Miss Peaches on the Road: Whitewater in Switzerland

SPORTS CYCLING

Nina’s fourth stop-off point in ŠKODA KAROQ is in the south of Switzerland, where she meets up with Jiří Kopečný, the Czech kayaker. Few people know this corner of the country as well as him. His whitewater skills and the surrounding nature are breath-taking.

21. 8. 2018

Miss Peaches parks her ŠKODA KAROQ a short walk from the iconic bridge and goes to meet Jiří Kopečný, the seasoned kayaker who, by all accounts, has spent more of the last twenty years here than in his Czech homeland. There’s a very simple reason why Jiří chose this river: aside from its sheer beauty, it’s legendary in the kayaking community.

“For kayakers, successfully going down this river is a way of earning your stripes. Some stretches are fifth-grade difficulty – and this is on a scale of one to six, but it is also easy to access from the bank. What’s more, there’s a path alongside the river that’s perfect for cycling,” Jiří tells Nina. Obviously, this is his way of challenging her to a short race to the Ponte dei Salti. Nina picks up the gauntlet, but when she asks which route to follow, the laconic reply is: ”Just follow the river!”

One clutches a paddle, the other puts her feet on the pedals, and they’re off. Jiří skilfully weaves between massive stones in the strong current of the wild river, while Nina pelts along the forest path as she tries not to lose sight of her rival. Sometimes she finds herself right next to the water, other times the path takes her deeper into the forest. She’s distracted by the beautiful countryside all around: steep rockfaces are split in two by the raging water and innumerable rapids, overlooked by centuries-old stone houses on the banks.

After the race, won by Nina, incidentally, the two heroes of this episode climb into the ŠKODA KAROQ and travel a few kilometres upstream, to pot where Jiří likes to come and make campfires. Here, Jiří tells Nina his story.

“I practise on a canal several times a week. On top of that, I do physical exercise. But nothing beats shooting rapids as much as possible. In the last ten years, I have to say that, Switzerland aside, Norway is my favourite place. However, I’ve done all there is to do there, so I’m now looking for fresh new challenges.”

Jiří also mentions the Eskimo roll he performed during the race, when he turned over in the water and had to get upright again as quickly as possible. “I’m not that keen on it. Water goes up your nose, which isn’t that pleasant. I went down this river last week, but there wasn’t so much water. Since then it’s become a lot more swollen, which caught me a little unawares,” he laughs, before pointing out that rivers can change fast, so you always have to scout them first. The main rule is never to travel alone.