will
08-07-2006, 05:08 PM
Right, Austria rocked!!!!!
Yes i swam but it was in the name of science :o) Its not often you run a rapid with a fuken mahoosive hole, and punch it more by luck than skill and then get chance to run it again! Not only that, but tell everyone else to take the green tongue down the left before breaking back into the flow heading left then suddenly get that little voice what always gets you in bother saying "take it in the bollox!!!!" so before you know it your carving right increasing paddling pace and strength and plummeting over the event horizon into the biggest hole you have ever seen at such close quarters and suddenly that little voice stops saying "do it do it do it" and instead whimpers "mother!!" what follows is a rather one sided affair were the river usually wins :o)
After an epic drive of 1057 miles in 19hrs drive time and the most bizarre ferry crossing ever, we finally arrived at our base for the week, Landeck which is on the confluence of the Sanna and the Inn.
Our 1st paddle took us down the Inn valley to the Imst Gorge which is recomended by the guide book as the one to start with and which when you read the guide book says " This is a huge river with immense volume, surging brown water and massive waves for the experts to surf. It is classic big volume class 3 and a good warm up for the grand canyon of colarado! As a starter river you think hmmmmm!
Well we got on, Cath decided to not paddle and do the shuttle for us which was very kind and it was getting late anyway so off me, dave and Andy went and had an absolute blast on huge wave trains consisting of 2-3 m waves some breaking and big powerful eddy lines and big swirlies. a grand way to start the holiday.
By the time we got off and it started to rain and continued for the rest of the evening, night and following day. Ever wish you had taken your coat??
Day 2 started with a sound that we became quite accustomed to by the end of the week, at 6am a bell starts to toll with no tune just bong, bong bong which seems to go on forever!! then at 730am the builders start with an assortment of power tools, todays choice was pneumatic drills.
We went and scouted the Rosanna, Trisanna and the Sanna but sadly only the Sanna was going as the others were too dry!!!! so a run down the Sanna (4) was on, the Guide only mentions 2 major rapids both which went passed without any hassle. then back to the Imst Gorge to let Cath Tick it off as well after missing it the day before!
Day 3
Today they were using Strimmers!!
After Yesterdays paddling we decided to see what else the Inn had to offer and did the section from Tosens to Prutz supposed to be big and bouncy, it consisted of 2 real rapids which were as the description had described but then lots of pants flat bits!! we then ended up running the Sanna again which had dropped a little over night and was actually a lot more playful than the day before and lots more enjoyable, also the sun being out was a positive experience as well.
Day 4
Back to using pneumatic drills!!
Today we woke early and feeling confident with our boating and felt fully acclimatised and ready to try our luck a bit.
While we were running the Imst Gorge earlier in the week you paddle past the confluence with the Oetz which was pumping in with lots of force and everyone we talked to said it was worth a look. So off we went target being the Lower Oetz. (4(4+)) Guide book states Very Fast, Very Heavy and very scary, well the 1st time anyway and it never once drops below a 3 with the knowledge there is a lethal weir lurking about 2/3 down the run.
On route we had a run in with the local traffic police :o( After emerging from a tunnel and rounding the corner we were signalled to pull over by rather serious looking Austrian police man in very tight trousers!! i wound down the window and he said " Veee have speeeed limits here you know! Zee speed limit here is 80, you ver doing 122!" I didn't know whether to whoop or cry! "Drivers License and Papers please and follow me"
whoops! getting to the back of his van it was like walking into an accountants office, he pulled out a little book did a little sum and " for zee speeding 150 euro's, und fur admin 35 euro's, cash or card your choice!" Expensive experience but no points so happy days!
Well when we got to the Oetz and scouted the weir, which was very nasty!! we spotted the eddy to take out so all good. We got to the top and it was rattling through and getting bigger as the sun was rising fast as was the temperature. so we got on and suddenly realised it was bigger than it looked at from the bank, but what followed was another uneventful run just a few rolls here and there.
After we had got the car back after cycling for it we were chomping at the bit for more grade 4 action, we thought about the Landeck gorge but unfortunately it was not releasing so we decided to go further up the river over the border and into Switzerland to tackle the Giarsun Gorge (4)
This is a gorgeous paddle but has a long stretch of grade 2 water you need to paddle, but the surrounding views are absolutely beautiful so they soon click by getting gradually bigger and more powerful before the gorge starts to form and by the time the gorge walls loom up either side of you the current is surging through very powerfully. The gorge then goes through a drop pool type of run with each one getting bigger and longer than the last. byt he time we got to the bottom we were all buzzing from an absolutely stonking run!
Day 5,
They must have had a powercut as they were using hammers!!
Again we woke to rain and it was a little late to go for the more severe upper oetz so we decided to go back to Switzerland and do some more gorges, we ran the Gairsun again as a warm up and then went into the Ardez gorge which follows immediately which is (4+ (6)) early into the run you realised it was definitely a considerable step up from the Giarsun gorge as the rapids were definitely bigger and the flow rate was a lot stronger. We got to the Grade 6 which we Portaged and i think we all absolutely hated the most as it consisted of several human chains, ascents of the gorge wall, traverse lowering off again and then more traversing before finally getting to the bottom, while deciding where to put in the river went up a meter in the space of 5 minutes and the warter turned from a milky white glacial flow to a deep brown surging brown flood. not a very pleasant experience knowing we still had to run 3 technical 4+ rapids down stream in a raising flow as we were down deep in the gorge. the other rapids passed quickly but we had to walk one as it had hormed a horriblr big pour over which held a tree stump we threw in for a good few minutes. getting to the end and then back to Campsite we all collapsed completely exhausted.
Will:cool:
Yes i swam but it was in the name of science :o) Its not often you run a rapid with a fuken mahoosive hole, and punch it more by luck than skill and then get chance to run it again! Not only that, but tell everyone else to take the green tongue down the left before breaking back into the flow heading left then suddenly get that little voice what always gets you in bother saying "take it in the bollox!!!!" so before you know it your carving right increasing paddling pace and strength and plummeting over the event horizon into the biggest hole you have ever seen at such close quarters and suddenly that little voice stops saying "do it do it do it" and instead whimpers "mother!!" what follows is a rather one sided affair were the river usually wins :o)
After an epic drive of 1057 miles in 19hrs drive time and the most bizarre ferry crossing ever, we finally arrived at our base for the week, Landeck which is on the confluence of the Sanna and the Inn.
Our 1st paddle took us down the Inn valley to the Imst Gorge which is recomended by the guide book as the one to start with and which when you read the guide book says " This is a huge river with immense volume, surging brown water and massive waves for the experts to surf. It is classic big volume class 3 and a good warm up for the grand canyon of colarado! As a starter river you think hmmmmm!
Well we got on, Cath decided to not paddle and do the shuttle for us which was very kind and it was getting late anyway so off me, dave and Andy went and had an absolute blast on huge wave trains consisting of 2-3 m waves some breaking and big powerful eddy lines and big swirlies. a grand way to start the holiday.
By the time we got off and it started to rain and continued for the rest of the evening, night and following day. Ever wish you had taken your coat??
Day 2 started with a sound that we became quite accustomed to by the end of the week, at 6am a bell starts to toll with no tune just bong, bong bong which seems to go on forever!! then at 730am the builders start with an assortment of power tools, todays choice was pneumatic drills.
We went and scouted the Rosanna, Trisanna and the Sanna but sadly only the Sanna was going as the others were too dry!!!! so a run down the Sanna (4) was on, the Guide only mentions 2 major rapids both which went passed without any hassle. then back to the Imst Gorge to let Cath Tick it off as well after missing it the day before!
Day 3
Today they were using Strimmers!!
After Yesterdays paddling we decided to see what else the Inn had to offer and did the section from Tosens to Prutz supposed to be big and bouncy, it consisted of 2 real rapids which were as the description had described but then lots of pants flat bits!! we then ended up running the Sanna again which had dropped a little over night and was actually a lot more playful than the day before and lots more enjoyable, also the sun being out was a positive experience as well.
Day 4
Back to using pneumatic drills!!
Today we woke early and feeling confident with our boating and felt fully acclimatised and ready to try our luck a bit.
While we were running the Imst Gorge earlier in the week you paddle past the confluence with the Oetz which was pumping in with lots of force and everyone we talked to said it was worth a look. So off we went target being the Lower Oetz. (4(4+)) Guide book states Very Fast, Very Heavy and very scary, well the 1st time anyway and it never once drops below a 3 with the knowledge there is a lethal weir lurking about 2/3 down the run.
On route we had a run in with the local traffic police :o( After emerging from a tunnel and rounding the corner we were signalled to pull over by rather serious looking Austrian police man in very tight trousers!! i wound down the window and he said " Veee have speeeed limits here you know! Zee speed limit here is 80, you ver doing 122!" I didn't know whether to whoop or cry! "Drivers License and Papers please and follow me"
whoops! getting to the back of his van it was like walking into an accountants office, he pulled out a little book did a little sum and " for zee speeding 150 euro's, und fur admin 35 euro's, cash or card your choice!" Expensive experience but no points so happy days!
Well when we got to the Oetz and scouted the weir, which was very nasty!! we spotted the eddy to take out so all good. We got to the top and it was rattling through and getting bigger as the sun was rising fast as was the temperature. so we got on and suddenly realised it was bigger than it looked at from the bank, but what followed was another uneventful run just a few rolls here and there.
After we had got the car back after cycling for it we were chomping at the bit for more grade 4 action, we thought about the Landeck gorge but unfortunately it was not releasing so we decided to go further up the river over the border and into Switzerland to tackle the Giarsun Gorge (4)
This is a gorgeous paddle but has a long stretch of grade 2 water you need to paddle, but the surrounding views are absolutely beautiful so they soon click by getting gradually bigger and more powerful before the gorge starts to form and by the time the gorge walls loom up either side of you the current is surging through very powerfully. The gorge then goes through a drop pool type of run with each one getting bigger and longer than the last. byt he time we got to the bottom we were all buzzing from an absolutely stonking run!
Day 5,
They must have had a powercut as they were using hammers!!
Again we woke to rain and it was a little late to go for the more severe upper oetz so we decided to go back to Switzerland and do some more gorges, we ran the Gairsun again as a warm up and then went into the Ardez gorge which follows immediately which is (4+ (6)) early into the run you realised it was definitely a considerable step up from the Giarsun gorge as the rapids were definitely bigger and the flow rate was a lot stronger. We got to the Grade 6 which we Portaged and i think we all absolutely hated the most as it consisted of several human chains, ascents of the gorge wall, traverse lowering off again and then more traversing before finally getting to the bottom, while deciding where to put in the river went up a meter in the space of 5 minutes and the warter turned from a milky white glacial flow to a deep brown surging brown flood. not a very pleasant experience knowing we still had to run 3 technical 4+ rapids down stream in a raising flow as we were down deep in the gorge. the other rapids passed quickly but we had to walk one as it had hormed a horriblr big pour over which held a tree stump we threw in for a good few minutes. getting to the end and then back to Campsite we all collapsed completely exhausted.
Will:cool: