Back in Leh

Hi all, I am now back in Leh after an incredible solo descent through the Grand Canyon of Asia. At the moment I cannot upload any photos in Leh so please hold on for a few more days until I get to Delhi.

Chao

Steve

Into the Wilds!!

The past few days have been great, I am now getting used to being on my own and not having to worry about 12 teenagers trying to cause havoc in India!! A big thanks go to Kate D, Steve, Thomas, Anais, Joe, Kate S, Cathy, Sophia, Matthew, Maghan, Grace and not forgetting Jo and Graham for a great month

I had a few days to chill, I also got hold of an Royal Enfield Bullet and went cruising around the Kullu Valley.

The time has now come for the next part of my India adventure, I leave today to run the Grand Canyon of Asia. I have some 300km of river ahead of me and I am travelling into one of the remotest places on earth. The Zanskar has a canyon to rival that of Peru's Colca so lets see!

Late Spring in the Alps

We have been busy boys down in the Alps this Spring/Early Summer. The Middle Oetz (one of THE runs in the Alps, a class V/IV sections with some amazing drops and gradient) plus the Upper Pitzbach, another continuous class V gem were just the right way to warm up, finally the Melach was run in high water to just test the nerve!

With the late winter the rivers were full to the brim and we were heading East from our base just outside of Landeck, Tirol. Our first river was the Enns, the water was huge and we dropped into the Kummer Brucke section all the way to the confluence. It was then to the Salza for a sport of playing and enjoying being still in one piece!!

Next was the Koppentraun in high water, one of the best rivers in Austria, followed by the Gimbach the next day.

If you are around Upper Austria the Gimbach is well worth the effort. A couple of kilometres walk in gives you a classic tight pool drop gorge, absolutely amazing.

From the Gimbach we headed to the Lammer Ofen in Salzburgerland, again in high water, fun and games were followed by a journey through some dark clouds, wind and a storm until we reached the Kitzbuhel Alps and the Kelchsauer Ache on our way home.

Part 2 of the road trip saw us in the Garmisch Area. We based ourselves in Fall and ran the Duerrach, another walk in plus a 10 metre abseil and one of the tightest gorges around. Though it is given a easy III+ do not be fooled! The wrong water level would be fatal and watch out for wood and a blind class IV+ rapid!!

The Walchen Gorges are close by, we ran the top part of the Lower Walchen (if that makes sense) as the lower part had a huge log jam on the biggest drop. However the Upper was on, moer drops and slides and what could be better, an M-Preis supermarket close by for coffee and cakes to finish!!

John is now running the Oetz while Steve is in India about to set off on the Tsarap Chu and the Zanskar rivers "Solo Pilot".

More to follow.....

Suerte

Steve