Italy-Austria
Mid-May was quite exciting… took off work quickly to go and play; Teva Extreme Outdoor Games in Italy was first… Northern Italy is surrounded by high peaks and lovely valleys where the wine yards grow and the rivers flow. The Teva event in Italy is not as commercialized as the one in Vail Colorado, yet it keeps its charm in a way and presurves the natural state of our sport and brings back the real reason why we all showed up. We were mainly there to have fun 
A lot of good boaters showed up, both men and women, and despite from the relax ambiance, the competition was fierce on the water. More and more slalom paddlers from all over Europe are starting to compete in Extreme kayaking as well: time for the athletes to push the limits further. The competition was divided in 3 days and 4 disciplines: Extreme descent, slalom, sprint and boatercross. 2 creeks were used for those races, with roads following the water: perfect for the locals to cheers us up!!!
I arrived late myself and didn’t get to see the stretch too much before the start. But I felt strong and dam happy to be out and play. With a bronze in each discipline, the smile easely followed me to Austria… here in the boatercross final…
Austria was hosting the European Championships in Rafting in Wildalpen this year. With over 20 women teams and 36 men teams, this was officially the biggest international competition of the kind. Well organised, good food and wicked bands at night: the event was a must! It was also incredible to see that the sport keeps on growing that much. Most of the teams who showed up were professional teams that have trained together for a while. Surprinsingly, our young Norwegian team actually did very well for the little time we had trained: bronze in Sprint, 5th in Slalom and 7th in Downriver…
This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Competition Reports.
