Do you think we can only go east? You don't know us well! Long before the Scheuer became a Bavarian, there was one travel destination in the summer: southern France and the Aosta Valley! Well, old love doesn't rust. At the beginning of September the most beautiful rivers between the highest mountains granted us an audience, and we also checked the Mont Blanc region for Toros suitability. Et voilá, on y va!

From Munich across Switzerland, from the west of the republic up the Rhine Valley, we cruise (sorry, it can't go faster, otherwise we'll have to pay, as the Swiss say) towards Lake Geneva. Via Martigny we reach the Great St. Bernard and look down into the valley of the Dora Baltea. As we descend the pass into the eponymous town of Aosta, after all the capital of the autonomous region, we become aware of the favorable climate of this little-known corner of the Alps: wine grows here at the foot of the four-thousanders. Geometrically correctly stacked, the vines stretch up the slopes in terraces, with fields of snow glittering just before the horizon.

Dora Baltea – Mont Blanc behind her

On the way to the Po plain, the Dora Baltea collects the tributaries from left and right, the steep hanging valleys of which always break into inaccessible gorges into the main valley. While crisp white water awaits the tributaries in July and August, the Dora Baltea remains for the paddler in autumn. Unaffected by power stations, the glacier river rumbles past Courmayeur and Pré St. Didier to Morgex. Here the river disappears into the pipes and if you want to paddle here in autumn, you have to comply with the discharge times of the power plant. At the bottom of the Inferno Canyon, 40 cubic meters shoot into a mighty fountain into the almost dry river bed at appropriate times.

In September we are left with three first-class routes that we can experience with small, medium or even crisp flow, depending on the time of day. The river gives us sport, but the mountains remain for our soul. You can reach high in the Aosta Valley. In the wide high valley of the Dora di Veny we are very close to the glaciers. The Grand Eyvia valley is the entrance to the Gran Paradiso chain. Here we can also hope for exquisite bouldering whitewater in the fourth degree. Yeah!

Isére – France’s paddling classic

Once we've had our fill of the waves and maybe even tasted a café à la Valdotaine, we head off to France. Over the Little St. Bernard (2188 m) we wind our way in many serpentines into the Isère valley. We want to spend three to four days here in Bourg St. Maurice. The river is regulated by power plants all year round. Water is available at the push of a button, timed to suit the needs of water sports enthusiasts. No wonder, rafting is big business here. And rightly so: the Isère is a playful river, in the second to weak fourth degree. Countless waves, small and large rocks, a gorge-like gorge with a wow factor. The whole thing is complemented by one of the most challenging whitewater canals in Europe. The Bourg St. Maurice slalom course is at least solid WW III-IV. With Full Flow you like to stick to the light lines.

The vacation days are coming to an end, we leave the valley via the Olympic city of Albertville to the north for the last stop of the tour. On the French part of Lake Geneva, the Dranse does the rest. Upstream of the Alps, the power plant control also promises water security here. In addition to some juicy rapids, the clear river has wonderfully playful white water. The perfect end to our Western Alps tour!