbas