Lining up ready for the Arc’teryx St.Anton Summer Sessions on Lake Verwall

Here at the Kayak School Arlberg we have been working closely over the years with the team at Arc’teryx St.Anton and in September 2021 we ran our first Introduction to Whitewater Kayaking session.

Within a day or two of it being advertised through Arc’teryx St.Anton social media sites, it was completely booked out and so we looked forward to welcoming and showing everyone something special and away from the ordinary in St.Anton am Arlberg, Austria.

Kayaking on Lake Verwall in St.Anton am Arlberg

We decided to run the session up on the beautiful Lake Verwall in the aptly named Verwall Valley. The lake is a man made construction for the use of hydro power in the local village and is fed by the upper reaches of the Rosanna River.

The River Rosanna cuts its way through the Verwall Group of mountains on its way down to the village of St.Anton. The Upper reaches you have to walk into to gain access but the effort is worth it with some steep, tight, technical rapids including a 4m waterfall halfway down. The upper section maintains its character and steepness all the way down past the Salzhuette until it finally meanders into Lake Verwall.

Below Lake Verwall is the Rosanna Gorge, a very seldom run committing section of whitewater. You can see a lot of this section of the Rosanna on the walking path on the river left side and as you start to climb up you can really see the gradient of the river and actually wonder if it is at all possible to kayak!? Steve Brooks from Kayak School Arlberg along with John Blake and Andy MacDonald made the first descent of the Rosanna Gorge some 10 years previously and due to its location, steepness and commitment it has only since been kayaked less than a handful of times!!

As you exit the Rosanna Gorge you come to the most kayaked section of the Rosanna from the Old Rendl Gondola station through the village of St.Anton am Arlberg. Though the difficulty of the river has dropped somewhat, it is still surprisingly fast and you really do need to be on your game to maintain your line through the challenging rapids. As the Rosanna heads down further past the villages of St.Jakob and Pettneu it starts to calm down and provides a great place in the Spring to work and practice the fundamental skills of whitewater kayaking. Once you reach Schnann, the standard section of the Rosanna finishes and it is time to take-out. The section between Schnann and just below Flirsch is not allowed to be kayaked and after the village of Flirsch starts the Wolfs Gorge and the final section of the Rosanna. It is a renowned section of whitewater in the German speaking kayaking community, however, it has been closed to kayakers for decades due to metal stakes being banged into the river bed and banks to protect the sides of the mountains in and around the village of Strengen. It has been the place of fatalities and though the majority of the metal stakes have disappeared from below the recycling area of Strengen the authorities have kept it closed! There is now a dam in Flirsch that makes the Wolfs Gorge un-runnable unless there is a heavy rainstorm over a few days or it is the Spring melt when the river becomes saturated by the huge amounts of snow that were deposited in the Arlberg throughout the Winter.

However, with everyone on our introduction to whitewater kayaking session a beginner, we were on the calm waters of the lake for the day!

Heading down to the lake for the Arcteryx Summer Kayaking Session

The team from Kayak School Arlberg headed up early in the morning to have everything ready for when everyone arrived. The kayaks laid out with the paddles ready for people to be allocated to their respective craft, the kayaking apparel was hanging up and as we finished our cup of tea everyone started to arrive!

A quick introduction and then we were handing out the equipment, putting people into their respective kayaks. Not only was it important to put them in a kayak that was ideal for their size the team made sure that they were set up so that when they made a movement or used a technique the kayak would respond immediately thus giving everyone more control of their kayak and of course this meant they were stable!

Beginners Kayaking Courses on Lake Verwall in St Anton am Arlberg, Austria

The final part was a safety briefing, followed by a warm up and then we got onto Lake Verwall. The first part of the morning was to get everyone gaining their balance and feeling confident that they could actually hold an edge without flipping over!! We started with the basic strokes such as sweeping to turn the kayak and forward paddling. With everyone getting a grip of the fundamentals of kayaking, we started to bring in some games such as kayak polo, tag and various team events such as relay races around certain points on the lake.

With skill levels increasing by the minute and everyone managing to kayak in a straight line, which is not as easy as it sounds in a whitewater kayak that really just wants to turn, we headed off exploring the lake.

Jacob cooking lunch for everyone at Lake Verwall - Photo: Vreni

It was now midday and with everyone burning calories, originally from nerves and then later through technique training, paddling around the lake and of course with various games and races, our bellies were rumbling and so we made our way to the picnic area by the side of the lake where Jacob was preparing our lunch. With the help of Lukas the boys were grilling sausages, serving salads and keeping us refreshed with drinks! The weather was great and it was such a nice vibe by the side of the lake talking to people from all over the world.

It was great to have a mix of local residents and ski bums who decided to stay over the Summer.

After a fulfilling lunch from Jacob and Lukas we headed back onto the lake to learn a few more techniques such as bracing to prevent flipping, dynamic forward paddling, back paddling and edging and carving a kayak. Again we were having plenty of races, games and even a few mini competitions between some rather competitive kayakers! We kayaked over to a place we call Narnia on Lake Verwall. Why Narnia? Well, this part of the lake is surrounded by crags where there are all types of the colour green, be it from the moss covering some of the rock face, the blue berry bushes making their home in the pockets of the crag and the different tree foliage above us.

As the day came to an end the final question was if anyone wanted to flip over and be rescued by one of the Team from Kayak School Arlberg. After seeing a demonstration from a willing guinea pig, we were flipping and then re-flipping the majority of the group over. Even Vreni had not only decided to conquer her nerves and fear of water by getting into a kayak, with Steve next to her waiting for the signal to rescue and re-flip, she flipped herself over!

The day was a great success and the feedback Arc’teryx St.Anton and Kayak School Arlberg received was extremely encouraging and a plan was made for the following year!

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone that came along, also to Alina, Simon, Lu and Connie for the help and safety kayaking, Jacob for the great lunch and to Arc’teryx St.Anton for helping us to organise a fantastic day of kayaking.

It was a blast!!!

Arc’teryx Summer Sessions - Kayaking on Lake Verwall in St.Anton am Arlberg