Arriving at 4pm at the take out for the race course, it suddenly became quite lonely with only Voenkel having some energy left for the big and final gorge adventure. Luckily also Birdy showed up again with his big creeker although technically, boat swaps are not allowed on the Ubaye integral?. Birdy and I had paddled the big gorge before but at way lower water levels, so none of us was too sure about what to expect in the big gorge at this water level. The rain that started to fall from the dark clouds and the typical thunder sound that comes from bumping an Exo Demon on rocks only added to the tension. We did not waste too much time with portaging the 3 main entrance rapids that at this level were running at least at a solid grade V level. From low water, I remembered the remaining section as technical grade IV treading lines through boulder gardens but with more water, this became a large hole dodging feast where some upfront inspection and the optional chicken line came in handy. As usual with big water, running first gives some extra dash and we kindly rotated in opening up the rapids. After more rapids than I recalled, we arrived at the lake at 5:30 with the sun out again and the support crew in full swing. 5 hours to run the entire Ubaye with some lunch break in between, not bad, another excellent day on the river!
