Team Riverbug.me

In Austria Bach roughly translates to brook, or creek. The Alps have numerous Bäche (Bach in plural form)… Some are bigger than others and some only run after rain or in spring or summer depending on whether they’re glacier fed.
For our first blog, I’d like to introduce some of the creeks near our house in Wildalpen, Austria. These are some of my ‘Hausbäche’.
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SALZA: WW I – III
The Salza is one of the Alps’ most beautiful and unspoilt waterways. Technically the Salza is a small river rather than ‘Bach’, but I start with the Salza because it’s great fun and only a stone throw from our house.
You can choose your desired length and grade of river section from the many designated access points all along the river. My favorite is the ‘Slalom Strecke’ direct in Wilalpen. There are 3 play spots and numerous eddies to practice your moves all within 300 m. This is where we run our beginner riverbug courses.

HINTERWILDALPENBACH: WW III – IV
To help prevent erosion the local council put weirs all the way down the Hinterwildalpenbach and created the ideal ‘boof practice’ run. The highest step is around 3 meters and some have strong re-circulations at certain flows, so be sure to make your boof! The run is only a few hundred meters, so it’s worth hiking up for more runs while you’re already wet. There’s a great little Sauna up from the put-in, be sure check the opening hours before your run…

ROTHBACH: WW IV – V
If you’re lucky enough to catch the Rothbach at a good flow you’re in for an awesome adventure that involves an hour or so hiking to access a narrow canyon containing some sick bedrock slides and waterfalls. Water level is crucial. Too much and it gets real scary, too little and you’ll be scraping your way down the bedrock.. Going with someone who knows the run will save you time and the risk of scrambling around in the canyon to scout the big ones.

LAUSSABACH (Laussafall): WW III – IV
As a training waterfall they don’t come much better than the 6m Laussafall. The standard put-in is a seal launch just above the falls to avoid the not very nice looking lead-in drop. The fall itself is pretty easy, and about the right height to practice your ‘freestlye’, and we did the world’s first riverbug back-flip here.

ENNS (Kummerbrücke section): WW IV – V
The Enns is the main drainage in our area. It’s average natural flow is between 40 – 100 cubic meters / sec, but before the Kummerbrücke most of that is diverted for hydro-electric generation. What remains leaves this section of the Enns with technical whitewater of a ‘creeky’ nature. Low flows are great for riverbugging but probably not as much fun in a kayak, and if you catch a good flow (around 30 cm/s) you’re in for some excellent class 4+ boating.

So… That’s some of what’s on offer in and around Wildalpen, Austria – well worth the look if you’re in the area.
Cheers
Don

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