Our Saale adventure tours and an interview with Sebastian in the DKV's KANU SPORT magazine, May 2024
The guest blog post by our participant Dani about the premiere of our Erlebnistouren Saale (German only) was published in May 2024 as a print version in the DKV's member magazine KANU SPORT. Sebastian was also interviewed to share his tips and tricks for planning combined land-water tours.
Excerpt from the article:
KANU-SPORT: "What do I need to take on every tour?"
Sebastian Schmidt: "Chocolate, dried fish and people you can rely on. Solo tours also have their appeal, but I personally appreciate the sociability and growing together as a team on challenging tours. Otherwise, the focus should be on the things you don't need to take with you in order to keep your luggage weight to a minimum.[...]"
Packrafting in the Nahe valley in the SWR show "Treffpunkt", April 2024
At the beginning of April 2024, we were part of the SWR show "Treffpunkt" entitled "Faszinierende Ausflugsziele: Natur-Highlights und Sightseeing", SWR editor Stefan and his colleague Janika made their way to the Nahe to get to know the Rotenfels and its surroundings. The two of them cover part of the route together with Sebastian in a packraft on the river.
From minute 23:39, the film focuses on the Nahe Valley and Land Water Adventures. Of course, the rest of the program is also worthwhile as it is packed with exciting excursion tips in southwest Germany.
Watch the entire show in the ARD media library (German only)
Packrafting tips and tricks in the KANU SPORT magazine of the DKV, May 2023
In the May issue of the DKV magazine KANU SPORT Sebastian shared his tips and tricks about packrafting with the readers under the motto "First backpack, then canoe, then adventure!
Extract from the report:
"Packrafts turn the blue parts of topo maps into trekking trails. Whether it's the small river on your doorstep or the vast lake in northern Scandinavia, wherever there's water, you can make it part of the trail with a packraft (subject to safety and personal skill). Incomparable is the fascination to have everything with you in a backpack, not only to look at the water on beautiful shores, but after a short time to sit in a boat on the vastness of the water."
Packrafting in "Welt der Wunder" supplement, summer 2022
In the supplement "The best outdoor trends 2022" of the magazine "Welt der Wunder", issue 6/2022, among other things the topic Packrafting was presented. Here we were allowed to contribute a photo of our Packrafting Erlebnistage Nahe (In German)
Our whitewater packrafting training Soča in OutdoorWelten magazine, May 2022
For the May 2022 issue of OutdoorWelten magazine, Cora wrote a personal account of her participation in the Whitewater Packrafting training Soča.
Extract from the article:
"So in the following days in the packraft we get to know not only various whitewater sections of Soča and Koritnica between Trenta and Kobarid, but also many small trails, suspension bridges and parts of the famous Alpe Adria Trail. Experience nature and landscape up close, that's the order of the day here. Our days start relaxed with breakfast in the camp, backpack packing, a common daily briefing in the morning. And then off we go into a day full of waves, action and adventure, full of amazement at the beautiful sections and the impressive landscape of the Julian Alps in which we move."
Report about our first whitewater course in the foothills of the Alps in early summer 2020, published in the KANU SPORT magazine of the DKV, March 2022
For the March edition of the magazine KANU SPORT, Sebastian has dared to look back on an extraordinary early summer 2020 and describes how here from a spontaneous idea in the face of closed borders our white water packrafting courses in the foothills of the Alps were born.
Extract from the report:
"Had it not been for the fact that before the Land Water Adventures tour, in that year 2020, special in all respects, the old boundaries suddenly became real boundaries again, we would never have sought the paths we found spontaneously 'freestyle', with paddles in our backpacks. What would we have missed!"
Expedition in die Heimat: Das Naheland" in October 2021
In the German film "Expedition in die Heimat: Das Naheland" of SWR television, host Anna Lena Dörr lets Sebastian show her the Nahe valley from the packraft and enjoys the autumnal panorama below the Rotenfels.
Freizeitmagazin LEO (Die Rheinpfalz) in July 2021
In the Freizeitmagazin LEO, a supplement of the daily newspaper "Die Rheinpfalz", a report about our Packrafting Erlebnistage Nahe (In German) appeared on July 1, 2021.
An excerpt:
"Leisurely river passages alternate with splashier sections. At the end of the day's tour, the boat is packed into the backpack and it's back to the starting point on foot. The challenges in the river and also the hiking routes are just as doable by beginners as by parents with children."
Report on our Hunsrück tours in the KANU SPORT magazine of the DKV, November 2020
In the magazine KANU Sport, the magazine of the German Canoe Federation, Sebastian was allowed to report about our very first Hunsrück tour in the issue 11/2020.
Extract from the report:
"At idyllic little "parking bays" between old, over-mossy willows directly on the shore we moored our boats and proceeded to survey the site and discuss the line. It did not take long and one after the other "plunged" down. What followed was pleasure cruising with some minor blocking, swells and occasional drifting until we were hungry enough for an extended lunch break. A small spruce shelter welcomed us comfortably at our mooring. A while passed until everyone was peeled out of the dry suits, all equipment was stowed away and a steaming pot stood in front of each of us - various variations of pasta - handed to us by clearing skies and the odd ray of sunshine. Yey!"
Bonner General Anzeiger in August 2020
Our Packrafting Erlebnistage Nahe (In German) were the topic of the weekend supplement "Boulevard" of the Bonner General Anzeiger on August 22, 2020.
Journalist Martin Wein accompanied our guide Johannes and a group of participants on a beautiful summer weekend on the Nahe and tried out the fascination of packrafting.
Excerpts from the text:
"On a summer Saturday at the Nahe-Alsenz-Eck campground, Johannes distributes rolled-up boats, pack sacks, paddles and life jackets to a couple from Frankfurt, a father with his sons Luca and Linus from Zweibrücken, two people from Bonn and a single man from Siegen. Water bottles, sandwiches and sunscreen stuffed into the backpack - and off they go on foot for an hour upriver.
We're off onto the water - or straight into it. Getting in is a bit tricky. Let yourself fall in like a wet sack," advises Johannes. If you bob around, you'll end up in the river. You'll float downstream much more elegantly."
Interview with Susanne and Sebastian in the EuroNatur Foundation Magazine, April 2019
Since 2018 Land Water Adventures has supported the project Save the blue heart of the EuroNatur Foundation for the Conservation of Wild River Landscapes (more information in Blog). At the beginning of 2019, the foundation's magazine asked Susanne, contact person for nature conservation, and Sebastian, founder and owner of LWA, in detail what our view of nature conservation is and why we care about these river landscapes.
The interview has been published in EuroNatur magazine 01/2019 (PDF only available in german, online version also available in english).
Excerpts from the interview:
Why do you support the „Save the Blue Heart of Europe“ campaign?
Blech: As water sports and nature enthusiasts, a dam boom of course alarms us. Most of our rivers in Central Europe have been converted into transport routes or electric power sources. Dammed and fragmented, many have lost their wildness and much of their ecological quality. The question is: Don’t we have alternatives today?
What's it like paddling an untamed river?
Schmidt: What attracts me to natural rivers is how unpredictable they are. It’s an incredible feeling to ride on a river which is new practically every day because it has changed with the water level. New sandbanks have formed or whirlpools have rearranged the stones. The diversity of animals is tremendous. You simply feel that the river is alive. All this conveys a feeling of wilderness and freedom.
Portrait about the founder aired in “SWR Persönlich” in October 2017
The German TV Channel “SWR” followed Sebastian to Kaiserslautern and to the autumnally Nahe Valley to search for historical paths to find out more about the foundation and origin of Land Water Adventures.
Please visit the online version of the TV report.
Online Magazine “Zeit Online” in September 2017
"Sebastian Schmidt takes his costumers on several tours to places far away from civilization and brings them to their limits. For this, he gave up his permanent job as a doctor of mathematics..."
Video-Report of the TV Channel SWR (Landesschau) in August 2017
On unusual sparkling waves for August, we brought weather reporter Markus Bundt, along on a packraft, to one of the most beautiful parts of the Nahe.
Please visit the online version of the TV report.
KANU-Magazine in December 2016
"The valley of Soca is a paradise for watersport athletes. The Koritnica-Run in a packraft proves that you do not essentially need a kayak.
[...]
True to the motto “pump it, pack it, run it” it was an exciting run with international participation – even from Japan…”
You can read the complete article in the KANU-Magazine 06/17 or online
“Kajak-Magazin” in October 2016
In spring of 2016, freelance journalist and researcher Susanne Blech accompanied us on one of our Hunsrück trips.
She wrote a 6-page report, which was published in the Kajak Magazine 06/2016.
Here are two excerpts:
“The sun is about to go down as the six exhausted packrafters arrive at the remote Schmidtburg close to Kirn. [...] In the middle of the ruins of a once stately fortress, they set up camp in the twilight.
The first day of the spring tour through the wild Hunsrück is coming to an end…”
“Together, they fought their way through the “jungle”, slept in the ruins of a castle with the sound of falling raindrops, sweat on a part of the Soonwaldsteig and finally surfed on the high water waves of the Nahe. Sebastian’s self-conception of leading the tour, but also leaving everyone’s freedom, is well received….”
You can read the complete article in the Kajak Magazine 06/2017.
Report of the SWR in September 2016
In late summer, the German TV channel SWR with its series “Fahr mal hin” (“Go for a Ride”) was with us in a packraft on the Nahe.
Outdoor Magazine in April 2016
In the Spring of 2016 the Outdoor Magazine published a report about the expedition “Packrafting Laponia” from Jannis and Peter of our team.
In this area is our Packrafting Expedition Laponia.
Excerpt of the report:
“…but as the clouds dispersed in the evening, the sun floods on the Rappadalen and gave us a panoramic view to the mountain top. We finally understood why this National Park is so famous. Steep mountains with inaccessible valleys, and in-between the river Rappaädnö winds itself through a green delta.”
“On day 20 of our tour, the thought flaring up for the first time, that we might not make it."
“ We are paddling between the skerries, an archipelago made up of a number of islands, blocking our view to the horizon. Slowly we recognize. Did we…”
You can read the complete 5 page long article in the Outdoor Magazine 04/2016.
SWR1 – Radio Interview in the Hunsrück in April 2016
SWR1 Radio visited us on the shore of the Nahe, on preparation day of one of our Hunsrück trips in spring 2016 and interview Sebastian right on the water.
Newspaper “Rheinpfalz” in October 2015
The “Rheinpfalz” writes a profile about the history and idea of Land Water Adventures.
Newspaper “Kirner Zeitung” in April 2015
After a courtesy visit to the city of Kirn on one of your Hunsrück trips, the Kirner Zeitung writes about Land Water Adventures.
KANU Magazine edition 01/2015
The Kajak teacher Andreas Schultz writes in the KANU Magazine about his escapade on a packraft in Soca! Since then, the trip is in our regular tour schedule.
“Die Wildnis” (the wilderness) edition 02/2014
The magazine “Die Wildnis” of the international union of wilderness guides writes about the first Hunsrück crossing. Since then this is our Hunsrück Tour.
