Meet our team

We are extremely proud of our Team here at Kayak School Arlberg.  Our Coaches, Instructors and Guides have a huge amount of experience around the world.  They have completed First Descents, exploring rivers where no-one has been before and opening sections or rivers that were deemed too hard or inaccessible.

All of our team are qualified through British Canoeing / Paddle UK, which is renowned as the world leader in white water kayaking qualifications and courses.

Some of our team have represented their countries but what makes them all stand out is their love of white water kayaking and seeing how our guests improve their technique and understanding of white water.

So whether you are a beginner, a class 2 kayaker or a seasoned veteran, our team will not only help you improve and have some great times with one of our fully qualified coaches on the river!

Steve Brooks

Steve lives, sleeps and eats kayaking!

When you get to kayak with Steve, you would never believe, that it wasn’t already his childhood dream to learn to kayak. Instead he was more or less forced to become a kayak instructor while serving in the British Army. What may have felt as a punishment for some, for Steve it opened a whole new world and within a few years he had said goodbye to his military career and headed off looking for adventure in the worlds best rivers!!

He has explored some of the most remote rivers in the world. From the deepest gorges in the Peruvian Andes, into the dense amazon jungle rivers of Ecuador, the big volume rivers of the Zambezi and Nile in Africa to the stunning rivers of the Himalayas in Nepal and India, Steve has been privileged to witness and share some amazing locations. His love for adventure combined with his drive and passion has made his expeditions hugely successful.

In 2013 Steve was awarded Canoe and Kayak UK magazines Adventurer of the Year and in 2014 he and Ute were followed by a film producer to cover their adventures which included a first descent in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in India. The film was shown throughout Germany, at the film festival in St.Anton am Arlberg, Austria and also at the prestigious Kendal Film Festival in the UK.

Steve has been instructing and coaching for over 2 decades and throughout this time he has continually strived to develop and update his coaching style and qualifications through British Canoeing. Steve has a great understanding of the needs of different levels and characters of kayakers and has an immense amount of patience!

Being able to instruct and teach at such a high level will only help you develop as a whitewater kayaking and can open a new chapter in your kayaking career!

Steve can teach in English, German and Spanish.

Ute Heppke

You may recognise Ute on many of Peak UK’s posters, photos and webpages!

She comes from one of Europe’s top kayaking destinations - and is still one of only few locals who kayak. One of the reasons, why not more people here have started kayaking is probably, that they have been warned by their grandparents and parents that the river is dangerous. Of course it was dangerous for them, since some of them used to spend their Summers up in the mountains and never learned how to swim.

But Ute has always been fascinated by whitewater and when she met Steve, she realised that this is her chance to learn how to paddle. The path to being able to paddle stress free and not having to worry about exiting her boat was long and sometimes the lessons learned were hard, but she kept on persevering and slowly but surely the swims became fewer and fewer and the smiles bigger and wider!!

Kayaking has transformed Ute’s life, from growing up in the mountains of St.Christoph am Arlberg where she just loved Winter, snow and skiing, she has progressed to be one of the leading female kayakers and coaches that Austria has.

Ute has spent the past 2 decades exploring some of the deepest, remotest rivers on the planet such as the Cola Canyon and Cotahuasi Canyon in Peru or the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. She has kayaked the big water of the White Nile in Uganda, plus 3 seasons of kayaking in the jungle of Ecuador to name but a few. However, it is in the Indian Himalayas kayaking the Zanskar Gorge in Ladakh, known as the Grand Canyon of the Himalayas, the Ganges and its tributaries in Uttarakhand, the Beas Gorge in the Kullu Valley and River Chandra in the tribal region of Lahaul that have made her kayaking resume so impressive. Together with Steve, Ute has also completed a First Descent down the River Uhl in Himachal Pradesh that has become one of her greatest personal achievements - so far!!

As a kayak instructor and coach you will be in safe hands. The knowledge she has personally gained through her adventures, travels and working around the world has made her a fantastic teacher. Her laid back style, charm, endless patience, knowledge and various methods of instructing, coaching and teaching are complemented perfectly by her modern, dynamic style of kayaking.

In the Winter, Ute spends her time in the mountains teaching skiing and off-piste guiding in the Arlberg region of Austria. She not only holds the ISIA ski and snowboard instructor awards but she has also gained her Ski Guide qualification from the Austrian Mountain Guide Association.

Ute can teach in German and English.

Toby Saxton

Toby is a fantastic person to have leading and coaching you.  His calmness and way of teaching is seriously impressive, be it making a certain move on a rapid or styling the line down the river, you will certainly feel confident following him or trying to repeat what he demonstrates.  Toby has been based in Austria for over 25 years and knows the area like the back of his hand.  What this means is that he will know what river has the perfect conditions and levels for the all of our guests he will be coaching or leading that day.

His laid back charm will make you feel at ease, whether it is your first time on the river or as an experienced kayaker sitting in an eddy above a tricky rapid.  He will talk you through it, in a way that just makes sense.  It will help calm your nerves and after you have styled the rapid you will see his huge smile beaming back at you!

As well as kayaking and guiding throughout Europe, Toby has kayaked and led expeditions in the Indian Himalayas and Morocco.

A qualified Paddle UK / British Canoeing Advanced White Water Leader, he has also represented Great Britain in Freestyle or as Toby like to say, old school rodeo!!

Toby coaches and leads in English and German.

Stanzin Tanfan

On the 11th of August 2023 we received the tragic news that our beloved Stanzin Tanfan died while kayaking on the Tsarap Chu River in his home in Ladakh, northern India. Stanzin was an amazing and humble human being. As a practicing Tibetan Buddhist he lived by those ancient values. One of them - refrain from taking life - was noticed by everyone who met him, since he didn’t kill any mosquitoes or horse flies but rescued bugs and insects that where in the river or in our water butts.

Stanzin had a huge impact on everyone he met and his legacy will live on and long.

He leaves behind a devastated wife and his young son of 3 years old, family both in Ladakh and Austria.

We made a Go Fund Me page so that everyone who wishes can donate to help his young family and for Norgyal to get the best education possible.  We would like to thank everyone who has donated and sent their recollections and stories about Stanzin.

If you would like to donate then please follow the Go Fund Me link.

If you would prefer to donate another way then please get in touch with us.