Being in Norway as a raft guide in 2015 was my first non-Slovenian guiding summer. As I look back at it from 2020 I can see how easy my life was being in a relative low population density area, living next to farmers and taking tourists and locals rafting on the short section of the Otta river doing around 6-10 trips a week. I stayed from the middle of May till the end of September enjoying the quietness of the mountains and some easier river sections around the area also doing some cycling, canyoning, hiking and a bit of caving with Lom&Skjak Adventure working as an outdoor activity guide. One might call it adventure instructor and other similar fancy names.
I quickly discovered during kayaking that my previously believed strong “Soca class 4” skills were not as sharp on a different style, big volume river, the Otta river and also not as strong on a medium volume steep and narrow creek, the Bovra river.
I capsized on a narly hole/recirculation and was unable to get out. After rolling back 2 times I hit a rock underwater in a stretched out sideways position with my rib that absorbed the impact causing it fracture. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad after a few days but I had to give up kayaking for the upcoming weeks. My overconfidence turned to fear of being upside down so I really had to reevaluate paddling and slowly get back on the horse after the injury.
Here is a pre season low water boating video before started being warm and snow began melting down. River levels and characteristic changed significantly afterwards.
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