As I didn't bring a laptop to the Adidas Sickline I had to put some of my files onto a friends laptop, I'm now slowly retrieving this footage. This clip is of the first day in Oetz and my first day paddling. After meeting up with Adriene Levknecht and delivering her Remix I joined her and a group of Swedish paddlers heading up to the middle section and the Wellerbrucke was just huge.
It was a rainy, misty day which gave the river a mysterious and uncomfortable feel about it. I was paddling an LL Stomper 90 which I had borrowed from Max Eberl. I had never paddled one, and had not outfitted myself into it correctly, this didn't install confidence! After launching and running a few rapids I realized that because this group knew the section well this was going to be a grade 5 read and run trip, awesome when you know the river, a little nerve racking when you don't!
But after a few sections of awesome whitewater my confidence grew and I started to get a feel for the boat. So feeling confident as a came through a smallish feature I got pushed hard right toward a small slot. I tried to back paddle and steer left around the rock but it was too late, I was being fed into the slot. As the trees hit me in the chest and covered my deck I pushed up with my hands on the rocks and managed to pull my deck quickly, I knew I didn't want to be in this thing if it went under!
The boat didn't fill up right away so this gave me a chance to simply stand up and step out of the boat directly onto the bank, which in the video looks entertainingly chilled! The boat then submerged and breached under water in the slot, I managed to get a sling clipped to the nose. My team stopped and explained that it would be impossible to rescue the boat till the level dropped and that I'd have to wait.
My Dad, wife and friend were running the shuttle and after my group reached the get out they were told I was sat by the road waiting. As soon as they arrived we got all the rescue kit we had an assessed the situation, the water didn't seem to be dropping at all. I knew the longer we left it in there the more damage would be coursed to the boat.
Under closer inspection we realized that one of the trees pointing straight up in the middle was actually very alive and was holding the boat in place, the nose of the boat wasn't actually pinned on the rock we were stood on. After attempting to move/ break the tree we realized it wasn't budging! We came up with a radical plan...
Using me as a live bait I waded into the water and used a tree branch to anchor under the nose of the boat and lever it up. This moved the boat and made the nose come above the surface of the water. Using group strength we then pulled the nose upward and out of the water, after much struggling it finally came free! To my relief the boat was undamaged, and in one piece!
Great first taste of the Oetz river! Great section, highly recommend it! I put together this raw footage of the trip, enjoy!
https://vimeo.com/78372939
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