Summer White Water Kayaking in Austria
Base Arlberg, Austria
Whitewater kayaking in Summer around Base Arlberg in Austria is lovely. There is something about kayaking on a beautiful river with deep blue skies providing a stunning backdrop to the snowcapped mountains mixed with fantastic white water. Yep, the days are warm, the river temperature is peaking and the Peak PS combi cag is being worn daily!!
Engadine, Switzerland
The sections of the Inn are running both in Austria and in the Engadine Region of Switzerland. The drive up to the beautiful Engadine Valley is gobsmacking. The culture is different to that in Tirol, Austria, be it: the language, house design and outlook of the locals. The Engadine is a true highlight of our trips and courses throughout the Summer. Romansch is the local language up in what is known to the Swiss as the Garden of the Inn. Toby, one of our instructors and guides, can tell you all sorts of stories and knows the valley like the back of his hand.
Schuls Gorge
For the Class 3 and Class 4 kayakers, the Schuls Gorge of the River Inn is a great introduction with some tasty rapids to scout and run. There is also the most alpine river view on the Schuls! It is when we come around a corner we get to see a church perched on a cliff overhanging the river. The Schuls is liked by all of our guests who get the chance to paddle it.
Giarsun Gorge
However, the best section of the Swiss Inn is of course the Giarsun Gorge of the River Inn.
The section of the Giarsun Gorge is one of our all time favourites! We have kayaked in many places and on a lot of rivers around the world and for us the Giarsun is world class! Fantastic alpine white water kayaking all set in a stunning gorge, where you can really only appreciate such a place in a whitewater kayak - pure heaven!
Toesens Gorge
Since the completion of the dam on the Austrian/Swiss border the Tösens Gorge section of the River Inn has become problematic. It was our go to section with the Class 3 kayakers and also the Class 4 section above the Wall proved to be a Big water challenge for anyone not used to such volume in a river.
Negotiating some rather deep and intimidating alpine holes, punching big waves and running the high-water line on the wall rapid keeps everyone focused and on their game. Only after we catch an eddy further down on river right does the emotion come out and the happy feelings seem to flow just like the main current of the river! This is what kayaking on the Tosens Gorge is all about, big waves, some long rapids and places to chill, float down and admire the beautiful Austrian Alps.
Imst Gorge
The Imst Gorge is probably the most well known section of the River Inn and it is also the final piece of white water after which the river becomes flat, proper flat. It used to transport the sediment from the glaciers and earth from the snowmelt, now with the many dams on the River Inn they have a huge affect on this natural phenomenon. The Imst Gorge section has the most volume of white water in the Alps and it is a fun big and bouncy Class 3 run in the height of Summer. Whether it is the final days paddle and a huge achievement on our Intensive Class 2 to Class 3 course or the first section of whitewater on the Class 3 and Class 4 Classic Austria trips, where we use the big waves and fun rapids to blow out the cobwebs of travel, lack of time spent in a kayak or to get over the jet lag when we have kayakers visiting from around the globe such as the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and South Africa to name just a few! With the river Oetz joining roughly halfway down, the volume continues to increase and so do the rapids! We finish at the village of Haiming, a cute little farming village which is renowned for its apples and other fruits. Haiming has quite a special climate making it perfect for growing apples and it is at least 5 degrees warmer than Base Arlberg, which is a lot higher up in the Stanzer Valley.
River Oetz
The River Ötz flows into the Inn and certainly can bring up the volume of the River Inn. However, before the confluence, there is some fantastic river running, sometimes up to solid Class 4+ as it gets higher especially in those late Summer evenings. The Lower section of the Ötz has plenty of action, helped by such a steep gradient coming out of the valley. It can be a great test of your ability and focus and if you get out at Area 47, they have a nice restaurant there to finish off a great paddle on one of Tirol’s river highlights.
River Rosanna
The Stanzer Valley sends plenty of water down towards the Inn. The Rosanna is fed by the snowpack of the Arlberg which then joins the Sanna at the confluence of the Trisanna, which is fed by the ski resorts such as Ischgl and the Silvretta mountains and glaciers.
If there has been a lot of snowfall the previous Winter in St.Anton am Arlberg then the Rosanna can run through until mid-July. It has lost its power compared to Spring but it is still a fun paddle. If we get some prolonged rainfall then the power of the Rosanna will come back up and is well worth a paddle, if you have never kayaked it before it feels like there are only 2 eddy’s on it!! There are more, it just has a steep gradient with continuous rapids for a mountain tributary.
River Sanna
The Sanna River which starts in the Paznaun Valley and finishes in the town of Landeck is an alpine gem! It is not only the river the majority of our coaches, instructors and guides have paddled it is where we spend a lot of time coaching and improving kayakers techniques and river awareness on our Class 3 and Class 4 kayaking courses. It is only 7km in length and within its short descent to confluence of the River Inn, the Sanna provides kayakers with so much opportunity to have some fun on the river. When we get some downtime, it is spent surfing and playing on the Sanna. To have such a great alpine river on our doorstep is just one of the reasons why Steve and Toby have made their home here in Austria.
River Lech
Who does not love the Lech? There is something for everyone, depending on the time of year and the weather. The Lech Gorges are world class and the main section from Steeg to Häselgehr is absolutely stunning. The Alpine scenery along the way is seriously impressive. As the river is now more Class 2 it gives you the chance to admire the scenery and surroundings between the rapids and waves. There are great places to work on technique along the way and we have had kayakers that paddle rivers and sections such as the Giarsun Gorge, Sanna and Rosanna enjoy a day on the Lech, working on technique, nailing the lines while having time to try different techniques and ideas.
Like we say the River Lech is stunning.
Eskimo Roll Courses and Clinics
At the start of Summer Steve spent a while coaching a lot of Eskimo Roll Courses in the swimming pool. There were plenty of eskimo roll clinics being taken, where kayakers had lost their roll or wanted to tweak it to make it more bombproof on whitewater. It is not just solely rolling and rolling and rolling! We spend time working on the fundamental techniques of whitewater kayaking and it is always fun testing someones low brace when sitting on the stern of the kayak!
Family White water kayak courses
Our Family Courses were going strong throughout the Summer months. Lake Verwall in St.Anton am Arlberg is perfectly situated in some dramatic landscape and a great place to learn to kayak, warm up and get an understanding of the equipment, especially the kayaks!
Then it is off to the river, be it the Lech or the Inn where there are waves to paddle through, eddy’s to make and working our way around the river.
Taster Sessions
Up at Lake Verwall we were running a few Taster Sessions. As we had said before Lake Verwall is set in some dramatic scenery with incredible vistas. The lake has warmed up (slightly) and what better way to spend the day, be it, trying to keep cool on a hot Summers day to a great thing to do on a rainy day in the mountains. As a family activity on a summer holiday in Tirol, Austria to couples, friends and even locals our Kayak Taster Sessions were a hit!
So if you have made it all the way down to here!? You can see we are pretty busy but we are doing what we all love to do, nearly everyday on the river is a wonderful thing and we certainly do not take it for granted, just like those stunning sunsets that fall on our mountain peaks here in the Arlberg, Austria.
Yes, we love Summer!!