NRS Durance Festival 2024, Chateauroux les Alpes, France

The ninth edition of the Durance Festival took place July 12-14^th, in Chateauroux les Alpes with record flows, plenty of sun, smiles, and fresh beer. With record high flows in the Southern French Alps for the time of year and the organisers’ strong desire to retain an inclusive event tailored for all levels of paddlers, some of the river stretches had to be changed, some events canceled, and others adapted.

Photos by: Raoul Getraud

The 9th edition of the Durance Festival took place July 12-14th, in Chateauroux les Alpes in the Southern French alps with records flows, high sun and lots of smiles (and fresh beers…). — *Photo – @Raoul Getraud*

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The weekend started on a rainy Friday in St Clément with the newly launched Durance Testival, where paddlers could try the latest from NRS, Pyranha, Waka, Prijon, Dragorossi, RTM, Lettmann, Level Six.

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©Raoul Getraud

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« In the true spirit of the Durance, the competitors were a blend of extreme paddlers, freestyle big names, local experts, a few international racers, and some last-minute entries from slalom competitors in the area for training camps. »

Despite the high flows, Saturday’s Guil Chrono had 55 registered paddlers. In the true spirit of the Durance, the competitors were a blend of extreme paddlers, freestyle big names, local experts, a few international racers, and some last-minute entries from slalom competitors in the area for training camps. This blend of paddlers created a super cool race with a strong spirit of exchange and respect.

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« The festival ended with the traditional Sunday Stoke float, the Grande Descente, which gathered over 100 paddlers. An array of paddlers of all ages, all levels, groups, schools, clubs, friends, using all sorts of boats and crafts: kayaks, canoes, rafts, Sup’s, duckies.«

With water levels too high to race The Chateau Q Gorge, race manager Morgan Arnaud (Nomad River School) devised a new concept. The race would take place on the section right above the lake at Maison du Lac—in two sections nearly two minutes each, with a pause between. Paddlers would race the top section first, then float together to the second startline to race section two. A 15-minute pause between allowed safety and timing to be operational for leg two.

Everyone ended the day paddling sections of the Guil, choosing between over 30 km of whitewater ranging from Class III to V according to their liking and level. Many opted to run the entire Guil, aka the Guil integral.

The festival ended with the traditional Sunday Stoke float, the Grande Descente, which gathered over 100 paddlers. An array of paddlers of all ages, all levels, groups, schools, clubs, friends, using all sorts of boats and crafts: kayaks, canoes, rafts, Sup’s, duckies.

A huge thank you to NRS for supporting the event the past 9 years and this year again with tons of prizes, the team at Camping Rabioux, Nomad River School, Hike2rivers, PGL, Denis, Elliott, Hadrien and Juliette, and of course, everyone who made the trip!