The European Scene, an update

It has not been long after the initial introduction, that we got aware of more packrafters in Europe. Also, people seemed to be motivated to do new stuff with their boats. We shall have that acknowledged :)

Newcomers and new discoveries

Photo by Mikkel Bølstad

There is the Romanian in Bulgaria. Radu Stanimir from Bukarest went for a Balkan adventure by bike and boat and wanted to cross a lake in Albania (75km). How that went?

Norwegians like Mikkel Bølstad don't have a need to go anywhere else. They have the wilderness around their corner. Mikkel's ventures look proffessional. On the other hand, he just upgraded from an Airmatress ;) True packrafting spirit! Picture to the right. See also the stunning video further below.

Simon Taylor and Isabelle Bedard, a well travelled couple from the UK and Canada, went to Hornstrandir, by far my favourite part of Iceland! Hornstrandir is an abandoned and now deserted peninsula with fjords and plateau mountains. So magical, I went there twice (back in early 90ies). Nice to see, it has not changed. Packrafts make a good variation on crossing it the inlets! Picture to the right courtesy of Simon Taylor.

• Thanks to Matt, the first GDR Raft made it to the UK. Pictures or reports to follow on our blog.

• Last but not least, we have the Dutch Marten and Tommy. Those two guys are inventiv in their variation of journeys (Zambesi, but non packraft) respectively their choice of equipment (a army raft as a packraft).

• And we don't forget the less public fellows! Two of them in Finland and one from Belgium at least they checked in here.

The most beautyfull video about packrafting I have seen. This is packrafting! By Mikkel Bølstad.

Renewal

Reiner had a stroll before lunch. What else with you can claim to have hiked and paddled before noon? No need for fancy stuff here. The old inflatable (B73) redefined as a packraft worked fine.

Holger entered the next level Rollerboating. His 'fleets', inline skates with pneumatic tires, allowed him to go off the pavment or at least on very rugged one. The type of boat comes second here ;)

A Scot in Norway: David went to Isle of Senja and the Finnmark region in northern Scandinavia.
A detailed trip report and many nice photos to see on his Blog.

Gerhard called his latest trip N2N: Narvik to Nikkaluokta. A journey from Norway to sweden, from sea to lake. Over the mountain and over the border. Great idea.

The Dresden crowd around myself made it to a relativly closeby, yet fasinating destination. A gentle round in Czech Republique with gorges no kayaker can go ;)

And Joery stinks.

Update on paddling folks

The wave to the river, CZ

Max Bruckner from Stoneriders.at is one of the few dedicated water sport enthusiats who takes on Packrafting. I met Max in June this year on the Salza in Austria. 

He actually introduced the Facebook Groupe 'Packrafting in Europa' before this site went live, but then announced me as the administrator ;) Not happend much there, and I still opt to join here, on this site, there is nothing to hide :) However, if you feel more comfortable in the FB enviroment you are welcome there. 

Lastly, see the learning effect of an artifical canal (slalom watercourse) with tips and techniques on whitewater for packrafts. 

We will see harder stuff in packrafts in the future I guess once Kayker took it on, but harkenig back to the first example of this collection, take care if you are new to paddling (like most packrafters). I am heading to Balkan now too, and I know that lake in Albania Radu talked about from earlier trips. Safe boating everyone.