Kayaking has taken me to some amazing places over the years, but one location has always hung around right near the top of my "favourites" list.
A place which combines all my favourite things; great food, great wine and of course, great kayaking.
A land of soaring mountains, beautiful vistas and granite bedrock slides... the awesome Val Sesia!
Back in January i hatched a plan with my friend Amy Elworthy to head to Italy, cheap flights, dates off work and a great team of fellow paddlers all aligned and it was a trip i was looking forward to for a few months.
My trip didn't start smoothly mind you... After a few stressful weeks, and in fact a pretty stressful couple days leading up the trip for various reasons, i was absolutely delighted to arrive at the airport to be told "I am terribly sorry sir, but we've over sold the flight and we actually haven't got a seat for you!..."
Brilliant, nice one easy jet...
After making my disappointment well known to the management, i was left to hang around until everyone else had boarded in the hope another passenger failed to show up, which luckily was the case.
We arrived to low water levels in the valley which was the theme of the trip, but i didn't mind so much, the sunshine was warm and welcome after the long Scottish Winter.
One of the great things about this valley is the abundance of high quality whitewater, and although with levels as low as we had you may end up on the same run more than once, it's definitely not something to complain about! I'd say if you ever get tired of the crystal clear water and amazing mountain vistas, you probably need your head examined!
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| Amy dialling in the move on the Egua |
After a few days of paddling some of the classic runs in the area with a great team, levels had started to drop even further, which rather than causing distress, made some of us very excited...
The Sorba river is a classic of the area, with many paddlers heading to the Sorba slides to hone their technique on the relatively friendly pool drop slides that make that section a brilliant training ground. But further downstream a bigger challenge awaits.
The Sawmill cataract section is home to several major falls and slides, including a drop known as "the devils slide".
This infamous slide has a technical nature, as well as its intimidating height and length, which several key moves to not miss.
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| Scouting the slide |
After scouting the night before, knowing that my pal Jake, and a team had had a successful run, i agreed to team up with a couple of other British and a team of Irish kayakers i had met on the campsite.
I couldn't have asked for a better crew! The guys ability was matched with an off the wall level of psych and we were all in high spirits as we dropped into the canyon.
We scouted the first major drop of the canyon, a 15-20 footer with a sketchy run in, landing in a pool with a heinous undercut wall of the left. Despite the fact we were fairly certain that it would go, the inability to cover safety on the drop put us off and we opted to portage, plus we knew the main event was yet to come!
The next couple drops however did not disappoint! I super clean drop around 15-20 foot, which was almost an auto boof, followed by a smaller ledge drop, was enough to send psych levels of the chart and we arrived in the pool above the slide absolutely buzzing.
Setting safety on the slides is difficult, virtually impossible without a big team, ropes and canyoning gear, which of course, as kayakers we didn't have the luxury of. the line isn't as simple as it might look, the slide doglegs just over half way, with an undercut wall offering pinning danger should the move not quite work. For the first team members, there was cover from the others, but the final person down was always going to be effectively solo.
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| Phil drops in as i snap a shot and Davie is on safety |
Wanting to get it over with, Phil jumped in his boat and dropped in. A successful line saw him cheering and whooping in the pool at the bottom, joined in his cheering by a crowd of on lookers who had gathered on a natural viewing platform high above.
Cian was next, and despite a slight hiccup in the dog leg, also emerged un-scathed from the devils slide.
Now or never i thought! And hopped in my boat, followed by Davie. A quick nervous fist bump for good luck and i dropped in. Firing out the bottom half of the slide i was met with cheers and high fives from the lads and Davie shortly followed with what was probably the line of the day!
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| Me |
A little while passed and we joked that the others were calling to say goodbye to their loved ones, which, it transpired wasn't a million miles from the truth, but with a helpful pep talk from Adam, Eddy made another successful descent joining us at the bottom.
Adam dropped in next, and despite a clean line on the top half, pinned in the undercut...
With water pouring over his head, we raced toward him looking for a place to clamber out and assist, but all of a sudden, he was free, upside down and paddle knocked from a solid grip he descended the rest of the slide. Trying to roll he quickly drifted toward the undercut wall of the cave but avoided the hazard by a timely T rescue from Davie.
Despite a couple bumps, Adam was fine and we shared some more high fives. Fair play to him, that eddy at the top must've been the loneliest place in the world!
Pete Wood, who i had paddled with before on Dartmoor, was waiting at camp with another suggestion when we got back. Ticino.
Levels had continued to drop, and the forecast rain not materialised. So after the following day on a great run of the Sesia gorge, we hopped the border and headed to the idilic Val Verzasca. You might recognise the dam in the lower valley from a James Bond movie!
The Verzasca was also low, but still offered a fantastic run and the turquoise water and sunshine made the change of scenery that much more welcome.
We had planned on a couple days there, but low water and a change of circumstance meant we headed back that evening.
The next day was the day of the Val Sesia river festival race, with a party in the evening. So we spent it on one final lap of the Sesia gorge in the morning. Due to a communication breakdown, my boat and kit headed back to the campsite, whilst me and my camera headed to a rapidly rising Egua with the Irish team.
I didn't mind too much though, enjoying the opportunity to focus on taking photos.
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| Sometimes only a reverse freewheel will do! |
My final evening was spent dancing, drinking and generally having fun with the amazing folk i'd spent the last nine days with.
One of the things I'm continually struck by, is how lucky i am to be involved in a sport with such amazing people, like minded, liberal, and all with a passion for the incredible locations kayaking takes us. This trip really highlighted that for me again, and the trip was an opportunity to spend time with some great friends and make new ones! A huge thanks to all of you amazing people!
(Big thanks to Matty Nicolas for the devils slide photos)
