Day 6 - Friday - Ula and Otta

Ula falls 1, 2, and 3.

Tony: It was a relatively low level. On arrival it soon became clear that these drops are a lot higher and closer together than any of the photos indicated. Consequently only three hardcore boaters had the cahoonas to give it a go! (Tony, Rich, and John).

I was first off the sick top drop with a clean line. Still on a high, I ran the second and third. Fantastic. 'Better than sex' in John's words, but he might be doing it wrong. No rolls for me but the others struggled a bit - great day.

First drop: 7m (23 feet). Second drop: 4m (13 feet). Third drop: 9m (30 feet).

John: This is why I came to Norway! Four large waterfalls in a row, the fourth being un-paddleable. Inspection was helped by watching a group of Irish pro boaters run the falls. They were scared. Unfortunately, our turn came next.

Tony went first, and styled it pretty well. Rich went next, and narrowly avoided going over the second fall backwards and upside down. This helped my confidence no end! Any way, my turn came too quickly. First two falls went pretty sweet; the third I surfaced under the undercut and had to wait to be washed out before rolling up above the lip of the 50 foot un-paddleable fourth fall. I hit the eddy and was out of my boat pretty quick!

After a leisurely lunch we launched onto the Otta just below a hydro dam and waterfall at Eidefoss. Lots of water - very impressive (perhaps 75 cumecs?). Grade I-III bimble. Reminded me of a flat(ish) section of the Inn in Austria.

Below the halfway bridge is a big grade IV. Most of the water goes down a tongue on river left with stoppers and large waves. We chickened the first half, then paddled into the flow. Gwen and Lisa F both rolled. Baldrick paddled some of it backwards but upright.

Next -> Day 7 - Jori