You only get one chance to start your season, and this year, the flows were calling for a trip to Val Sesia in Italy. I’ve been to this valley a couple of times in past seasons, and 2023 provided some amazing days on the river, from cruising laps on the Egua to paddling numerous laps on the Landwasser waterfall. Although I had already experienced high and low flows, there was always one section left to be done: The Sorba, better known for the infamous Devil’s Slide.
In 2023, we tried to paddle the two lead-up waterfalls and then decide on the slide once we were there, but we were quickly turned around when there was way more water than what was needed, leaving us hiking our boats back up the steep cliff face. Which brings us to this season.
John and I left our home in Ötztal because of the cold weather and snow to head over to Val Sesia, hoping for warmer weather and better flows. However, we were met with the same snow-capped mountains and cold weather. That did not stop us from putting on our gear and heading to the river. After all, I had my new ReactR to try. As the levels were fairly low, we decided to go down the Lower Sermenza for a warm-up before deciding what to do for the rest of the day. After getting off a fun lap, we decided to head up to the Devil’s Slide and check it out.
The flows looked good, so we geared up a little bit upstream from the first waterfall and headed down to see what we could get. We paddled roughly 20 minutes down some fun smaller rapids before approaching the start of the waterfalls.
The first waterfall is a 5-meter drop with a slightly tricky lead-in. You have to slide down a narrow chute while keeping your bow straight so that you can line up the main part of the drop, which makes a sharp 90-degree turn. You have to make sure your bow gets up and above the pile made by the wall, turn your boat, and keep it balanced all at the same time—a lot to figure out in a short amount of time! Fortunately, we all had a good line down it, so it was now on to the second drop.
The second waterfall is definitely the easiest of the three; a beautiful 4-meter drop with a clean lead-in. As long as you land facing right, you will skip away and into the pool above the Devil’s Slide. After everyone successfully made it to the bottom of the first two drops, we got out and started to make a plan about the best way to run the slide.
What makes the slide difficult is that roughly three-quarters of the way down, there is a hole with a pocket on the left side. After clearing the hole, it falls down to the right into a wall where Paul managed to get himself pinned last year. Luckily, he used his intuition to free himself and carry on down the slide to the pool at the bottom. After some discussion, the safety plan was made. We would run it in pairs while the others set safety above the pocket and grabbed the camera to film.
Alec and Bren went first. Alec had a super clean line through, and Bren got a little caught up in the pocket but saved it and finished the slide backwards. Now, it was time for Paul and me to get ready. One last look and a quick warm-up of the shoulders, and I was ready for it. A slide that I had been wanting to paddle for the last 3 years was right in front of me. The first reconnect sent me up in the air and slightly sideways, but I managed to hold on to it. I cleared the hole and dropped into the last part to see it through to the pool at the bottom. I was stoked! Now it was Paul’s turn for redemption, and he got it with one of the cleanest lines I have seen down it!
With all four of us at the bottom, we could all share the excitement that we had successfully paddled all three drops of the section. We then waited for the rest of the crew to walk around the slide and meet us at the bottom. Once we were all together, we continued our way down the river to the take-out, enjoying every little move we could find and concluding that this was a great way to start the season!