The team

Our team

The purelements team in Ticino consists of young, motivated, friendly and always cheerful employees! A good relationship with each other and with our customers is essential! We consider ourselves a small family with the same passions and visions! We look forward to sharing our passion with you!

Florian SchauweckerCEO
Canyoning guide, canoe guide, safety officer, head of administration and logistics

Born: Bellinzona, Switzerland
Languages: Italian, German, English, French and a little Spanish

Florian, born and raised in Ticino, is one of the few local canyoning guides who has turned his hobby into a profession!

He has always lived in the mountains and developed a keen interest in nature and outdoor sports at a young age.

When he did canyoning for the first time, he knew immediately that he wanted to do this sport as often as possible. During his studies at the tourism school, he realized that his future would lie in running an outdoor company.

His first job in this area was as a photographer in the canyons and very quickly, as he gained more and more experience, after his training as an SOA guide and a few years as a guide, he had the opportunity to become managing director of purelements CH Sagl.

Seeing the enthusiastic and satisfied customers gives him a lot of satisfaction and motivates him again and again to give 100% throughout the season.

He has been a board member for canyoning in the Swiss Outdoor Association (SOA) since 2023.

In addition to canyoning, Florian loves climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and turbo siesta!

Discover yourself!

Lina WanselOffice management and organization, climbing instructor
Climbing instructor, yoga teacher

Born: Leverkusen, Germany
Languages: German, English, Italian

Alongside Florian, Lina is your friendly contact for bookings, cooperations, communication and all organizational matters. She also runs our climbing and bouldering courses.

She has always loved nature and the mountains in summer and winter, whether hiking or skiing. She learned to love sport climbing in her early 20s and today she also enjoys the impressive canyons of Ticino time and time again.

She found her way to Ticino via various local and professional stations in the foundation sector, medium-sized companies and large corporations – originally to learn Italian, but since then, Ticino has become her home.

As an independent yoga teacher, awareness is important to her in everything she does, which is why she also sees canyoning and climbing as a wonderful way to connect with ourselves and our precious nature.

Mario Ariza BlasCanyoning guide, canoe guide, climbing instructor
Canyoning guide, canoe guide, climbing instructor

Born: Madrid, Spain
Languages: Spanish, English, Italian

Mario was trained in Spain, where he worked for several years as a canyoning, climbing and via ferrata guide. After spending many years in the Spanish Pyrenees, he decided to broaden his experience and come to the canyoning mecca of Ticino! His decision was also influenced by love… love for his local friends and the nature of Ticino!

Since 2020, he has been guiding full-time for us in the canyons in summer and we are very happy to have him as a very important part of our core team!

Our Super Mario is always in a good mood and is valued by our guests for his sympathy and Spanish temperament.

Raquel Martinez HernandezCanyoning guide, canoe guide, climbing instructor
Canyoning guide, canoe guide, climbing instructor

Born: Spain
Languages: Spanish, English, Italian

Raquel was born and raised in the warm Spanish Mediterranean. As a child, the waves and the sea breeze were her first love, but as she grew up, her heart was drawn to the mountains.

In search of mountains and crystal-clear rivers, she made her way to Switzerland and found Ticino, a paradise for water and mountain sports.

For Raquel, every day is a new adventure, whether it’s white water rafting or canyoning, and although she loves the water, she also enjoys rock-climbing a lot.

She is passionate about life and loves to share her joys with others.

That’s why she takes you to the canyons and on canoe tours in Ticino full of Spanish joie de vivre and is part of our core team.

Ivan de AbajoClimbing instructor, canyoning guide
Climbing instructor, canyoning guide

Born: Madrid, Spain
Languages: Spanish, English, French, Italian

Ivan was born and raised near Madrid. After working as a physical education teacher, cook, bartender and a dozen other jobs, he decided to come to Switzerland and work as a climbing instructor.

Thanks to his friendliness and social skills, Ivan quickly found a job as a trainer at the national sports center in Tenero and is now also self-employed as a climbing instructor SBV with a federal certificate. He also finished his canyoning guide training with the SOA in Siwtzerland.

Ivan is time and again in our team as a climbing and bouldering instructor and canyoning guide and is therefore a valuable and cheerful support.

Jasper HoekstraCanyoning guide, canoe guide
Canyoning guide, kayak/canoe guide, mountain guide

Born: Netherlands
Languages: Dutch, English, German, French

In addition to his main job as a mountain guide, Jasper is working time and again for us as a canyoning and canoeing guide.

After completing his studies at the Outdoor School in the Netherlands, he immediately started working as a kayak and canyoning guide in France. After 7 years in France, he decided to come to Switzerland and has been calling it home for years now.

As a mountain guide, he is mainly outdoors in winter and summer, both for work and in his free time.

Jasper is full of energy, super friendly and we are always happy when he leads our groups into the Ticino canyons!

Laso SchallerCanyoning guide
Canyoning guide

Born: Zurich, Switzerland
Languages: German, English

Laso grew up in a super sporty family and started working for the sports office of the canton of Zurich at the age of 12!

He can certainly be described as an all-rounder who is happy to pass on his passion!

Apart from being a passionate cliff jumper, Laso is very well known in the canyoning world thanks to his acrobatics!

We are happy to have him as a freelancer in our team to support us in intense moments!

A guy who lives for extreme sports, with a huge heart, always ready to help!

Thomas WaibelOwner, Managing Director
Canyoning guide

Born: Sonthofen, Germany
Languages: German, English

Thomas is the owner and creator of purelements! He has been working in this industry for over 20 years and continues to pursue his philosophy with great enthusiasm and determination.

With his experience, Thomas is a top canyoning expert and although he lives in Germany, he has always seen Ticino as his second home and knows the Ticino canyons by heart.

Whatever questions you have about canyoning, Thomas will be able to answer them; D

In addition to canyoning, Thomas is passionate about geology, meteorology and diving. When he’s not in a gorge in Ticino or in a cave in Germany, he’s probably traveling around the world to discover new, adventurous places.

“Experience places you’ve always dreamed of.”

Our satisfied customers