At the mid of June we went to Austria to do paddling. All the rivers in this area are to high, so first we went to Scuoll (again), to paddle on of the stretches of the Inn gorges. The Inn in Switserland (Engadin) is so great, there're are several stretches, from class III until V, and all with great nature suroundings. Also here was a good sporty flow (above commercial cut off level for rafting).

From there we went over the Austrian border, to Imst in Tyrol, just a 90 minute drive. It seems fun to us to paddle the rivers we worked on last year: the Imster and Lower Oetz. We had a great day of fun, and that's what it's all about isn't it?

Blow um up
I have discovered that running trips with 'inflatable canadians' is great fun. We can take people with no experience at all, and let them experience the excitement of white water. And it's even more fun tomake private trips with friends and family.

Idiots going on the river

There is also less exciting news: a few soldiers of the Swiss army went rafting, the officers thought it would be good teambuilding. They tried to run a few small wiers (in a row) but in the first wier it was already 'carnage time'.The soldiers didn't wear any river equipment and went in to a raft that wasn't suitable for wildwater at all. This idiot plan resulted in 5 deaths and there are still people missing. her eis a picture from the swiss medis of the incident;

Although every guide book describes this are unrunnable and very dangerous wiers, this idiot accident already resulted in 80 cancellations and 25% less bookings for our company Swiss raft. The media keeps on mentioning the raft accident so at the moment Swiss people just don't even think about going rafting. We have great waterlevels but very little work.

On the other hand, more time for paddling!!!
Steve Ed and Charlotte (from Kendall) are coming to visit us, and I'm sure this will result in lots of kayak missions and good stories andpictures for the next blog!!!

Next time more about the plan to spend the winter in India and organise a 5 day trip on the Bramaputra...

The weather is settled and levels are looking good in Tessin. With our 'Swiss Paddling Team' we drive the 2 hour drive over the San Bernardino pass to the Versasca; a run that I have wanted to do for years. we arrive and see good levels armed with enthusiasm, we 'hop on' and run the upper and lower whilst on the river we catch up with a large group or Czechs who were running all the action with very little skill or style. Whilst in tessin we headed up the next valley for a park and huck off the Rebbu Fall this is a very straight forward 14m slide, all went well.

After a full weekend of working as raftguiding we treat ourselves on a little trip. Let's go to Italy, Valsesia. When we arrive in Valsesia it's getting clear that here is less snow on the mountaintops and the Sesia is low, bummer! After arriving we first went for a coffee on the Campertogno campsite were we find 'loads' of Brittish paddlers, all here because of the Teva Extreme Race. First we did a few drops on the Egua, one of the tributaries of the Sesia and in the evening we paddled the Sorba. But unfortunately not me, because with the landing on the first drop on the Egua, l took it 'on the chin', the paddle smashed in my face and ended up with a wobbely painfull tooth.

Because of the lack of water in Sesia, we drove back towards Switserland, just before the border there is a gorge called 'the Canabino'. It's impossible to get a 'glimp' of this gorge, so the guys descite to 'man up' and 'get on'. The scenery in the gorge is beautifull, steep walls, drops, exciting paddling. By taking an onlogical eddy Jarrod found a.......dog on a rock. After inspecting, the dog seems still semi-alive....how does dis dog come? Were did it fall in? Did it swam all the class 5 drops? It took the guys one and a half hour to 'dragg' the uber skinny dog out of the canjon. Becouse of the name tag the owner was called when they walked the dog in town (in kayak gear). The owner, a Italian Lady, was happy to see her dog back againg, she was been missing for 5 days. After recieving a reward ($35,-) it was getting time and get back in that gorge, find the kayaks and paddle the rest of the section.

After a good night sleep on the river banks of the Canabino we all go back home home, rafting work is calling...........

photos by Louis Henderson, Jarrod Brown, Maud Verboven,

With a limited budget, we need to be creative; during the drive out to switserland were hiding behind big trucks in their slipstream: it takes a while but they'll take you for half of the price!

In the evening we arrive at our destination: Ilanz. Than we realize we both (kind of) forget the adress of our new empoyer, no worries, we have other prioritys: food & sleep. After a miserable night of sleep in the back of the Audi 80 estate we eventually find our raftbases Swissraft in the yellow pages. It's based just outsite of Ilanz on the banks of the Vorderrhein. We meet one of the owners, Neil Knight (kiwi) In the evening we're invited to have a diner with Neil and his family and meet the other full time guides.

 Melting snow & Medelsbach

There's still lots of snow on the tops, so a few of the few creecks start running just after mid-day when the temperatures rise and the snow starts to melt. With our Swissraft paddle team;-), we went to do the Medelsbach, a tributary of the Vorderrhein. A steep gorge of only 2 km but with a beautifull drops and stunnin' scenery. Although the Swiss coppers has given us a £50,-parking ticket (in the middle of nowhere???), it was a geat day, sunburn included.

Work

The month May is fairly quite workwise, just a few rafting trips in the weekends should keep us going. So Louis and me have loads of time to explore the area, meet people and go skiing (in Disentis), cycling (loads of trails) and paddling. Next time more about the Versasca and the Teva Tour in Val Sesia (Italy).

When I arrived in the Lake District I didn't have any expectations and to be honest Engeland was never on my 'holiday destination list'. An Englisch guy called Louis Henderson persuide me to spend the winter in The Lakes. I've met Louis last summer when I was working in Austria as a riverguide.

In september the weather in the Lakes was beautifull: sunny and dry and I was truly amazed by the great nature of the Lake District. Although I enjoyed the sunny weather I also was waiting for the rain. I wanted to get on the Britisch rivers. Unfortunately becouse of the dry weather and a shoulder operation in Oktober my padling was a bit delayed and at the start of februari I started paddling in the Lakes.