Late Autumn at Base Arlberg, Austria

Autumn Kayaking in Austria

We had another successful season here in Austria, though we had to be quite ? with the water levels in the rivers due to the lack of snow the previous Winter we still managed to run courses from the end of April through to mid-October.  This is the beauty of the Arlberg region of Austria, we have the longest white water kayaking season in the Alps!

We closed our doors of the kayak school but we certainly did not stop kayaking.  One of the great things about the Team at Kayak School Arlberg, we love to kayak!  Just because the season with our guests had finished, there was still water in the rivers.  Yes albeit low levels but hey, it is Autumn and when the sun was out it was just beautiful to be on the river with no-one around.

River Sanna

With the Sanna still working I decided to take my big SLR camera out with me to get some photos.  First up was Toby on the Sanna in the Spade Full House.  This is the latest creeking design from Spade, a local Austrian company based out of Osttirol.  It had been a while since Toby was last in one of our Spade Full Houses as he tends to paddle his beloved Waka Steeze.  He had a big grin on his face and he mentioned that he actually forgot how good the Full House was.  All I can say is that you can see the happiness in the photos I took of him on the Sanna.

We had to make a quick dash to England to sort out somethings there but within a week we were back home in the Arlberg and checking out the river levels.  The boys at Peak PS had sent us over some of the new female prototype equipment for 2026 to trial out and to get some photos both in Austria and in Chile.

Imst Gorge

This time with Ute, we headed to the Imst Gorge of the River Inn.
The sun was out and the colours were stunning.  We had turquoise blue water contrasting the Autumn colours of the trees that line the river along the way.  The weather was playing its part and was unseasonably warm, what a winner!!

The following few days we received snow all the way down to the valley but with warm temperatures it started to melt the snow and we had another day of snowmelt.  This was the third time we were kayaking snowmelt this season, July was unseasonably cold, we had a lot of snow in the mountains and we were wearing out dry suits all month, which was really abnormal.

The following few days we received snow all the way down to the valley but with warm temperatures it started to melt the snow and we had another day of snowmelt.  This was the third time we were kayaking snowmelt this season, July was unseasonably cold, we had a lot of snow in the mountains and we were wearing out dry suits all month, which was really abnormal.

With the river levels below our low water cut off, our eyes started to look up and it was time we started to head back into the mountains to get the legs into shape for the Winter.

Trekking in Austria

The trekking here in this part of Austria is outstanding, with a bit of snow high up in the mountains we first made a few treks into the forest and just above the tree line.  The needles from the larch trees were all a bright orange and with the sun pushing through every single needle was shining brightly.

Once the majority of the snow melted, we headed further up the mountains to get fantastic vistas of the peaks close and afar!  The Autumn weather really made for a clear sky and it for us old school play boaters it was just simply a KAVU (clear above, visibility unlimited)!

This is the beauty of living here in Austria, no matter what the season is we can make the most of a stable weather system to enjoy the rivers or mountains and if the weather does stay cold, wet or snowy, well, we have a fire at home so that when we do return wet it does not take us long to dry out and warm up!

Kayak School Arlberg Team of Instructors and Coaches

The Team from Kayak School Arlberg are currently all spread out.  Toby has just arrived back from Switzerland where he was bouldering with friends and is now in the ski shop.  Ute is at home waiting for more snow to arrive before she starts coaching and guiding with her ski school, Destination Winter and Steve is off to Chile to lead a trip from Santiago to Pucon via the stunning Rio Claro.