Following the success of the previous years Arc’teryx Introduction to Whitewater Summer Session, Kayak School Arlberg was asked to put together another day of adventures in 2022.

So rather than going back onto Lake Verwall, we made a plan to make a journey on the rapids of the River Inn in western Austria.

The River Inn is one of the longest rivers coming from the Alps, it is has the most volume of whitewater than any other river in the Alps. Starting just up from St.Moritz in the Engadine region of Switzerland it carves its way through the valley to form deep gorges and some fantastic whitewater on sections such as the Brail, Giarsun, Ardez and Schuls Gorges before making its way across the border and into Austria. Here it goes through Gorges such as the Finstermuenz, Toesens, the Shoot, Landeck Gorge before mellowing out until it gets to Imst and makes its final statement of BIG volume whitewater before it flows out of the Inn valley, past Innsbruck and into Bavaria, Germany and finally the Danube!

Our plan was to use mini-rafts or power rafts to make a journey from Mils to Haiming. Our 2022 season had been full on and so we had to offer the Arc’teryx Session at the end of September and though it can be quite cold in St.Anton at that time, further down the valley it is a least 5 degrees warmer!! Again within a few days of the session being advertised on Arc’teryx St.Anton’s social media sites it was fully booked and so on 29th September we met everyone by the river in the village of Mils.

What was different this year, was that we had a very mixed group with regards to where they live. Our first Arc’teryx Summer Session participants were people living and working in St.Anton am Arlberg. However, this year we had people coming from Innsbruck, Zurich, a couple of local St.Anton residents and even 3 people from Canada!

We kitted everyone out with their equipment that would be needed for a day on the river and then Steve went about giving a full safety brief and information about how to paddle and navigate these small power rafts. Each raft had 3 people in it, with 2 being the motor at the front and then one person behind to steer it and keep it on line. A final few questions over a hot drink and then we were on the river. The first part of the river was nice and mellow with just a few waves so that everyone could get used to not only working as a team but trying to keep the power rafts online and in the right direction. There were a couple of little rapids to get more of a feel before we finally reached Imst where we met up with Connie and Jacob for lunch and some hot drinks.

After lunch, Steve gave another brief about running rapids, keeping on line and hitting everything wave straight. Using drawings in the sand to explain everything we packed up and headed on downstream to the Imst Gorge of the River Inn.

The Imst Gorge section is the final piece of whitewater on the River Inn, before it mellows out and makes its meandering journey to Bavaria and finally the Danube. However, it maybe the last section but it certainly can pack a punch as the Imst Gorge is the BIGGEST volume of whitewater not only on the River Inn, but also in the whole of the Alps! The first couple of kilometres are mellow with fantastic scenery and then as the river makes a bend to the left and the river starts to get squeezed by the surrounding mountainside the first major rapid approaches and we get our first introduction to the big waves that will become a regular feature downstream!

With everyone punching through the waves, just one power raft halfway down caught a wave side on and flipped over! A quick rescue was made with the safety kayakers and after bringing the paddles back to the raft and sorting out the carnage we continued on downstream. Paddling through wave trains that never seemed to end, which was great fun and the smiles on everyones faces was so good to see. After each rapid the river flattened out a little and everyone could relax and just literally go with the flow!!

We passed the confluence of the River Oetz and with more water being brought into the River Inn the waves got bigger and the adrenaline higher. Each mini-raft team was now becoming more and more confident of not just making it down the rapids but keeping the line that the kayakers were giving out in front. Our final rapids by the Wall kept everyone concentrated and this set up everyting perfectly for the last wave and big hit. With everyone maintaining the line, punching the final wave perfectly we all cruised down to the take-out in in the village of Haiming.

Ute Heppke, kayak instructor and guide with Kayak School Arlberg.

The smiles were big, the stoke was high and it was a fantastic day on the river! We said our goodbyes and headed back to St.Anton and it was not long before photos and posts of the days adventure started hitting the social media sites! Over the next couple of days we received positive feedback about the day and that made us all happy. Let’s hope we can continue this alternative style of adventure here around Base Arlberg next year with the team at Arc’teryx St.Anton!

A big thanks to Jacob and Connie for helping to organise this event, the logistical support and some great photos. Also a big thank you goes to Derek “Bellie” Bell for letting us have the mini-rafts and paddles for the day.

Arc'teryx Summer Sessions - a journey down the River Inn, Austria