| Darin McQuoid | Blog | Reviews | Tutorials | River Directory |
Europe Tour 4: Valle Verzasca
We wrap up our time in Italy with a meal at the bottom of the Egua
River. Now it's time for another push, about four hours of driving to
get to the top of the Valle Verzasca in the Ticino region of
Switzerland. We arrive late and there are not a lot of camping options.
It's a good thing we arrive late in Sonogno though, as the most popular
place to camp is a trailhead where it seems to be ok to camp in a van
or a trailer, but not in a tent. It's really a bit of a gray area and
depends on your luck. Arriving late and rising early we have no
problems.Sonogno
is an incredible town, most of it is car free. Incredible old
buildings, exactly what I'd imagined when thinking of the Swiss Alps.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 70mm
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 19mm
We
walked around town for half an hour, waiting for a restaurant to open.
Once that opened we fueled ourselves with cafe and croissants, then
headed downstream to the Middle Verzasca. I took a lot of images of the
beautiful town and neglected to transfer them before reformatting my
memory card a couple weeks later. That can be the problem with using
two camera bodies and being a space cadet as I can be. The Verzasca is
well known for incredible water color, I was looking forward to
photographing this classic run. The middle starts under a bridge with
an incredible cataract upstream. A few of our group took the time to
walk up and run the bottom of the cascade.
Toni Prijon running a rapid just above the standard Middle Verzasca put-in.
Toni Prijon running a rapid just above the standard Middle Verzasca put-in.
Sony A6000, Sony 55-210mm @ 129mm
This river must get incredibly high, just look at the scour line and riverbed. Truly an incredible place, Toni Prijon soaks it in.
Sony A6000, Sony 55-210mm @ 55mm
Water quality on the Verzasca living up to a well deserved reputation; Gerhard Braune.
Sony A6000, Sony 55-210mm @ 132mm
The Middle Verzasca is all about boulder gardens, Gerhard Braune lines up the first one.
Sony A6000, Sony 55-210mm @ 59mm
Gerhard Braune and Toni Prijon making moves through the same boulder garden.
Sony A6000, Sony 55-210mm @ 123mm
Just a little ways downstream we hop out for a scout as we don't know the run and things are pretty blind and very photogenic. Rok Sribar.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 42mm
A different move in the same rapid, there were a variety of lines to take. Toni Prijon.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 27mm
After our scout the river mellowed out
for a while and we enjoyed cruising some nice rapids, Rok Sribar lines
up for a nice surf wave.
Sony A600, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 70mm
A quick scout for a ledge as the action picks up again and Gerhard Braune boofs.
Sony A6000, Samyang 12mm f/2
The Middle Verzsaca is an impressive combination of easy access, scenery and whitewater. Rok Sribar and Toni Prijon.
Sony A6000, Samyang 12mm f/2
High quality boulder gardens are the norm, it feels like we have perfect flows, Gerhard Braune lines up another boof.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 68mm
Toni Prijon looks focused as he lines up to clear a big hole in the little Curve 2.5.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 26mm
Downstream a group is scouting a more much channelized rapid, and we opt to follow someone who just got done scouting. Toni's face is an accurate description of how we feel about the Verzasca.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 16mm
At
the end of the Middle Verzasca is Lucifer's Slide. As it's harder than
anything else on the Middle it doesn't get run too often. Initially our
group
was split on running it. Rok and I were all about it, it's a very
California styled feature; big, powerful, deep and minimal hazard, just
a high chance of coming out upside down.
Rok Sribar gives Lucifer's Slide a go.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 41mm
The author decides to give it a chance. Lucifer's slide is one of those rapids where a foot in the entrance makes all the difference, and here I'm already too far left.
The author shows solid style!
After watching us Gerhard Braune learned from out mistakes and styled it.
Lucifer's Slide is the typical take-out for the Middle Verzasca, but we wanted to run the most photographed rapid in Europe, which is just below an infamous waterfall with a cave. The rapid is known as The Snail and has an incredible look to it. Toni Prijon seal launches in.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 16mm
What a crazy slot and bedrock, Toni Prijon gets high up the wall at our healthy flow.
Sony A6000, Sony 55-210mm @ 126mm
We find an easy way to walk back up on the right bank and run several laps through the Snail, it's incredibly fun.
Sony A6000, Samyang 12mm f/2
Downstream are a few nice rapids before one of the most amazing bridges in the world, what an incredible take out.
Sony A6000, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 @ 16mm
Finishing
the Verzasca we're out of time. The whirlwind tour has come to and end,
now we just have a long drive back to Germany, stuck in weekend tourist
traffic but with many a view on the return home. This brief taste of
the area was just enough to make me want more!
Whitewater photography always takes a toll on equipment, Nikon Polarizer II explaining why I was getting some low contrast shots and having trouble auto-focusing.
