Lofer Rodeo - September 2022

Posted By: Marc Niesen Published: 10/10/2022

Beginning of September is something special. The Lofer rodeo in Austria is one of the nicest paddle events in the Alps. You get to see all of your friend, do some laps on the Lofer gorge and just have your best time out there!

We arrived Friday evening and went straight to the river, did a few laps and then had some beers on the riverbank with some old friends.

Saturday was race day! I made it through the time trials straight to the boatercross and had 3 pretty funny, chaotic and exhausting heats. Overall I was happy with my performance, but that’s not what we came for. Later that day, there was a duo race! I paddled with a friend of mine and the whole race was just so much fun to watch! After the submarine/ mystery move down the ramp, we gave everything and finished 5th place, which was pretty solid, because we’ve never sat in a boat together before.

After that we had some joy runs down the gorge, water levels rose pretty much over the last two days so I was a little nervous because all the moves just got way bigger than the day before. Two beatdowns later, we all made it to the takeout, pretty hyped for the party!

So, we drove to the campspot, everybody was having a good time, cooking, drinking and just hanging out. At the party, unfortunately, no one of us won a new boat, or a paddle, or at least anything, but we had a great time.

The next day we did one hung over lap on the slalom course and went straight back home.