{"id":1804,"date":"2020-08-10T12:13:13","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T10:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.land-water-blog.de\/?p=1804"},"modified":"2021-08-05T10:04:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T08:04:22","slug":"freestyle-bayern-tirol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.land-water-blog.de\/en\/freestyle-bayern-tirol\/","title":{"rendered":"Alps in special times - Freestyle Bavaria and Tyrol"},"content":{"rendered":"
A contribution from Sebastian<\/a>, founder and owner of LWA. He gives a brief insight into how we, together as a team and with the support of a unique community of participants, are manoeuvring LWA through this special 2020.<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2019: A short look back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, to tell a story in its entirety, you have to go back a little. At the beginning of July 2019, extraordinary Tyrol courses were behind us - or so we thought. The following year, this 2020, which we will all probably remember for a long time, was to show that there was still room for improvement in the extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Bleiben wir noch einen Moment in 2019. Wir hatten in Tirol bei gef\u00fchltem Hochsommer im Juni  10 Tage knapp unter der Hochwassergrenze hinter uns. Auf Grund der sp\u00e4ten Schneeschmelze waren das mit Abstand die bis dato spritzigsten, wuchtigsten und f\u00fcr unsere TeilnehmerInnen forderndsten Tirol-Kurse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tyrol 2019: Challenging days with lots of water and the reason for the internal decision of the guide team to set the courses in 2020 a little later - which should become important then.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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It was then quickly clear that we wanted to set the date 2020 a little later and so they were quickly determined: Tirol1-2020: start on 11th June, Tirol2-2020: start on 15th June, etc. How important these dates would become one year later was not yet clear at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late spring 2020: Planning in unpredictable times<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fast forward to April\/May 2020 skips some things: The world is experiencing the beginning of a pandemic, Europe its lockdown and we at this point the existential question of the future of LWA<\/a>. When during the month of May it became more and more clear that we would probably do our day courses at the end of May and that we would not be allowed to go to Austria but to paddle in Bavaria, we started to revive. And we were permanent guests on the corresponding official websites in the next weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a feat of strength that only works in such times, Andi<\/a> and I never let go of the phones and between the far north and the southwest the idea of the first and maybe only freestyle whitewater packrafting course was born. In the foothills of the Alps, between Kochelsee, Mittenwald and Garmisch, north of the suddenly relevant border again, but close enough to it to be able to cross over into the new-faraway Austria as soon as the border opens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before the start, I myself went to Bavaria incognito, in May, to complete our puzzle. Then our course was set. Or at least there were enough ideas for overnight stays and rivers, with which we could react flexibly enough. Because no campsite wanted to let us book, Bavaria was still very closed at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I, with my paddle in my hand, walked alone on the B2 from Mittenwald to Scharnitz to the put-in and could hear the birds chirping and the rushing of the Isar river on this actually very busy road, I became aware once again of the unusualness of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sebastian alone in Bavaria in May and exploring for the freestyle course idea - the unclear future of LWA always in mind.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The B2 shortly before the border, as it probably only existed in Corona times, and on it a lonely paddler on the way to the put-in.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

End of May 2020: We are going to do this!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And then it became clear:<\/strong> Wir machen den (eigentlich) Tirol1-Kurs in Bayern, ohne fest zugesagte Campingpl\u00e4tze, ohne fixierbaren Kursablauf, aber mit viel Energie und Begeisterung.  Es hat sich ein wenig angef\u00fchlt wie dieser ber\u00fchmte Anfang, dem, wie Hermann Hesse so sch\u00f6n dichtete, ein Zauber inne wohnt.
And our booked participants? There it was in front of me: a list of people who had been looking forward to a few days in Tyrol for a long time, some of them since late summer 2019. And as I typed the first lines of the email about the freestyle tour, a little excitement arose: Can we do it? Are they in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, they are! Just like the reactions to the cancellation of the Hunsr\u00fcck and Bayerwald at the beginning of the pandemic, we were again lifted by the reactions to a wave of euphoria before the start of this tour. Two of them were even added at short notice, with the quote: \"Freestyle with Andi and you: I must experience that!\"
Und diese Freude, diese Flexibilit\u00e4t der TeilnehmerInnen sollte bleiben – sie hat uns durch die Kurse getragen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there were long days of waiting to see if everything would stay as planned. In the meantime, the original restrictions in Bavaria were relaxed by 5-member sports groups and it looked as if we could even be on the road as a whole group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 June 2020: A short hello on a rainy night - it really starts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And then it was sometime on June 10th, in the middle of the night, in the pitch darkness of a rainy car park in southern Bavaria, when Andi, after a little more than 900 km, parks right next to me - I had just arrived, too - and he is chanting down the window of his bus, we have a short fistbump among good friends without many words, arrange to have coffee the next morning and both fall into the pillows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mit jedem Teilnehmer und jeder Teilnehmerin, die dann im Laufe des n\u00e4chsten Tages ankamen, wurde realer, was wir hier machen und die ganze Konzentration der Planungsphase ging langsam in Freude \u00fcber.
Und als wir dann am Abend, nach einem sonnigen Tag auf dem Wasser, dem Sonnenuntergang am See zuschauten, kam langsam das Gef\u00fchl, dass hier eine richtige und einmalige Reise begonnen hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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evening of the first day of the course<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It should remain special; to a certain extent, unplannability has also meant freedom. But how this first freestyle course went on until June 14th, we - or the 8 positively crazy people who got involved with us - better tell you about it at the campfire. Just this much: The days were lively and sunny, the evenings were convivial, the mornings cosy, the coffee and croissants good, the troupe simply brilliant and these special days in the south of Germany in this special time will also be remembered by us, Andi and me, for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n