Tyrol Combo

Oct 16, 2011

Probably Tyrol is the most famous part of Austria and the Alps. Together with the newest LevelSix addition Anton Lehner I spent a couple of days in Tyrol and enjoyed its diversity. You'll find everything from steep creeks like Rissbach or Reinbach to big-water on the Isel. We started with some descents of Defereggenbach.

[caption id="attachment_6093" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Max scouting Defereggen Waterfall combo"][/caption]

The waterfall section is pretty short. It's just 2 miles but offers a really beautiful gorge which is only accessible by kayak.

[caption id="attachment_6095" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="...and take-off for Max at Defereggenbach"][/caption]

When we were finished at Defereggenbach we had a pretty cold night in the upper Defereggen valley...4750 ft // 1450m...temperatures around 32°F // 0°C. Early the next day we started to Italy to huck Reinbach Falls. The road to get there, the Staller Pass, is really crazy. It's a one way road which is regulated by traffic lights. Each direction is about 15 miles. Never thought such a system could work without regular accidents :-)

[caption id="attachment_6100" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Anton on the lip of Reinbach Falls"][/caption]

The Reinbach Falls had a low level but still were runnable. It is one of the few cool waterfall combos around the Alps. There are some smaller bed-rock rapids before the combo starts. The combo itself has a 10 ft entry drop, after that the main drop with 28 ft and last but not least a 10 footer.

[caption id="attachment_6102" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Max on the last drop of Reinbach"][/caption]

Fully stoaked by that awesome drops we headed back to Isel valley to run some bigger water. The Isel highly depends on the temperatures. As a glacier sourced river it rises while the daytime. There is a standard section with a cool cataract above. After scouting we had some really cool lines down the cataract...awesome!

[caption id="attachment_6099" align="aligncenter" width="179" caption="Max in the new Liquidlogic Stomper"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6096" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Max at Isel cataract section"][/caption]

You'll enter the cataract through a more or less narrow slot with some annoying small rocks in the approach. The whole rapid changes time after time, so take a closer look before you run. Most rocks are very sharp and definitively will hurt...

[caption id="attachment_6092" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Anton Lehner entering the Isel cataract"][/caption]