Austria is renowned for world-class whitewater kayaking and hosting the Extreme Kayaking World Championships. However, big waterfall kayaking is rare, with the Salza waterfall being a notable exception.
In 2014, Lukas Strobl made the first descent of the 83ft Salza waterfall with a very memorable line as he hit the centre-line kicker, sending him flying; luckily, he walked away with only bruised ribs. A few months later, Daniel Egger completed a cleaner, second descent. Due to a dam upstream, the waterfall only runs after heavy rainfall and has been kayakable just five times in the past decade, with no attempts until autumn 2024.
I’d been seeking an 80ft drop for a while and remembered the Salza waterfall from watching a video of Lukas and Daniel back in 2021, but as it needed a huge amount of rainfall and I wasn’t sure where it was exactly, I guess it never really crossed my mind to run it. When I saw the heavy rain forecast for Austria ahead of Lofer Rodeo, it sparked the notion that there was a possibility the elusive Salza waterfall would run! I started reaching out to friends to gather information on the waterfall’s conditions. After some back-and-forth, I found the location and learned that it was almost impossible to know if the dam would release without checking in person.
Andy Kettlewell and I decided to head to Lofer Rodeo first, enjoying a high-water lap down Devil’s Gorge on the Saalach. Motivated by this, we made the plan to drive early the next day and see for ourselves whether or not the drop was flowing. After a road closure due to snow, we found a detour and arrived at the dam, where workers confirmed that the heavy rain had caused the dam to overflow and that it would be releasing for the next two days. I was stoked, but I’m not sure my excitement was matched by the three workers standing in the pouring rain…
Shortly after arriving, I got a call from Daniel Egger, who offered to guide us to the waterfall and gave us some useful information regarding getting to the top and the best places to get in my boat. The next challenge was to rally a crew for safety and filming; as all my mates had just spent the last three days in the cold and wet weather, it was hard to convince them to spend another two hours out there to watch me kayaking for thirty seconds. Luckily, there was a group of boys heading over this way who agreed to help us out with the safety and media.
While we waited for the crew to arrive, Andy and I headed up to the drop for another look, this time taking our kayaks so we could cross the river and hike up the path to the lip of the waterfall. Once we got there, we realised how much more water there was in the river compared to previous descents, that the line looked pushier, and the options were limited on places to launch from. In normal conditions, this gorge is used for canyoning, so there was a small, steep path leading to the river and, at the bottom, a small pothole only 20 meters from the lip, which would have to make do as a launch spot.
Once the crew arrived, I briefed them on the plan, taking them through safety scenarios and what role everyone would play. Along with making sure everyone was in the right spot, we had to make sure that there would be a clear line of communication between me and the rest of the team to make sure that everyone was ready before I paddled the drop.
Another hour went by, running through the line in my head and discussing the best option for a successful descent with the crew. The trickiest part was navigating the lead-in, where I had to avoid getting pushed to the middle, which could lead to a shallow landing or a huge boof off the kicker, similar to the first descent. After visualising for a short while and making sure I was confident on the line, I started to head down to the river to get in my boat. Once I was in, it was a waiting game as we had to make sure everyone was ready; it might have only been a minute, but it felt much longer, and then I got the signal to go.
As I peeled out, I got a sense of calm that I was ready for this drop; the water on the lip was pushing in all directions and bouncing off the walls, but the ReactR was stable and free in these tough conditions. As my bow started to drop over the falls, I placed my right blade in as I was going over the falls to keep my balance and just held that position for as long as possible, staring down the bottom of the drop; it was an awesome feeling! On impact, my paddle got ripped from my hand, so I had to retreat to the hand roll, which was pretty tricky in the pool because the water was exploding from everywhere, but after being thrown around a bit, I got my balance and could celebrate my successful descent of the Salza waterfall.