This adventure could have ended in disaster: three athletes recently struggled to escape a tidal wave in the Ötztaler Ache in Tyrol. The reason was a power failure at the new power station in Tumpen. A video shows the spectacular scenes.
The Wellerbrücke route in the Ötztaler Ache is a world-famous kayak route, on which an extreme kayak race is held every year. In 2021 the “Oetz Trophy” was the official extreme kayaking world championship, in 2022 the race will become the European championship. The route is also extremely popular with amateur athletes. It counts thousands of trips every autumn and is also crowded in the spring.
Group got into water rollers
But now a problem has arisen that the scene has long been warning about: The flushing of the reservoir at the Tumpen-Habichen hydroelectric power station is causing the water level to rise sharply and seriously endangering the athletes. This makes the already difficult route even more dangerous – for less experienced rowers, sometimes even life-threatening. This is exactly what happened last Tuesday.
The water level suddenly rose by two meters
A group of three kayakers on the Weller Bridge route were surprised by the sudden rise in water level. The group from Hamburg are very experienced kayakers who are currently on holiday in the Ötztal, reports eyewitness Anneke Iwe: “As videos of the kayaking show, they were put in great danger by the suddenly increasing current.”
Sometimes with his head under water
One of the rowers often had to roll up the kayak and “virtually drive the entire route upside down”. “That could have gone really wrong, as a group member, among other things, drove the route for the first time that day and since there were big returns and rollers, the whole thing was actually life-threatening.”
Power plant in emergency operation due to power failure
The association “Wildwasser preserved Tyrol” (WET) assumes that the flushing of the reservoir at the Tumpen-Habichen power station was the cause of the high water wave. “We have been warning about this since 2020,” says Anneke Iwe, vice president of the association. There are no responses from the responsible authorities. “The incident went smoothly because the group consisted only of very good kayakers.”
Klaus Mitteregger of Ötztaler Wasserkraft GmbH explains that a power failure was the cause of the accident. As a result, the locking system went into emergency mode.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
