Whitewater Rafting in the Alps

greetings!!!

well its been a long time since we've wrote and a lots happened since then. we just got back from our ten day break yesterday and though we are exhausted, we are working hard on getting pictures up and writing entries to keep you all up to date. this entry will be dedicated to our whitewater rafting trip which was a little over two weeks ago. we originally were going to do a day trip to a vineyard where we would get to do some wine tasting and help out at the vineyard, but that was cancelled because the vineyard closed early due to weather. so instead they did a whitewater rafting trip on a river in the Alps. it was about a two hour drive if i remember correctly. when we arrived there they got right to business handing out wetsuits, helmets, and lifejackets. we definitely needed the wetsuits, the water was around 35 degrees farenheit so we probably would have died without them. anyways, they gave us our wetsuits and sent us into the changing rooms which were basically a couple sheds. putting on the wetsuits was a bit of a shock as they were still wet from their last use and ice cold. anyways once we got the wetsuits on and gathered up again outside they took us in groups in these rugged vans to the first launch site. after a brief safety talk we broke into groups and chose rafts and guides. our group was actually the first to go. when we got the the waters edge, our guide told us that the first thing we had to do was go into the water up to our necks. so we did. let me just say that we all instantly found all the holes in our suits. the suits worked well though and i only really had a noticeable hole in my butt. but it wasnt too bad. anyways we got into the river and went down the first part which was relatively calm, basically getting used to the commands and working together. there were a few mild rapids on that section, nothing too bad. the views were absolutely breathtaking though. the river flowed through the austrian alps and we had towering mountains around us. it would have been worth it just to ride down the river looking at the landscape, let alone be on a rafting trip. it was gorgeous. and it was here that we got our first taste of raft wars which was incredibly fun. basically whenever there was a calm, and you were near another raft, you splash the hell out of the other raft, and try to knock the other people out of their raft using whatever methods you see fit. my roommate caleb instantly jumped into our raft and started throwing people out (he's 24 and a pretty big guy). but i jumped on him and wrestled with him for about 3 minutes before throwing myself and him in the river. he tried climbing back into our raft, but i jumped on his back and dragged him back into the river. it was fun. after getting pulled back into our raft we finished that section of the river, dragged our raft out of the water, loaded back into the vans, and drove off to our next landing.

the next section of the river had a level 3 (out of 5) rapids section. that would actually be a level 4 in the united states, but in europe was a 3. the rapids were the first section of this part, and after we went through them we stopped and watched everyone else go through them. it was insanely exilerating and fun. after that we had a long section of calm waters where the greatest part of the raft wars took place. now before i go on i have to tell you that mark kalpakgian told everyone on the bus that there was a reward of milka (european chocolate) for the person who was able to knock robby cruz in to the water. robby cruz was the biggest guy on the rafting trip, about 6ft 3, probably 200-210 lbs. the rafting group he was in also decided to make sure that no one got him into the river. anyways, it was at this point in the river that my raft drifted towards his and his back was turned to me. i saw this as my chance. i stood up (i was in the backseat of an 8 man raft) and ran down my raft and lept through the air onto his. i didnt previously know that his entire raft was going to protect him, so i was a little shocked when him and two other guys tried to knock me into the water. it took all my strength just to stay on the raft. i eventually got the two other guys off me and was wrestling with just robby. it was at this point that another raft of students from ave maria who were with us drifted over. two of their guys jumped in and started helping me. we basically came to a standstill with robby as he had two legs wedged under the seats of the raft. the two ave guys had his two legs, i had one arm around his chest and the other arm between his legs. with the last bit of strength i had left, i pushed robby over the edge, still holding onto him with all my strength. all this took about 5 min of hardcore wrestling with about 6 guys. as i broke back through the surface of the water i saw robby yelling in frustration, and an entire raft of people cheering. with my last ounce of strength i raised my fist in the air and yelled. at this point my raft was about 75 feet away from me floating down the river. all the guides were yelling at me to swim to the raft and get out of the water, but i was so exhausted i just floated for a minute to get some strength back before swimming back to my raft. it took me about 3 minutes to swim to my raft, and this was in the freezing water. when i finally got back to my raft i was out of breath, exhausted, and numb on every part of my body that was exposed to the water. it took a while before i could feel my hands and row again. but i was so proud of myself i didnt care. i honestly felt ten ft tall. at this point there wasnt much of the river left, and as we approached the end, the guide told us we could jump out and swim if we wanted to. me and catherine did. it was fun, albeit freezing. we were definitely ready to get out of those wetsuits by the time we got back to the camp. once we got back into dry clothes and on the bus we were tired, warm, and starving. that night they had another bonfire and cookout with free beer back behind the townhouses where the professors live. it was a great way to end an incredibly fun day.

the school purchased about 800 pictures from the guides who were taking pictures all along with waterproof cameras, and the school has those pictures up on a website that we will post a link to soon. it will be on the side of our blog underneath our own link. be sure to keep an eye out for those. well, catherine will soon be writing a post about our ten day break, but i hope you all enjoyed hearing about this amazing experience we were able to have and be sure to check back soon to hear about our latest experiences. we love and miss you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!!!

-alden