2023 LCC Alpine Paddling Holiday
Day 08 Friday: Lower Guisane Harry R
After the Upper Guisane, the A team decided to tackle the Lower Guisane. Keith and Roy led the way for Harry, Lewis and Ollie.
The first crux of the river, “Shelob’s Weir”, was no trouble for such a talented team. In lower water, it was easy to navigate but with a syphon on the left and large pinning boulders on the right there was still some considerable risk. All this in the dark under a major bridge over the river for the winter skiers. The river continued with long sections of technical rapids, plenty of pin potential, but no trouble for the A team.
One of the highlights of the river was the slide next to the major weir (the French are very considerate with constructing infrastructure and all access points and dangers are clearly marked for visiting and local paddlers. Keith happily paddled ahead to capture our enjoyment on his camera as we flew down, big smiles all around.
After some more tricky grade 4 rapids, the A team emerged into Briançon, not a swim in site (thankfully, we didn’t have a certain somebody in a Ripper with us).
All in all, a brilliant section of River ticked off the list.
