Lechkloverij...

Het einde van het Nirjhara-zomerverlof zit er aan te komen. Bijna iedereen pakt 's ochtends in om ofwel naar huis te rijden of om op een andere plaats nog een paar dagen de boel onveilig te maken.

Toch staat er nog kajak op het programma voor een klein groepje.

We rijden naar naar de instap van de Lech voor een portie "lechkloverij". Ward en Ik varen enkel de eerste kloof mee zodat er daarna nog tijd is om met Bart en Nand op een makkelijk stuk van de Lech (instap in Steeg) wat uit te varen.

De waterstand is vergelijkbaar met die van onze trip in het najaar en zodra de Lech versmalt herkennen we de passages (toch een deel ervan).

Zo'n 2de run is toch wel wat relaxter: 'de boom' zit nog steeds in de weg maar we weten dat hij er zit en we weten vooral hoe we er voorbij moeten (zwemmen).

Op een passage die in het najaar enkel door Bruno en Birdy werd gevaren zet nu iedereen in. Zelf kom ik min of meer deftig door de eerste, moeilijke aanvaart maar dan zit ik te veel naar rechts en boof ik niet genoeg om zonder backflip het volgende gat door te komen. Ik kom recht maar verpruts het efkes verder opnieuw en ga toch noch maar eens zwemmen.

Gelukkig kunnen Gert en Ward mijn boot snel recupereren en verliezen we niet veel tijd.

Op het einde van de kloof ontsiert een net in betondraad de rivier. Enkel Jorg en Bruno varen hier, de rest draagt om.

De fopmuur (zie verslag najaar) even verder kennen we ondertussen en niemand laat zich deze keer beetnemen.

De uitstap is er veel te snel en we zijn toch wat jaloers op de ploeg die verder vaart... alhoewel.... must run!?! zwangpassage?!? turmzimmer!?!... toch ook een beetje blij dat we hier al mogen stoppen.

Jan

Somewhere in the Upper part

Lech gorges, Lech -> Steeg, water level: 2m58, MW

One of the main reasons to come over to Austria was certainly the opportunity to run the entire upper Lech gorges whereas in the past we were only able to run the section from Lech to Warth because of paddling restrictions on the next stretch to Steeg after August 15th. Several people were able to hop over from Prutz basecamp so Saturday saw a selection of Nirjhara's finest at the put in in Lech. Although well warmed up from previous antics, the rather conscise description of the second gorge part we had available (grade V for experts only?) created some premature stress in the team.


Gert feeling a bit wobbly

Ward and Jan announced early they had some business on the lower Lech to deal with, planning to abandon in Warth. The water level was another topic of discussion, lower or higher than our previous runs? Posterior check of the e-gauge showed we had medium water, so probably slightly higher than during previous visits. Although it was good to start with the well known upper section, we already saw some nice spankings of too lazy or confident boaters. I got pushed way of line on the first significant rapid resulting in a big submarine move with quite last minute recovery. Jan had a similar line but failed full recovery or maybe he just continued with some canyoning. Last time, I had a very uncontrolled run down one of the next bigger drops which seems to feature an inevitable undercut rock face and downstream boulder to pin any unwary paddlers. No big deal for Voenkel who waved down Rekkerken who luckily managed to stay upright, lucky shot! The others had a look and tried different lines giving always more or less the same result of glancing of the undercut and bracing deeply on the pin rock. Ward had the cleanest line but difficult to analyze what made the successful move...


Ward negociating succesfully the tricky drop

Voenkel went for intimate contact with the pin rock resulting in a minor dip. Jan and I went for the dry line. A bit further down, the Von Roy family decided to put in some rolling practice above the rapid with the road debris, good way to push up the adrenaline!


Tricky slot above the rapid with road debris

The core section of the first gorger is quite short and without any further mishap but with some clear warnings, we made it to the take out bridge at Warth.

An elite team of 4 decided to push on on the lower part but not after some mental massaging and clear agreements:
Rekkerken: I did not know we were supposed to continue in this second part, I am not sure about this?. -> don?t be a pansy, man up
Voenkel: I am feeling a bit wobbly today, are you sure we can inspect/portage everything? -> yeah sure, they just call it a gorge but in fact it is quite open?.
Jorg: From now on, we need to inspect more and put more security -> OK, will do, lets go


Jorg cruising down a nice bend

From Jorg's guidebook, we knew there would be an unrunnable rapid somewhere in the beginning and one toward the end, ideally just after the take out if you could spot that in time. Also there should be a must run ledge with nasty towback towards the end, appropriately called the 'turnzimmer'. With this precious info, we started heading downstream arriving at a nice bouldery rapid after some flat stuff.


Nice drop early in second part

Oh yes, this rapid was slightly walled in, so we went down by eddy hopping. Jorg was in the lead and had some difficulties catching the last eddy but at this time, I had to rely on info I got from Voenkel as I could not see Jorg from my point of view. As Voenkel waved me down, I saw a nasty slot downstream, and an inviting eddy on the right.
Focusing on the slot of doom, I failed to see the bumper rock at the entrance of the eddy and the frantic gestures from Jorg, resulting in a very hairy and backwards ferry above the slot. Apparently Jorg had had the same problem and sure enough, Voenkel also made acquaintance with the bumper from hell. Last in line was Peter who with least beta realized that we probably found the first unrunnable, bumped into the rock, slightly panicked, capsized and disappeared in the slot with a last cry for help. Luckily, Peter was out of his boat before entering the slot drop and flushed through quite smoothly and by more luck, there was one more flat section behind allowing to get all his stuff together without too much trouble.


Boulder rapid above the unrunnable in the second gorge

After this, the hostilities really started with steep and long boulder gardens. A little bit further down, a few friendly and caring hikers tried to further boost our confidence level by ensuring that the river would soon become much more dangerous with big drops and without possibility for escape. Feeling still a bit subdued, Peter decided to quit at this point. Soon after, the gorge walls closed in and we were indeed faced with numerous drops and rapids ranging from 1 to 2 meter but all good stuff, grade IV kayak heaven.



We soon got in a good rhythm with our small team and even Voenkel started to enjoy. Ofcourse, we still had to deal with the Turnzimmer (mind you, there were plenty more must-run rapids) and in true style of the day, we also failed to identify this rapid pro-actively. Only after observing some gym exercise by Voenkel, Jorg and I decided to put in some extra power in approaching this final drop. A few more moments of enjoyment and then a steep hike out to the road bridge.


Nirjhara exercizing in the Turnzimmer

So what is the bottom line? The second part of the Lech gorges in my opinion is definitely better than the first part, much more action, more commitment with plenty of rapids that are difficult to portage (although you can take a glimpse at most at medium water) and even better scenery but technically not more difficult than the core section of the first part. The combination really makes for one of the best Alp rivers I have ever done.

Back home, I found this description from Scheuer on 4-Paddlers, guess we got away with it one more time?.

Dieser zweite Abschnitt der legendären Lechschluchten ist Schauplatz mancher abenteuerlicher Lagerfeuergeschichte. Deutlich weniger Paddler wagen sich auf die kilometerlang in Klammen verlaufende Strecke. Dies liegt einerseits an Befahrungsbeschränkungen, die einen wesentlichen Teil des Abschnitts betreffen, wie auch an fehlenden Informationen über den tatsächlichen Charakter der Schlucht.

Die gefährlichste Stelle kommt nach knapp einem Kilometer, wo sich das Tal verengt und das Kiesbett in einen Blockkatarakt übergeht. Bevor das Wasser über einen steiler werdenden Katarakt (WW 4+) rumpelt, empfiehlt es sich links anzulanden und den folgenden Fall zu besichtigen. Das Wasser fällt nach links etwa 3m in einen schmalen, rückläufigen Schlitz der zum großen Teil unter einem riesigen Block links abfließt. Sichere Paddler nehmen das letzte Kehrwasser rechtsufrig direkt vor der Kante, und umtragen unschwierig. In jedem Fall rechtzeitig links anlanden und besichtigen!. Ein echtes Kriterium ist das Turmzimmerl kurz vor Ende der Strecke. Nach einer leichten Einfahrt zwängt sich der Lech über eine nur 3-4m breite Kante und fällt knapp 2m in einen rückläufigen Gumpen. Die linke Wand ist unterspült und ist man einmal im Rücklauf festgefressen, hat man im Boot schlechte Karten. Die Stelle kann nicht wirklich eingesehen werden. Zwar gibt es ein stark rotierendes Kehrwasser direkt vor der Kante links, doch ist dieses ein äußerst schlechter Ausgangspunkt zur Befahrung des Falls.

Bruno


Another rapid on the lower part, who joins next time

Bekijk op Nirjhara-Maps

Lech, klassiek stuk van Lech tot Warth
Lech, van Warth tot Steeg

Medevaarders