On Sunday 10th Nov I took part in the 18th marathon descent of the Ardeche river in southern France. I went with 3 friends from Bradford-on-Avon canoe club. Stan Missen, Keith Owen, and ‘Spotter’ Cowis drove down a few days before, we stayed in a quaint old guest house in the commune of Vallon – Pont D’Arc – the famous natural arch that is in all the photos of the region.
The race is 19 or so miles long with dozens of decent sized rapids to negotiate. We did a practice run two days before the race, and ‘spotter’ and I holed the K2 four times! Lucky I had an electric pump – totally illegal but good. Nick Daniels and Paul Ralf from Reading Canoe Club who were also staying with us managed to hit a rock the size of a transit van, and capsized mid-stream – it was surprisingly very cold there. The South of France = Antarctica.
Nothing in my previous racing experience could prepare you for the start of this descent – 400 K2s going for a 20 yard gap at the top of the first rapid 200 yards from the start line. There is a rope across the river to stop any cheats – we are crammed up against the first line of K2s with a good straight run at the rapid. We are all desperately trying to keep the boats straight in the fast current. A helicopter comes in, and touches down; I shout to spotter who is steering in front to start paddling as soon as the helicopter revs up to take off. This gave us a jump start – essential with all the chaos around us. We got away fairly clean and kept straight. Through the first rapid with a drop and 3 foot stoppers. We knew we were in the top 30 or so and kept a strong race pace and good line through the rough water.
After 2 miles we reached Pont D’Arc – a huge natural archway with a big rapid above it. The standing waves completely cover us – you have to sit up high and get your paddles over the wave or you will stop – you will either swim or lose a lot of time.
It is just here that hundreds of C9s (?) or anything that floats and can carry lots of people (many in fancy dress) start their race. This is another major obstacle to us to avoid. They tend to go for the rough water with big waves to make more splashes. We used our experience to edge the main flow. That is – full power in the main stream just out of the bigger waves but well away from the slack water. The valley walls tower above as you descend further on with very few access points or paths. The bigger rapids tend to ‘suck you in’ which can throw you off balance quite easily – a bit like going down in a lift at the speed we were going.
By halfway we found ourselves on a wash with two other K2s, both from the Czech national squad, and the lead K1 paddled by Marcus Gickler (German) 10 times world white water racing champion. As the group formed we laid down a fast paddle for 5 miles or so and overtook a lot of K2s that were tiring now. The last 2 – 3 miles are shallow and slow, held back by a weir at Saint Martin D’Ardeche.
We crossed the line in 20th place in 1 hour 49 minutes – 5 minutes down on the winners. Keith and Stan were 16th – 2 minutes up on us.
It was a very close race at the top end, a brilliant experience, totally amazing race – the whole thing. I can’t wait for next year. Special thanks to ‘Nobby’ for his tips on the river lines. The total number of boats in K2, K1, WWR, GP, and C9s – 1653.
Next year…
Steve Bennett