General > Foreign Trips

Alps 2013

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Douchier:
Boo-urns Ellen!

Just to point out what I said earlier (purely because I buried it in a maze of other stuff), the normal Alps window is right after exams, up to the end of June (as long as you want to go for).

Unless you just want to go to Slovenia, but you don't just want to go to Slovenia, the paddling isn't amazing (although I think it's possibly the nicest place generally to be in).

OOh, I guess a quick description of the places.

France - Briancon region.
There are a few places to base yourself, but around Briancon is the most popular.
There's a good variety of rivers in terms of difficulty, they tend not to have the relatively unspoiled charm of Italy or Slovenia though. Food/drink is shops is pretty cheap, but eating out is expensive. Contrary to common perceptions, French people are lovely. This incidentally is the place that the Alps "Bible" is based around, but it's probably worth keeping in mind that it was written a while ago. While you're here why not take a trip up to the nearby hamlet of Bouchier. Many people each year pilgrimage to this settlement that was founded with the sole intention of worshiping me.

Italy - Val Sesia
Paddling wise, this place is pretty fucking awesome. It's got just the kind of rivers that a lot of the people going will be looking to push themselves on. That said, the options at the lower end of the spectrum are more limited. Generally very nice. Eating out is fairly cheap, shops ok(cheaper than Ireland anyway). The water is crystal clear and it's got the kind of paddling that I just love.
The only is that aside from paddling...there just isn't all that much to do. It's definitely my favorite, but if the water levels aren't playing ball, you might just go crazy. Look out for the smelliest dog in existence; his name is "Argo", but he won't come when you call him, only just after you've made food.


Slovenia
Lovely place this; it's like stepping into middle-earth...but without the orks. Paddling wise it's impossible not to talk about the water. It's beautiful. It's like paddling in mouth-wash for the whole time you're there. The paddling isn't the most challenging, but if you're willing to look for it then there's definitely spots where you can really hone your skills. I guess that you could sum up the difference in character by saying that somewhere like Italy forces you to make your best moves, while Slovenia doesn't, but if you want to make gnarly moves, there's loads of potential for it. Generally very safe and group-friendly paddling (siphon-canyon aside), it's a great spot for a very club-orientated trip, or as a warm-up. Unusually, you cross the border from Italy and the bugs just double in size and exponentially in number - this isn't really troublesome, but kind of fascinating. Eating out here is reasonable and food in shops is really cheap. Fuel was also comparatively very cheap when I was there, I believe that Matt actually cried.

Italy Video
French-ville
Slovena-whatsit
UCD Alps 2010

Edit: shit, I did a lot of rambling again, didn't I...

DervM:
VAL SESIA! ^^

MarieH:
I second that Derv!

Maryanne:
Italy
I went to Val Sesia first the summer of my fresher year and the Lower Sesia stretch was great, it was a huge step up than what I'd done before (Liffey, Boyne, Wicklow) and I ran it again and again and felt myself improving.

I also ran the middle Mastallone once, but only because Benny was running L4 training on it (I don't think it had been on the radar otherwise), the lower Sermenza once (with the UCD group) and Landwasser once (just a waterfall, with Benny & UCD).

The ratio in the group I went with was 6 strong, experienced paddlers (5 of whom had been to the Alps before) and 4 of us who were in our 1st/2nd years of paddling. What I got to run was very much governed by what the rest of the group were comfortable rescuing on, specifically, rescuing a swimmer on.

Slovenia
I was in Slovenia again this summer at a much higher level of paddling ability than when I first went and I was thoroughly entertained and challenged. Now that I have more knowledge of the rivers in Slovenia (Soca and Koritnica) I know that there are gorges, crux rapids and more opportunities for s-moves, flares and eddy work than you could imagine, resulting in a dream location to learn. You can also push yourself very hard on the Soca; pick lines that involve seriously control and technique.

Kim Siekerman, Dave Carroll, Simon Westgarth (and more I'm sure) go there every year at the start of the alps season because it is such a rich resource for training and they use it for their own training before bringing groups out. Slalom paddlers come from far away to train on it too (not just the slalom course, but on the classic section) so it is highly regarded as a kayaking destination.

My two cents
If I was designing a trip for me (going back in time to my first trip out there) I would start in Slovenia to aclimatise to alpine water, then start working on moves and build some confidence (it's really a very different paddling environment) and then start pushing hard (still in Slovenia) further out of a comfort zone to catch harder eddies and make harder moves, paddle the gorges, run the Koritnica, run the classic section picking out specific spots for key moves (eg eddy hop upriver) then maybe move on to Italy.

In my opinion, Slovenia is more suited to an alps trip (or at least the start/first chunk of a trip) where there is a high ratio of first time alpers because you get to paddle more consistently and the rivers are less bony, which means swims are less likely to cause wear and tear that would require rest days (something that has caused me to miss a noticeable amount of alp kayaking time).

Niall Finch:

--- Quote from: Karen on October 25, 2012, 20:27:04 ---Sniff Finch, I don't make the list? :'(

--- End quote ---

I didn't do up the list Karen but I will make sure that you're seen on it !!!

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