Email: europe@packraft.org
Europe is a very diverse and exciting place, and the packrafting scene is no different! Whether you want to get pinballed in a Norwegian creek or cruise along the scenic canyon walls of the Tara river in Montenegro, it’s all possible within a few hours drive. Packrafters are scattered all over the map and meetups are blossoming in all four corners of the continent.
Many rivers are located in the Alps. Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France are great places to start and have guide books to help you navigate your way around the next bend.
Countries in the Balkans (Montenegro, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia) are also filled with beautiful rivers (the Tara and the Vjosa for instance) and are often much more preserved but require a bit more research and discussion with the local populations to fully experience the area and get away from the classics.
Contact email: europe@packraft.org
Max Clemencon discovered packrafting in 2016, in New Zealand while he was recovering from a mountain biking injury. Since then, his interest in the sport and desire to grow and educate the community has kept growing. In 2018, he organised the first european packrafting meetup in Slovenia, where he had relocated to practice his strokes on the beautiful Soca river. The following year he organised another meetup in the French Alps where he has now settled down. Nowadays, when Max isn’t packrafting or running an event, he writes articles for his own blog : packraft101.wordpress.com , a website dedicated to learning about the world of packrafting.
Whether you're a European paddler or planning a trip, the following resources may help you on your packrafting journeys in Europe.
Annual Packrafting Meetups in Europe
European Packrafting Meetup (Soca river - Slovenia)
https://packrafteurope.com/pages/european-packrafting-meet-up/-
French Alps Packrafting meetup (Durance Valley - France)
https://packraftingmeetupfrenchalps.wordpress.com/
The Nordic Meetup (Scandinavia)
https://swedishpackraftingassociation.com/
River Conservation in Europe
Rivers in Europe are also under threat !
The documentary “Blue Heart” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhmHByZ0Xd8) highlights the fragility of river corridors in the Balkans.
You can learn more about river protection in Europe and get involved through:
Free rivers Fund : https://freerivers.org/
Balkan River Defense : https://balkanriverdefence.org/
European River Guide Books
Whitewater South Alps by Peter Knowles
White Water North Alps by Peter Bandtock
Social Media
Packrafting in Europe Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/200501473306791
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