I’m writing this blog on a plane to Chile. I’m very excited that we were able to get our kayaks on board but we still have to worry about getting a car and a place to sleep. We booked our flights for three months and we all plan to work in Chile or Argentina to fund our trip.
Mollia rapid – Val Sesia
Šnopc was runing smoothly that night
Anyway, it has been a long time since I last wrote my blog. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t do any kayaking. In fact I had kayaked more this year than I had in years before. After quitting my job at Duemstuff I found myself teaching kayaking again. But besides working as a kayaking guide and instructor in Bovec, which put me on the water about two times per day, I took as much time as I could for myself too. I was lucky to be able to run cataract of Soča River almost every day till midsummer and at all kinds of water levels. Summer was hot and sunny but we were blessed with a few nights of rain as well, which gave us a chance to run some of the best and rarest creeks in the region. We ran Učja and Tolminka creeks at super high water levels. Tolminka mission actually almost ended in a bad way for us as one of it’s narrow and deep canyons was blocked by a bunch of trees. Luckily we all made it through in the end. I don’t have a lot of photos of these adventures but I have it all on video 🙂 I must say it is still a thrill to watch how we swim through a gorge, not knowing what lies behind a corner. I hope I’ll be able to put a video together soon.
Some Pictures from the Učja River:
I also took some time to visit some of the European kayak classics. In the spring we went to Italy, which is kind of a yearly regular for us Slovenians, but it was still my first time to paddle in Val Sesia. Unfortunately water levels were very low but we still found some challenging and fun parts to run.
Unlike Italy the season was much better in Norway. Water was high, weather was great and a lot of kayakers visiting this year meant we found good company anywhere we went. We even met a Slovenian kayaker living in Voss, who we didn’t know before (yes, that is interesting for someone that comes from a country with only 2 million residents). Norway really is a great and beautiful country. A must do for any creek kayaker. The worst memory I would have had from that trip is a very long road trip it takes to get there but unfortunately we were just driving by Oslo at the time of the Norwegian tragedy. It left us that much more affected because of its proximity and we sympathise deeply with everybody involved.
All the experience this year left me feeling tied to kayaking even more than before. I’m not sure what next year will bring and I’m trying not to limit myself. Though I do hope I’ll be able to survive of teaching and also visit more of the world with my kayak.
Some Pictures from trip to Norway (they start after already posted Učja pictures):
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