John Grace and Pat Keller head to Europe for the "Arnd Schaeftlein I Can Claim That Italy Tour" and the Teva Extreme Race in Valsesia, Italy. Part 1...The Verzasca River in Lavertezzo, Switzerland, and the Gronda and Sorba in Valsesia.
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Day 1
After an hour of searching for a "no-show" bag, we departed the Munich airport and were greeted by kayaking legend Arnd Schaeftlein, wet roads and rain. With the region having one of the driest winters in many years, rain was gladly accepted and was the saving grace of the next few days. We made our way to Arnd's hometown north east of Munich. From here, we would formulate out plan.
Hanging out at Arnd’s house
Grace looking through the Italy whitewater gudiebook
With news of 5 days of rain in the Alps, Grace decided to leave his bag behind, in hopes that it would arrive in Torino, and we got ready to head south over the Swiss Alps. It would be a 6-hour drive through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland before we would make it to our resting place in a small Swiss mountain village called Lavertezzo.
Leaving Arnd’s house to catch the rain
We were disappointed to pass through the Alps in the pitch dark, but anxious to get on the river.
Day 2
We woke up practically next to the put in of the Verzasca and were stunned by the beauty and ruggedness of the mountains surrounding us. Verzasca got its name because of its glass clear water; it was probably one of the clearest and vibrantly blue rivers we have ever paddled on.
An old Roman bridge over the Verzasca
The town of Lavertezzo
Another village near Lavertezzo
After a traditional German breakfast of muesli, we pack up camp and got ready for the river. We drove up to the middle section of Valverzasca and found it too low, so it would be the lower section of the Valverzasca for us. Here we met up with Timo Koester and Benny Herbruegger, whom we would travel with for the remainder of the trip.
The section of the river was filled with low granite tight, technical granite bedrock rapids. There was one sketchy fall that landed in a pocket and Pat was the only one willing to give it a go. There were stories of people circling in the pocket at the bottom for 45 minutes before being able to be rescued; it was definitely a sketchy rapid.
Grace and Pat scouting the sketchy rapid
Pat dropping in on the sketchy rapid
Pat in the sketchy rapid-good landing
Grace dropping in on the rapid after portaging
The Verzasca-river of glass
After 3 kilometers of great whitewater we hiked out and set up for a relaxing lunch, where we camped the night before. Lunch was filled with cured meats, delicious cheese, cowboy coffee, and most importantly, Augusteiner, arguable the best beer in the world.
Camp in Laveretzzo
Once our stomachs were full, it was decided that the next river to be run was in the Intragna valley called San Gioanni, which was on our way to Valsesia.
Traffic crawled as we made our way around Lake Maggiore, but we finally made it where we could make our way up the Intragnga valley.
Driving out of Laveretzzo
We drove a beautiful deep dense canyon to find the put in at a level way to low to run. Unlike the southern parts of the Alps, this valley only got a couple days of rain, which was not enough keep the rivers flowing. With a slight bit of disappointment, we got back in the car to make out way to Balmuccia, but not without stopping at the best Italian pizzeria ever, which is in the small town of Vocca.
The best pizzeria ever!
Once we had stuffed our faces with delicious pasta and pizza, we went the final 7 kilometers to Balmuccia, our resting place for the next 8 days.
Day 3
We woke up to yet again beautiful skies and warm weather. Today we would head up to one of the racecourses for the Teva Extreme race in Rassa, Valsesia. First on the list would be the Gronda, which flows into the Sorba in the small town of Rassa. We hiked up the road until we got just above the 20-footer, which was the best, rapid on the river. The Gronda was another tight, technical river with Granite waterfalls and beautiful scenery.
Hiking to the put in of the Gronda
Grace dropping in on the 20 footer
Pat on the 20 footer
Arnd on the Gonda
Timo on the Gronda
The bottom of the Gronda is the extreme racecourse for the Extreme games, which will be held on Saturday. This section of the river is probably on the coolest kayak course yet. The course is very clean, very technical, and runs through the middle of this quaint little town. A few practice runs would definitely be in order during the afternoon.
Part of the race course on the Gronda
Next on the list was a slide passing through the center of Rassa right before the confluence of the Gronda and Sorba.
Timo on the Sorba Slide
After a few practice runs on the Gronda, we made our way down a few more kilometers of the Sorba, which would be he final run of the day.
All were satisfied with the full of kayaking that was had. It was time to head to camp to make some grub, drink some wine, and fall asleep very early. Another full day of kayaking was ahead of us.
At the bottom of the Gronda
Pat hiking up from the river
