Austria & More 2016: Day 10 Morning
Reinbach Falls was one of the things that first pulled me to the Eastern Alps, though admittedly, I didn't know they were in Italy. But there you go, you learn something new every day. And due to the fact that they are located in Italy, we added South Tirol to the boating destination list for this trip. Though to be honest, the boating that we experienced here definitely summed up to the least quality of the trip. Perhaps there is nicer stuff, but most of what we experienced was a little on the manky side with a few exceptions (Reinbach and Aurino). With that said, the scenery driving through the Dolimites was the best scenery… so it was worth the 1-2 hour detour if for no other reason than that!
The night prior we had decided to camp at the parking lot for the Reinbach. It was super convenient, up a less traveled road, and was directly next to the first falls which is occasionally run, so the white noise of the rain and the waterfall was splendid. Plus, it was an obvious place for our friend Thomas Dimkey from Germany to meet us as he was joining us for the remainder of the trip. Though, on that latter point, apparently it wasn't obvious enough as Thomas found the “main” unrunnable falls but didn't find us.
Awaking in the morning, we checked flows and found the flow to have dropped despite the rain. Flows were now on the minimum side. The previous night flows were high enough that you could boof without concern. Now, pencil was going to be the name of the game. While we stalled and waited for the sun to poke through the clouds as the weather report was promising, Jim went on a little hike and found himself a flush toilet in the middle of the woods thanks to a historical site nearby. Winning already and it wasn't even 9 am yet!
Once we motivated, we headed down for a final scout and to set up camera and safety. Taking turns, Jim ran first with an as expected perfect line. Thomas came second and ended up going over the handlebars. In hindsight I should have studied their lines on video. The difference between the two was Thomas was a boat width further right and melted off the launch pad and had more body movement than Jim did at the lip. As my turn comes, I enter the lead in rapid and eddy out above the lip of the drop. Boofing the first two in fine fashion I find myself a bit further right but decided it is good enough. The result was that I had a similar line to Thomas. Not a full over the handlebars, but a vertical entry for sure… plus in the moment, my focus left and I opened up. The result as I went deep was that something in my back pinched. As I surface and roll I feel some minor pain but nothing to distract or effect my line through the exit drop. I exit my boat on shore just below, and begin to set safety for Harry. I notice a ginger feeling when I step big. Harry comes and has a perfect line. I load my boat on my shoulder to climb up to the trail above and strain, again, doable though. However, after 50 feet of climbing as I step up onto the trail, something pinches worse and I crumble to the ground unable to use my core, my back in full spasm. As the group comes over, they end up carrying my boat out. I use paddles as crutches and slowly make my way back to the car. I lay down, take some strong pain killers and muscle relaxants, and take a nap, unable to stand without sever pain, while the guys go off and kayak an upper section on the Aurino which they reported sucked. As the evening wears on, my back thankfully begins to loosen a little. Still, the concern in my head that I may have just taken myself out of the rest of the trip… and the concern on Jim's face and lips that I need to go to the hospital. Perhaps a day of sleep will improve things for me… we will see. So we slept again at the same spot at the Reinbach. But first, the guys ran another lap on both the Schloss section of the Aurino that we ran the night before as well as the Reinbach Falls.
Thanks to Harald and Reiner Glanz and Jim Janney for sharing photos and for making the trip possible!
Last: Austria & More 2016: Day 9 Afternoon - Aurino (Schloss)
Next: Austria & More 2016: Day 11 Evening - Reinz (Lower)
Mi 0.0:
- First Falls (V+). The first falls needed more water to be runnable. I have heard it is run, but I honestly haven't seen any footage of it. But our friend Klaus said that his prior time there his group ran it so I believe him. It starts by plopping over a dam and then directly into the falls with a big curler on the right that I think you would want to launch off of. The whole thing is maybe 40 feet tall, the man made dam part is maybe 10, then 5 of gradient and then 25 of free fall again.
- Slide (IV+). There is a slide that leads you to the top of the falls. Just scout it before you run it, or most just put in below.
Boof (IV). A 4 or 5 foot tall boof with weird offset holes is the last thing you run before the falls. This would be hard to put in below. Buit if you are running the falls it shouldn't be a problem. Boof right of center and don't get stuck in the hole at the exit. I had a fun moment of getting surfed in that hole on my run. Maybe I should have put in above the slide to get some warm up strokes in!
- Upper Falls (V). The falls are four teirs though the first one is only 2 feet tall. But that one you want to be far right and driving right. The second tier you want to boof off of the flake far right, which results in a clear 6-8 foot drop. This then lands you above the big part which is maybe 25 feet tall. This you want to be right of center following the bulk of the water. If the water is low, don't over boof as the landing is a bit green so try to not take a stroke and let your bow drop. This lands you in a bog pothole. The exit is harder at higher flows as the hole gets stout. You want to be far left and have a little left angle to kick out away from the hole.
Lower Gorge (U). Do not venture further downstream. One or two runnable drops lead you around the corner into a walled out canyon with very large drops with the exit being unrunnable.
Some photos from google... First Gorge, Exit Gorge, and Confluence Gorge
Put-in / Take-out: Heading north (say from Bruneck) on SS621, heads towards Campo Tures Sand in Taufers. Just before you get to town turn right onto Via Wiesenhof. If you cross the Aurino, you went to far. Once you have turned right, you will cross the Aurino after 100 meters. Turn right just on the other side of the river. This road is called Str Moritzen but at some point turns into Via Acereto. You stay on it for 2.9 km, climbing steeply up the hill. Just before you cross the Reinbach, you will see a gravel parking lot on the right. This is the spot. The first falls is just 100 feet up the road. There are trails that follow the river down to the Upper Falls.
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