Summer Paddling Trip to the Alps, 2024
For the last 8 years I have completed an annual summer paddling trip to Europe. Not necessarily a club trip, although some were, and often with other club members, but every year some glorious white water in gorgeous summer sunshine and amazing mountain scenery. What’s not to like?
It started in July 2016 when Kirsten, Clare, Ben and I went to Bovec in Slovenia with Maria and Nigel Hughes (coaches and club members) for a week on the Soca river. The following week we were followed by a further bunch of UHCC members. It was my first experience of paddling abroad and the scenery was stunning. I thoroughly recommend Slovenia as a paddle and/or travel destination, the only downside being it is quite a long journey.
In 2017 and 2018 Tom Mace kindly took on the huge task of running a club trip to the French Alps, coached by the lovely Al Randall and his bunch of fellow coaches. We stayed in two separate chalets in villages near the town of Briancon. Kirsten, myself and Jane Saunders among others joined the ice cream and cake group while other club members tackled bigger challenges on other rivers. It was awesome!! These trips took place in mid to late June when most of the Alpine Rivers are quite full on. Our coffee and cake paddles were a bit limited but we visited the Durance, Guisane, Guile, Gyronde and Claree. Unfortunately I had a wobble and didn’t paddle the Claree, I have been wanting to do this one ever since, and this year (2024) I did!
Since then I have treated myself to an annual extravaganza with the lovely Andy Holt. In my opinion one of the best professional white water coaches in the business, Andy always manages to make me feel safe and get the best out of my paddling. In 2020 this was a last-minute week just one week after the end of the Covid lockdown. Just me and my American pal Judy. My absolute best ever kayaking performance was on the Middle Guil which is a short but extremely full-on stretch and only resulted in the scenario to the left twice on this occasion. Chuffed!
In 2021 Jane and I took on a new challenge in the Spanish Pyrenees on the Noguera Pallaresa. This is a dam release river like the Tryweryn, but with several distinct sections of different character and regular daily water release during the summer months so that you can time your paddling to coincide with the water!
So in 2024 I was again off to Briancon at the beginning of July. This year there was an unusual late snowfall, followed by rainstorms so that early and mid June saw some massive flooding in the region. Campsites usually populated by enthusiastic kayakers were evacuated into nearby town halls, and sadly there were some unfortunate accidents so when we set out it was by no means clear how much paddling we would be able to do. Andy assured the group that river levels were dropping and indeed by the time we began paddling they were back to the ‘top end of normal’ for the time of year. For me that meant quite scary! However, it has to be mentioned that all that flood water had had an effect on the rivers; rocks had moved and features had changed, trees were down and there was a lot of wood in the rivers presenting hazards for the unwary so we were very grateful to our local guides for their expertise in suggesting the right rivers at the right time, and thus I finally got my chance to paddle the lovely Claree, not once, but twice!
As usual, I have returned from my summer adventure buzzing with enthusiasm for my favourite pastime. I can’t wait for my next European adventure. Lots of UHCC members have suggested that they would like to do something abroad. After all, in all the time I have been going abroad, the weather has always been glorious, the scenery is amazing, and yes, the water is blooming freezing, but so what? I hope I may be able to organise something for the club for 2025.
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