Rothbach - Erstbefahrung im Riverbug

Quelle: Allardice Don

Rothbach 04/06/2010

Living in Wildalpen I’d had my eye on the local creeks for some time, so when the chance came to check out the Rothbach I jumped at it. The fact that pretty much everyone I’d spoken to couldn’t imagine a riverbug doing steep and rocky class 4-5 gave me some extra motivation…

30 mins driving had us at the carpark, where my paddling buddies Flo and Georg rigged cam-strap harness to carry their kayaks and I packed my 7kg of riverbug into a dry pack and threw it over my shoulders for the hour or so walk in. At the put-in we each went though our ‘getting ready’ routines, which in my case involved assembling and inflating my riverbug until it resembled something capable of getting me downriver.

Foto rechts: Flo und Georg

Quelle: Don Allardice

A week of rain had the Rothbach flowing nicely and we were soon weaving our way through the warm-up rapids down to the first drops. The interesting thing about riverbugs is that they do some things easier than kayaks (like changing direction quickly, maneuvering in tight situations or catching nano-eddies), while other things (like carrying momentum, gliding over rocks and boofing) are not so easy and require different techniques. It’s great having your hands and feet free if you want to stop in tight places or push away from things.

Running the Rothbach’s bedrock drops and slides illustrated the main differences between kayaking and riverbugging. The kayaks took more direct lines and glided over things with speed, while the riverbug generally took it slower and used more lateral lines. One sketchy drop necessitated getting creative by grabbing a handful of rock to pull myself over a nice slide in order to get a sweeter line, and after seeing Georg go vertical, deep and have to roll at a 6m waterfall, I opted to go over backwards in order to keep to the surface. A weird sensation and total trust in your line, but it was all good!

Quelle: Don Allardice

Quelle: Don Allardice

The entire top section was absolutely awesome paddling, especially the 3er-combi slides. Flo was great – pointing out the lines and explaining what was coming up, keeping the scouting to a minimum and us moving efficiently through the difficult sections, which included two portages around a big slide drop and waterfall (both had ugly landings…). At one stage both Georg and myself got caught off-guard by a snotty little drop with a rock in it – the riverbug managed to bounce off around, but Georg ended up flipping sideways on it – coming up with half a paddle and skinned knuckles, making me glad for my 3mm of neoprene paddle-glove protection!

All to soon the riverbed opened and the gradient eased, leaving us a bumpy paddle/walk back to the car. The Rothbach is well worth the walk in if you strike the right flow – it’s definitely “riverbuggable” and I’ll be heading back up there again for sure!

Quelle: Don Allardice

Quelle: Don Allardice

Quelle: Don Allardice

Riverbug Demo, Rental and Tours are now available in Wildalpen, Steiermark. I am also looking for talented young paddlers to sponsor to help promote this new sport.

Check out my website for infos www.riverbug.me
Or drop me an email info@riverbug.me

Cheers Don