Last week on my way home from Uganda

By Jessie Stone

, I made a quick stop in Switzerland to see how the spring run off was and visit my boyfriend, Juerg Ruf. It was a gorgeous warm, week so snowmelt was contributing to nice high flows in local rivers and creeks. As I was staying in the Berner Oberland, home to some of Switzerland’s most impressive peaks like the Eiger, the Monk, and Jungfrau, I also had the opportunity to do some high mountain ski touring, very good this time of year. It was an amazing combo to be able to ski and paddle all within the same area. This trip back into spring paddling was a great contrast to the big warm water of the Nile where I had spent the last 2 months. Nothing like very cold, low volume, steep and fast flowing whitewater to wake you up every day.

Juerg was also my tour guide. He is a mountain guide by profession, knows all the mountains, valleys, and rivers around and has paddled just about every river in the area. From his ski guiding background, he is an expert in the steep, deep. After paddling 4 new rivers last week, I have a whole new appreciation and respect for steep, fast, and cold rivers of the Alps and for Juerg’s knowledge and skills. It was great fun to get back into my Hero and paddle some creeks as the last two months I had only been in my Star on the Nile. Juerg had been down in Uganda paddling and volunteering with Soft Power Health, too. He is a big fan of the Nile. However, when spring comes and things are melting, he wants to be home in Switzerland, and it’s easy to see why!

Two of the rivers we paddled, the Keine and the Einsliger, were steep and fast with not many eddies to catch. The Einsliger definitely had more than the Keine but you really had to hustle to get them! Going upside down was not any option, that’s for sure. The two other rivers were less steep and fast but had a similar overall character. These two, the Simme and the Saanen, also had lots of good play and were very pretty It was amazing to see how many paddlers there were in this part of Switzerland. I even bumped into paddlers I had met on the Nile. It made me feel right at home! My only regret was that I didn’t get to stay longer and paddle more. If you are going to be in Europe in the spring, make sure you visit the Berner Oberland for some paddling. You will love it.