Good Karma - Looking for solitude in the Indian Himalayas

With less than a week to go until we show our film at the St. Anton am Arlberg Film Festival here is a little teaser…..

July - coaching, kayaking and the new Austria Whitewater Guide Book.

July was another successful month for us here in Austria.  The Kayak School is going from strength to strength and it is fantastic to not only show people our home rivers but also to see the way everybody improves and gets that bug to go kayaking!!

The Rosanna has been up and running and of course with days like this the views just speak for themselves, Ute catching what our home River - the Rosanna is all about!!

Shachar was making the most of the fast current of the Rosanna and keeping on top of his game!

Ami was really working on his creeking skills and of course put everything into practice on the infamous Lech Gorge!  This year the Gorge was a lot lower but it still had its "Fear Factor!"

Ute has been working hard on her technique and of course the Sanna is one of the perfect training environments for that!

Udi came for his first taste of Austrian whitewater and of course we had to take him over the border into the Engadine Region of Switzerland, here he is styling the Schuls Gorge at a great level.

It was also Idan's first trip to Austria and he was really putting his newly learnt skills to the test!

In-fact, Udi and Idan were loving the new moves in our creek boats!

Bob was also over for a weeks intensive coaching.  Here he is putting all his newly learnt skills to the test and styling the River Loisach in Bavaria, Germany!!

I am currently writing a new Austrian whitewater guide book and we had a few days off so Ute and I hit the road and headed to the Austrian and German border for more research into the book!

Here is Ute running the Rissbach River at a great level

And what was even more astounding was that I finally got to kayak with John!  We headed back via the Allgaeu where he lives and kayaked his home river that is a great little run!

Set in an amazing gorge, the only way through is by kayak and it is has a feeling of remoteness.

This little gem of a river will be making its way into the Austrian (and its neighbours) Whitewater Guide Book

One thing is for sure when you go on a road trip in Austria there is always a pass to drive over.  This one is like a modern day version of the Rohtang Pass near Manali in Himachal Pradesh

I also got a couple of days kayaking in working on my own techniques and just having fun running some Alpine Whitewater!!

July was amazing, August is looking good and we have also bought our plane tickets for India in the Autumn!

 The Summer is in full swing and time is flying past extremely fast.

Here is to a great August and also the premier at the St. Anton am Arlberg Film Festival of our film: Good Karma - looking for solitude in the Indian Himalaya

Ram Ram

Steve

June - rain, snow, a bit of sun and some great water levels!!!

June was a great time for us here in the kayak school, the water levels were great and of course we were fully paddle fit since returning from our epic adventure in the Indian Himalayas.

Our home river - the Rosanna was now up and running and with optimum levels we hit the Upper section for some slides, drops and boofs.

We were also extremely privileged to have Himal Naroula come and visit all the way from Nepal (via the Allgaeu Region in Bavaria!).

He got to kayak our home run and of course the chance to experience a river that had rocks in it rather than the HUGE volume of his homeland!

It was a first for Himal to be working on his creeking techniques but he was loving it and of course kayaking his first river in Austria.

Himal was also getting some serious air time on the Sanna

The sun also came out in June too and we were running all sorts of coaching courses.  

The Beginners and Improver courses were a hit and the Lech proved again that Austria is not all about big water with powerful rapids that will scare you senseless!!

It seems strange that the Western part of Austria has this fear factor to many English speaking kayakers, maybe it is the old guide book?

New this season we have Peak UK's latest pfd's and really have set the standard.

Ran came to visit and got put through his paces running all sorts of rapids, rivers and really working hard on his technique.

Ran also got to kayak on the Swiss Inn up in the Engadine region and it certainly did not disappoint with amazing colour and of course all set in some of the most spectacular scenery the Alps has to offer.

I also managed to get an evening session on the Rosanna, walking up to kayak the last few drops of the Rosanna Gorge.

 When the Rosanna comes up there are some great little moves to make

 It is pretty non-stop all the way to the village of St. Anton am Arlberg and is a gem of a river.

 July was looking was already looking good and our Kayak School based in the heart of the Austrian Alps is going from strength to strength…

Ram Ram

Steve