The moves on the course can be technically easy, the consiquences are still very high. There have been a number of people who have bitten off more than they can chew because the videos make it look easy and have put themselves in extremely dangerous situations. This rapid whether its high or low, is full of siphons. And the only safety before the event starts is your buddies paddling with you or people hanging around. You need to assume you're on your own!
For a lot of people it's a dream to take part in such an event, it was certainly one of mine, but now I've been lucky enough to take part in 4 of the 9 events that have been held. So for anyone who wants to know what it's like to compete at the Adidas Sickline, read on.
The journey always starts for us with a rather long drive. So with myself, Jessica, baby Isla and Calum, we high tailed it across Europe to the beautiful little ski town of Oetz. After a short nap upon arrival its always tradition to take the brisk early morning walk up to the Wellerbrucke to see what's new and to get psyched up for the day.
It's then time to wash away those tired travel weary eyes on some glacial world class whitewater! This year we booked a great little apartment right near the main carpark which was ideal. I've tried various options of accommodation over the years, its better to splash out and be comfortable, trust me.
The rest of the week leading up to the event for me consists of two training sessions a day, one bright and early the other mid afternoon with a nice chill out gap between, apart from the Thursday which is the day before the qualification, I always only do a morning session that day so I am nice and rested.
The Sickline is a finely oiled machine and always runs extremely smoothly thanks to the organizers, you really get what you pay for. After registering and getting your goodies on the Thursday, the next 3 evenings consist of delicious home cooked food and entertainment. On the Wednesday evening we headed up to the Aqua Dome, which is a fancy hot springs spa a little way up the valley. With a variety of hot springs and pools we soaked our sore muscles and even mucked about on the kids water slides.... had to be done.
I got up pretty early on race day, showered, did a little yoga and watched some of my training runs one last time before walking up to the course. This year I wasn't able to do the fitness training that I would have liked but I was confident in my skill level and abilities and hoped that a clean line would be enough.
Both race runs were pretty clean despite not my best Champions Killer run on my first I came out with two identical time of 1:31. This pushed my to 91st which is my worst result to date at first I was disappointed but this race is getting tougher and a lot of time needs to go into being fit for the qualifier section which after you've cleaned the class 4 is class 2 and flat which requires a lot of stamina to smash a good time. I was 2 seconds off the pace, and that's all it takes to miss out at the Sickline.
Luckily the Oetz valley is a fantastic place to be and it's hard to be glum for too long. After getting my complimentary sports massage and enjoying the next day of extremely tight racing it was time to start heading home. After packing up the night before we started our long journey home with some amazing memories.
I was extremely lucky to be able to share this experience with my wife and 3 month old daughter and it was so much fun having them with me. I also got to help a good friend tackle his fears and paddle part of the Sickline course.
I plan to be competing again next year and I'm planning to go all in, get the training done and put down the race times that I know I am capable of. I've realized that the Sickline has become more than just a race for me, those 3 minutes of racing are a very small part of a fantastic experience!
Lastly a big shout out to my sponsors Palm Equipment for supplying me with the best gear on the market, keeping me warm, dry and safe on the water. Escape Watersports for helping me out with the bits a pieces of kit I need and my newest supporter River Legacy, a charity committed to getting paddlers on British river by improving access. See you all on the water.
