Anybody know much about boating in the French Alps? I'll be there in early to mid June, maybe looking to boat a few days somewhere in the Durance drainage. Any place to borrow or rent a c-1? is there usually water in June? are there some good class 4/5 creek recommendations? any advice would be much appreciated.
jay
french alps questions
Moderators: kenneth, sbroam, TheKrikkitWars, Mike W., Sir Adam, KNeal, PAC, adamin
-
oregonmatt
- Pain Boater
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2003 9:49 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
I spent a week boating in the French and Italian Alps a few years back - i was there in august. We did one day on the Dranse (outside of Geneva), two days on the Isere, and then several days in the Aosta valley in Italy. The Dranse was our warm-up day - we did a class II-III technical run on the lower part of the river. It was a little bony they day we were there - fun, but not much push or challenge. There is a more difficult creek run above the one we did.
The Isere was really fun. The first day we put in at Bourg St. Maurice and did some laps on the slalom course. Big class IV-IV+ above the course, and the course itself is fast, pushy class III. We then boated the run below the slalom course - fast class II-III, completely non-technical, just fun wave trains. And lots of "hydrospeeders" (basically riverboarders) to dodge. The next day we did the next-lower run on the Isere - I don't remember the names of the put-in and take-out, but the run included a super-fun, continuous big water class III-IV section and a beautiful vertical-walled class III gorge. This was probably the best boating on the trip. Plus, a jogging path ran along much of the run, and there was lots of eye candy inline skating alongside the river the whole day. No hydrospeeders on that run. Also, lots of wine and stinky cheese at the takeout - all in all, a high quality boating experience.
We didn't get to boat in the Durance area. From what I heard, it is great.
If you are in this area for long enough, I'd recommend driving across the petit st. bernard pass and spending a day or two on the Dora Balta in Italy. It's not too far by car - maybe an hour and a half or two hours from Bourg St. Maurice. The run that ends just below Villeneuve is fun, technical pool-drop class IV. Be sure to use the right put-in - we put in just below a tough, tight class V gorge. There was a rafting company at the take-out that seemed to be a place where people were finding rides, etc. I also heard lots of good things about the Sesia valley.
The isere and the dora balta are glacier-fed, so june flows won't be a problem. The flows were lower in the morning, and rose as the day warmed up and more ice/snow melted. We did a couple of huge-water runs on some hot afternoons on the Dora Balta.
It wasn't hard to rent kayaks - I believe the person who obtained ours found them in Grenoble. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the name of the shop. However, i don't know about c-boats. There were some people in c-boats at the Isere slalom course, so you can probably find one somewhere (and be sure to prounounce "canoe" with a proper french accent or they won't know what the heck you are talking about - i tried discussing c-boating with a belgian play boater using my limited french and bad accent, and ended up in a very confusing conversation until I got my point across with cherades). Check www.eauxvives.org for information on French boating - you may be able to translate the site with babelfish or the like.
Have a great time - I'm going to get over there again as soon as I can.
Matt
The Isere was really fun. The first day we put in at Bourg St. Maurice and did some laps on the slalom course. Big class IV-IV+ above the course, and the course itself is fast, pushy class III. We then boated the run below the slalom course - fast class II-III, completely non-technical, just fun wave trains. And lots of "hydrospeeders" (basically riverboarders) to dodge. The next day we did the next-lower run on the Isere - I don't remember the names of the put-in and take-out, but the run included a super-fun, continuous big water class III-IV section and a beautiful vertical-walled class III gorge. This was probably the best boating on the trip. Plus, a jogging path ran along much of the run, and there was lots of eye candy inline skating alongside the river the whole day. No hydrospeeders on that run. Also, lots of wine and stinky cheese at the takeout - all in all, a high quality boating experience.
We didn't get to boat in the Durance area. From what I heard, it is great.
If you are in this area for long enough, I'd recommend driving across the petit st. bernard pass and spending a day or two on the Dora Balta in Italy. It's not too far by car - maybe an hour and a half or two hours from Bourg St. Maurice. The run that ends just below Villeneuve is fun, technical pool-drop class IV. Be sure to use the right put-in - we put in just below a tough, tight class V gorge. There was a rafting company at the take-out that seemed to be a place where people were finding rides, etc. I also heard lots of good things about the Sesia valley.
The isere and the dora balta are glacier-fed, so june flows won't be a problem. The flows were lower in the morning, and rose as the day warmed up and more ice/snow melted. We did a couple of huge-water runs on some hot afternoons on the Dora Balta.
It wasn't hard to rent kayaks - I believe the person who obtained ours found them in Grenoble. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the name of the shop. However, i don't know about c-boats. There were some people in c-boats at the Isere slalom course, so you can probably find one somewhere (and be sure to prounounce "canoe" with a proper french accent or they won't know what the heck you are talking about - i tried discussing c-boating with a belgian play boater using my limited french and bad accent, and ended up in a very confusing conversation until I got my point across with cherades). Check www.eauxvives.org for information on French boating - you may be able to translate the site with babelfish or the like.
Have a great time - I'm going to get over there again as soon as I can.
Matt
-
CosmikDebris
- CBoats Addict
- Posts: 494
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 9:06 pm
- Location: White Salmon, WA
- Contact:
Jay,
It's easy to travel with a saddle, the key is just finding a duffle large enough to put it in. That's what I did in NZ...
I have a friend that I met in NZ that lives in France. His english isn't great, but I'll send you his email. You should contact him, he should be able to hook you up with some beta at least. I believe he lives in Montpellier or something like that. There are a few C1's in France, and at least one of them is an incredible playboater...
Hope all's well.
will
It's easy to travel with a saddle, the key is just finding a duffle large enough to put it in. That's what I did in NZ...
I have a friend that I met in NZ that lives in France. His english isn't great, but I'll send you his email. You should contact him, he should be able to hook you up with some beta at least. I believe he lives in Montpellier or something like that. There are a few C1's in France, and at least one of them is an incredible playboater...
Hope all's well.
will
Hi,
there are a lot of nice rivers around the Durance area. Specially the Ubaye is a great class 4/5 river. A little bit far south is the Verdon, which is one of the most famous canyon in the Alps.
Have a look on www.kajaktour.de on the "Frankreich-Karte".
At Embrun, a town near by the Durance, there a two kayak-shops, SND and Wonderland, maybe you can ask them to borrow a C1.
harald
there are a lot of nice rivers around the Durance area. Specially the Ubaye is a great class 4/5 river. A little bit far south is the Verdon, which is one of the most famous canyon in the Alps.
Have a look on www.kajaktour.de on the "Frankreich-Karte".
At Embrun, a town near by the Durance, there a two kayak-shops, SND and Wonderland, maybe you can ask them to borrow a C1.
harald
-
NZMatt
- Supporting Paddler
- Posts: 419
- Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2003 8:55 pm
- Location: Konolfingen, Switzerland
Book source
HI Jay
There is an English guidebook that lists some runs in the area. It's called "whitewater south alps" by Peter Knowles. You can get it through some of the big book websites in the US. It'd be a good bet.
I am based in the Bernese alps and looking at the companion "Whitewater North Alps" (same publisher, different author" some of the information is somewhat dated (even though the book is only 3 years old) and some of the putins/takeouts described I've never heard of (even on the runs I've paddled a bunch of times with the locals) but the general descriptions of the runs (difficulty, dangers) seem accurate. The putins described would work, but they aren't the ones we normally use.
Your best bet is to find a local paddling club and see what they can tell you. Clubs are more common here in Europe than in the US. In my area there are 3 different clubs (each centered on a different town) within 20mins drive of me.
There is also some information on clubs, outfitters, tourist bureau contacts, etc. in the book.
Cheers,
NZMatt
There is an English guidebook that lists some runs in the area. It's called "whitewater south alps" by Peter Knowles. You can get it through some of the big book websites in the US. It'd be a good bet.
I am based in the Bernese alps and looking at the companion "Whitewater North Alps" (same publisher, different author" some of the information is somewhat dated (even though the book is only 3 years old) and some of the putins/takeouts described I've never heard of (even on the runs I've paddled a bunch of times with the locals) but the general descriptions of the runs (difficulty, dangers) seem accurate. The putins described would work, but they aren't the ones we normally use.
Your best bet is to find a local paddling club and see what they can tell you. Clubs are more common here in Europe than in the US. In my area there are 3 different clubs (each centered on a different town) within 20mins drive of me.
There is also some information on clubs, outfitters, tourist bureau contacts, etc. in the book.
Cheers,
NZMatt
NZMatt
Hmmm....new country, new rivers...-
Still not enough c-boaters....
Hmmm....new country, new rivers...-
Still not enough c-boaters....
French Alps
The French alps around the Durance/Briancon area are great for paddling of all abilities, and with the amount of snow there has been this year there should be very good water levels in mid June. My particular favourates would be the Middle Guil, Ubaye racecource and the Romanche.
At that time of year you could easily stay for two weeks, paddle a different section of grade 3/4/5 water every day, all within 1.5 hours drive of Briancon.
Regarding boats, I have always taken my own out from the uk, and have never seen another OC on the rivers I've paddled though there have been a handful of C1's.
A good point of contact would be Stuart Woodward at http://www.canoecontrol.com/. They are an English company based in the area, and Stuart is very helpful.
If you speak French try the message board at http://www.eauxvives.org/
At that time of year you could easily stay for two weeks, paddle a different section of grade 3/4/5 water every day, all within 1.5 hours drive of Briancon.
Regarding boats, I have always taken my own out from the uk, and have never seen another OC on the rivers I've paddled though there have been a handful of C1's.
A good point of contact would be Stuart Woodward at http://www.canoecontrol.com/. They are an English company based in the area, and Stuart is very helpful.
If you speak French try the message board at http://www.eauxvives.org/