Autumn Creeks and Classics in Austria
Kayaking the Pians Rapid on the River Sanna
In the next 3 part series of blogs of Austria we will be looking back at a great season here at Base Arlberg in the western part of Austria.
Kayaking on the River Sanna
We first start with the Autumn of 2023 and what a great one it was!
Class 3-4 Kayaking Courses
Toomas came back to kayak with us from Estonia on our Classic Austria Class 3-4 kayaking course. Toomas first came to our kayak school on the Zero to Hero Beginners Kayaking course and has been returning ever since on courses such as our Intensive Improvers Class 2-3 and Introduction to Creeking. It has been fantastic to see how Toomas has progressed with his whitewater kayaking, he has been coming for a week every year for the past 5 years developing his fundamental skills for kayaking whitewater and of course learning new techniques. However, it is not just by coming on our courses can you improve so much, you also have to go out and practice, get some kilometres under your kayak on different styles and characters of rivers which Toomas has certainly been doing. He makes an annual trip to Norway every year and heads of kayaking throughout Europe and the rewards are great to see and so is the smile on his face!!
Matthew and Elena were also with Toomas for the week. It was their first time kayaking with us in this region of Austria and with good water levels we were kayaking, coaching and training on rivers such as the Sanna, Imst Gorge of the River Inn, plus a rare run down the Toesens Gorge of the River Inn and of course a firm favourite is a trip up to the stunning Engadine Region of Switzerland for the Schuls Gorge. Throughout the week Steve was working with Matthew to make him a more smoother kayaker and not to use brut force and aggression and with Elena it was amazing to see how much she came out of her shell during the week and to see her confidence grow and technique improve was immensely satisfying! Marie was also with us for a few days at the start and again she has been kayaking with us for a few times now. With Marie we were working on her dynamic forwards paddling and getting her to really drive the kayak to where she wanted to be or get to. She was styling the Sanna and her way of running the river was certainly starting to change and improve. Marie is also in the same Swiss kayaking club as the famous Lämmlers, so how knows maybe Svenny boy will show her some of his favourite runs now!!
Guided Kayaking Trips
Working alongside this course we had a group of young Israeli lads come with their kayaking mentor Gilad. We have and continue to have a lot of Israeli kayakers come to our kayak school. It is unbelievable how keen and committed they all are to whitewater kayaking, considering there is not a lot of water in the river back in their homeland. Gilad has been an inspiration to these young guys, taking them under his wing teaching them not only how to kayak but also giving them a chance to see a different side to the world through its rivers! We pride ourselves on our equipment here in the Kayak School and this was certainly the case with Gilad and the boys kayaking all of our half slices such as Waka’s Goat, Puffy Goat, Steeze and Puffy Steeze to Spade’s Joker, Bliss and the Starfire. They were all ripping it up on the way down the river, surfing, pulling tail squirts, getting their kayaks vertical and sometimes catching air on some sweet drops and boofs that our rivers have to offer in the Autumn.
Happy kayakers on a Kayaking Trip to Austria
And with everyone staying at Piltriquitron Lodging in St.Anton am Arlberg, it was a hive of activity, tales of the days river adventures and the planning of future trips and missions around the world had Connie and Jacob, the amazing owners buzzing!
Creeking Courses
As we said our goodbyes to the groups in the first week of Autumn, the following day we welcomed our next guests. Elise was back for 3 days of creeking with Sam and with the Giarsun closed throughout the week to remove all the trees that collapsed in a storm on the steep banks of the gorge in the Summer, we headed straight up there for the first day. The Giarsun Gorge is one of our favourite rivers and a firm favourite of everyone who gets to kayak it. It is the river that Steve compares all other rivers he has paddled around the world to. Back in 2000 Steve and John were kayaking in Ecuador, they had been told about the Upper Jondachi and how good it was, so with all the hype around it they went to kayak it. By the end of the day as they were reaching the take-out John looked at Steve and said “it is not as good as the Giarsun!” which was certainly true and it stuck with Steve ever since! If he kayaks a new river and thinks it is as good or even better than the Giarsun Gorge of the River Inn in Switzerland then it must be good!
In those 3 days, Elise and Sam had a couple of runs down the Giarsun Gorge, some laps on the Oetz River and a few runs down the Sanna. Not bad for a quick European getaway!!
Kayaking on the River Loisach in Bavaria, Germany
Gina and Eoghan had arrived and it was great to see them again. They have been coming with us regularly over the years not only to Austria but they also came over to kayak our Indian Himalayas Class 3-4 Trip in the state of Uttarakhand. Gina’s kayaking has hugely progressed since she first started kayaking with us here at the kayak school. She was very timid in her technique and felt sometimes quite out of her depth! However, this has changed immensely over the years she and Eoghan have been coming. Gina has become an extremely positive and proactive kayaker, still with huge respect for the river, she is now running rapids and drops with extreme confidence and great technique that years before she used to portage! Of course, Eoghan has also improved his fundamental technique throughout the years and with great confidence they make a good team on the river, so much so that Colm their friend from Ireland always rings them to go kayaking when the rivers are up in the home area. This year they wanted to try a few different kayaks over the course of the week. On the first day we put Gina in the Spade Starfire and Eoghan in the Spade Bliss. Eoghan loved the Bliss and decided to stay in it for the whole week and we were not surprised as it is a great kayak and everyone who has paddled it has been super impressed! Gina enjoyed getting vertical in the Starfire but wanted something a little bigger for the rest of the week. She had paddled the Waka Billy Goat before with us and after a day of kayaking it she asked if she could try the Waka Puffy Goat. That was it, she stayed in the Puffy Goat for the rest of the time, surfing, carving, and catching air! Their love for kayaking is infectious and they are now planning and running mini expeditions back home to some seldom run creeks. For us it is a pure joy to see and hear of the stories of mini adventures! Also Gina loves capturing their time with us with some great little videos, be it in Slovenia, Austria or India they showcase some sweet rivers that we have kayaked together around the world!
Joe and Elizabeth arrived all the way from Canada, we had been in contact for a while over the course of the year. Their home river was the Ottowa in Eastern Canada, a fantastic playboating run. They were on their honeymoon and this coming week was their main part, so no pressure for Steve!! We think it is amazing that couples can come to us to kayak for their honeymoon. We spent our honeymoon kayaking down the Zanskar Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of Asia (though to be quite honest there are more rapids through the Zanskar than the Grand Canyon, especially since they built the new road to Padum!) and it has even given Gina and Eoghan some food for thought!!!
Joe was in the Spade Joker for the first day but moved over to the Waka Steeze and just loved its rocker, edges and surf ability, just like we do!! Elizabeth paddled the Waka Billy Goat and was so happy in it, that she stayed in the Billy Goat for the whole week!
We had absolutely everything that week, we really could not have asked for anything better it was perfect! Deep blue skies with glorious sunshine, some heavy rain in the night was really providing the goods for the Classic Austria Class 3-4 Kayaking Course and Trip. We managed to kayak in 3 different countries that week, with classics in Austria such as the Imst Gorge of the River Inn, a HIGH water Lower Oetz which was amazing with the new rapids that were formed from a couple of weeks back with all the flooding and torrential rain, and of course the Sanna is a staple river. It is just 15 minutes from Base Arlberg and is a true Alpine Classic. Great for improving technique, confidence and it is just a sweet river. Every time we post a photo of the beautiful water with stunning back drops we always get a message from Pete the owner of Peak Paddlesports, since it is one of his favourites!! However, to get the River Loisach just over the border in Bavaria, Germany was a huge bonus. The evening rains had delivered and we spent a day kayaking on one of Germany’s best Class 3/4 rivers. Then the final day we were up in the Engadine Region of Switzerland again kayaking the Schuls Gorge and the Giarsun Gorge of the River Inn. What a week! That is one of the bonuses of being based in the Arlberg Region of western Austria, it is just a short hop over the border and of course our home rivers such as the Sanna, Rosanna, Inn and Oetz are all easily accessible!
Kayaking on the River Sanna in Austria
Beginners Kayaking Course
However, it was not all full on whitewater! We also had our popular Beginners Course over 3 days, where we spent the first day up on the beautiful Lake Verwall gaining our balance, learning to kayak in a straight line and also getting to grips with the fundamentals of kayaking. It was also the time when the farmers were bringing the animals down from the mountain pastures. So rather than just the tourists watching us kayaking around the lake, the cows were also extremely interested and were ringing their bells in admiration - especially when at the end of the day we do the wet exits!
The following 2 days were spent on the river, something nice and mellow at first to get used to the moving current and to practice ferry gliding and breaking in and out. While on the second day we headed to another stretch of the River Inn with more rapids and waves with stunning views of the Kronburg Castle perched high above. The waves were proving to be a big hit with everyone getting their first feel of surfing! A fitting end to a great 3 days on our Learn to Kayak Beginners Course was a beaver swimming alongside of us as we kayaked down!
Paddle Expo 2023
As Steve had to head back to England due to the death of his Mother, on the way back he met up with Ute in Strasbourg to go and check out the Paddle Sports Show. Though rather subdued and a lot smaller than the previous Kanumesse / Paddle Expo that was held in Nurnberg in Germany, the advantage was that with hardly any visitors, they managed to catch up and have a great chat with Pete and the Team from Peak Paddlesports. Hans, Matze and Basti from Spade were opposite the Peak PS stand so again we spend a while talking kayaks, paddles and adventures. Even the Team from Wave Sport had time for a chat and of course it would not be an event if we did not visit and say hello to Robert Sommer and Schorschi!!
Creeks and Classics | Kayaking Courses
The following day Maria and Valdis were ready for a weeks kayaking on our Creeks and Classics Austria Trip. Valdis comes from Latvia and it takes him 2 days to drive to Base Arlberg, it is an annual pilgrimage for him to kayak with us in the Autumn. Maria on the other hand took a quick flight to Zurich and the train directly to St.Anton am Arlberg. Maria had come with us with the girls in the Spring of this year, a self proclaimed major stalker of the Kayak School (in a nice way!) it was great to welcome her back.
We spent a few days kayaking on the Inn and Sanna working on technique and cementing the fundamental skills, plus working on keeping the line, holding the angle of the kayak and being one step ahead of the game. Again the Sanna was proving to be the perfect training ground for our coaching sessions. Steve was really working intensively with Valdis, trying to get him to move away from always using a draw stroke and instead powering over the eddy line or feature with more speed and proactivity. It was starting to sink in and by the end of the week Valdis could see the progression as he was making moves on the Sanna that were previously unobtainable!!
By mid-week Mairead, Laure and Damien joined us. Mairead and Laure were with Maria in the Spring and it was great to catch up with the girls. Mairead also invited Damien and he was a great addition to the group. Laure, a French kayaker based in Vienna has a slalom background and you can see this with her fantastic posture and dynamic forwards paddling.
It was the beginning of October and the rivers around Base Arlberg still had great levels and with warm sunny days it really did have the feel of an Indian Summer. Which was great as a few days after the course had finished, Steve flew off to India to run a trip in the heart of the Indian Himalayas.
Nicole came for the third time with us on a Private Improvers Kayaking Class 2-3 Course, giving her a great finish to a very productive and fun year of whitewater kayaking.
Class 2 Private Kayaking Course on the River Inn, Austria
This is why our Autumn courses and trips are extremely popular as we have something for everyone and of course with the longest whitewater kayaking season in the Alps, when other regions rivers have run dry we continue to coach, teach and lead on the rivers around Base Arlberg in Austria!