Dropping the Mariman Waterfall in Pucon, Chile Kayak Chile For the past 2 years I have had the privalige of photographing and documenting the Mariman Extreme White Water Race on the Rio Trancura in Pucon, Chile. It seems strange sitting at my desk with my crutches next to me unable to put any weight on my ankle.  The snow is falling and as I look through the photos from last year, I yearn to be back in Chile.  So below is an article that I wrote and was published in The Paddler, British Canoeing’s kayaking publication. I look forward to hearing back from this years event and ..read more

  Kayaking the Pians Rapid on the River Sanna British Canoeing Leadership Awards Here in the Kayak School Arlberg one of our core principles is that whoever works for us MUST be qualified.  For us it is hard to understand, why there is no professional kayaking guide, instructor or coach qualification for whitewater kayaking.  It is unheard of having no professional qualification in mountain sports, you would expect your ski instructor to have a qualification to teach skiing or guide off-piste and of course if you are paying for someone to guide you in the mountains then again y ..read more

  Kayaking the Pians Rapid on the River Sanna In the next 3 part series of blogs of Austria we will be looking back at a great season here at Base Arlberg in the western part of Austria. Kayaking on the River Sanna We first start with the Autumn of 2023 and what a great one it was! Class 3-4 Kayaking Courses Toomas came back to kayak with us from Estonia on our Classic Austria Class 3-4 kayaking course.  Toomas first came to our kayak school on the Zero to Hero Beginners Kayaking course and has been returning ever since on courses such as our Intensive Improvers Class 2-3 and Intro ..read more

  Kayaking the Pians Rapid on the River Sanna In the next 3 part series of blogs of Austria we will be looking back at a great season here at Base Arlberg in the western part of Austria. Kayaking on the River Sanna We first start with the Autumn of 2023 and what a great one it was! Class 3-4 Kayaking Courses Toomas came back to kayak with us from Estonia on our Classic Austria Class 3-4 kayaking course.  Toomas first came to our kayak school on the Zero to Hero Beginners Kayaking course and has been returning ever since on courses such as our Intensive Improvers Class 2-3 and Intro ..read more

  Kayak Courses on the Soca River in Slovenia It was 2019 since we were last in the Soča Valley kayaking and exploring.  It was certainly not because we did not want to visit and run kayaking courses there, our hands were tied behind our backs with all the travel restrictions happening around not only Europe but the world because of the Coronavirus. However, thankfully, this was now behind us and in the Spring of 2023 we headed back to the Soca Valley to run some intensive coaching courses.  A few things had changed since we last visited, Aleš was no longer renting out his apar ..read more

  Autumn Kayaking around Base Arlberg, Austria Happy Faces at the take-out of the River Lech. As we started to move from Summer to Autumn, we were making the most of the River Inn and Sanna.  With guests coming from across the pond in the United States and also from all over Europe we were still full on coaching and leading the rivers around Base Arlberg.  The Engadine Region of Switzerland is just over an hours drive to get to, which opens up 4 sections on the River Inn, including one of our favourite sections of river in the world - the Giarsun Gorge of the River Inn. Though ..read more

  Following the success of the previous years Arc’teryx Introduction to Whitewater Summer Session, Kayak School Arlberg was asked to put together another day of adventures in 2022. So rather than going back onto Lake Verwall, we made a plan to make a journey on the rapids of the River Inn in western Austria. The River Inn is one of the longest rivers coming from the Alps, it is has the most volume of whitewater than any other river in the Alps.  Starting just up from St.Moritz in the Engadine region of Switzerland it carves its way through the valley to form deep gorges and some fan ..read more

  Kayak Courses on the Schuls Gorge in Switzerland. Spring was upon us and as we transitioned from skiing to kayaking our season started with a bang. We put together a Leadership plus Safety and Rescue course for Bobby. He was keen to learn more and improve his leading in whitewater as he is a core member of his kayaking club in Holland. Water levels in Spring are at their optimum for the higher reaches in and around Base Arlberg and we were spending time on the various sections of our home rivers: the Rosanna and Lech on our Intro to Creeking course. The journey over to the River Lech i ..read more

  Spring was upon us and as we transitioned from skiing to kayaking our season started with a bang. We put together a Leadership plus Safety and Rescue course for Bobby. He was keen to learn more and improve his leading in whitewater as he is a core member of his kayaking club in Holland. Water levels in Spring are at their optimum for the higher reaches in and around Base Arlberg and we were spending time on the various sections of our home rivers: the Rosanna and Lech on our Intro to Creeking course. The journey over to the River Lech is stunning, as we drive over 2 passes high above t ..read more

  It can be quite difficult to choose which kayaking course, Kayak School or Guided Trip is best suited to you. So here are a few things to consider and maybe ask before booking a course or trip with a Kayak School. Qualifications This may sound like it is self explanatory but you will be surprised how many people working in a Kayak School have no qualifications. For instance here in Austria there are no professional kayaking instructor qualification so we have to do our qualifications outside with another countries organising body, which is British Canoeing. It is extremely important for ..read more