"Noetztal" - by Bren Orton

When Bren asked us if we would like to support his latest film project, we didn't have to think twice. He has lived in Innsbruck for several years and has grown quite fond of the Ötztaler Ache during this time. In this guest post, he describes how he experienced the flood at the end of August 2023, which led to the cancellation of the OETZ TROPHY. In his video, he dispels the persistent prejudice that the Ötztaler Ache is ruined. Quite the opposite: it is more alive than ever before!

Bren writes about the making of his film:

We have some good rivers in the UK, some very good rivers in fact... but it has to rain - a lot of rain - to keep them running. The dry spells between rains always drove me mad as an impatient, kayak-loving kid. Finding out that there are places where the rivers are always running was like an epiphany. And so the impatient, kayak-loving adult found himself in the Ötztal.

It's great! In the summer months, you can set your watch by the rise in the water level. A few hours after the heat of the day hits the glacier up in the valley, the meltwater reaches the river and brings it to life. You can kayak every day and it's not only reliable, but incredibly beautiful, powerful and dynamic. 

On the more than 60 kilometers of the Ötztaler Ache you will find kayak routes of all levels of difficulty. Most of them are continuous, blocked rapids, but there are also some clean, defined sections, for example on the Wellerbrücken stretch. If you want to learn to kayak better, this is probably one of the best places in the world to do so. I myself have also become so much better since living in Innsbruck and therefore very close to the Ötztaler Ache. I have spent countless hours learning how their rapids work and how to work with them. It feels strange to say this, but for a while the Ötztaler Ache was the biggest constant in my life. No matter what happened during the year, at some point I was back in Ötztal, riding the lines I had grown so fond of and having a great time with my friends.

At least that's how it was before a hundred-year flood rushed through the valley and changed the river forever. To be honest, witnessing something like that was pretty exciting. It was raining so hard and the road into Ötztal was closed because the river had swept parts of it away. So we only found out what was really happening in Ötztal from friends and raft guides who were there. Every new WhatsApp picture sparked a discussion among my flatmates about which stones had moved where and how the spots would change. In the end, there was only one way to find out: wait until the water had gone down and the road had been repaired and then go and see for yourself.

The Weller Bridge is the first WW V route in the valley coming from below and therefore the one we were able to visit first. It had completely changed and every single section was new and different, but it was still without a doubt a challenging WW IV - V course that appealed to me. I rode the OETZ TROPHY course a few times and was relieved to find that it was still a great rapid. Unfortunately, we still had too much water for the section above the Weller Bridge.

Adrian [Mattern, note] and I rode up to our favorite route, the Mittlere Ötz, holding our thumbs and holding our breath. We hoped so much that the flood hadn't destroyed the route. It took a while to work our way down the river the first time and there were definitely a few rocks in the way, but we actually found the route better overall than before the flood. It's cleaner, with more defined spots and deeper channels.

I told people everywhere that the river was fine and navigable after the flood. But unfortunately, the consensus among many people seemed to be that the routes had been destroyed and that a visit to the Ötztaler Ache was not worthwhile - even though they hadn't even been on it themselves after the flood. That triggered something in me. I rounded up a few friends and together we spent ten days researching and documenting the changes on the routes and ultimately showing everyone how wrong they were.

Kayaking and making films are my mouthpiece and the result is the short film "Noetztal".

Thanks to all my friends for a great time riding and filming the new Rapids. Thanks to Olaf Obsommer, Pistyl Productions and Simon Kuprian for the additional footage.

This video was supported by Source To Sea, thanks for the gas money!

See you at the river,
Bren Orton