The Ötz POWERED BY GLACIERS
"Ötz"! That name alone! One umlaut plus two hard consonants. A name of brute shortness, of crude sound. Many rivers in our European countryside have enchanting and poetic names. The melodious "Verzasca" in Switzerland, the "Krikellopotamos" in Greece, or the "Raundalselva" in Norway, for example, boast fairytale names that are 100% in harmony with the amazing quality of their whitewater. Not so, the Ötz! Her name booms like an inflammation of the throat, like a cough with sputum. Even before I first paddled the Ötz about 35 years ago, when I was a hopeful teenager with modest whitewater experience, I had a pretty accurate picture of this Tyrolean alpine river. The Ötz could not be a crystal-clear torrent with gentle rock formations. It had to be frighteningly wild and glacier brown, steep and rushing! And when I first stood on the banks of the Ötz with my kayak on a hot summer's day and looked into its raging waters, I was not disappointed. The Ötz was a perfect match for my imagination. It was frighteningly wild and glacier brown, steep and rushing!
However, the Ötz should not be blamed for its name and appearance. Its distinctive name comes from the somewhat gruff sounding Ötztal dialect, which has been passed down from generation to generation for more than 900 years.
