With Ultra Light SUP and the 9 Euro Ticket to the Black Forest

05/06/2022

We would like to share a tour tip to one of our Lite Venture home spots in the Black Forest on the occasion of the 9-Euro-Ticket: With the inflatable board in your backpack, we're heading from Freiburg to Schluchsee. The board concept of the ULTRA Light Board supports being on the road without a car. It can be easily transported to the start of the tour by public transport in a comfortable, waterproof backpack.

Meeting point: Platform 8 at Freiburg main station. The regional train leaves here once an hour via the Höllental to Schluchsee. The journey takes about an hour and offers scenic views over the Dreisamtal and the Höllental with Ravenna Gorge. During the stops at the quaint station buildings with their wooden shingles, the train becomes increasingly empty, as many hikers already get off in Hinterzarten. The Feldberg greets you from afar at Bärental station, then the train takes another turn to the east and jogs past the "Windgfällweiher". An insider: This small lake is very popular, many people come to the old open-air swimming pool to rent a SUP and go for a spin. However, the pond is small, so it is more interesting for beginners and courses.

We want to tour and our destination is the small station "Schluchsee Aha". Yes, it really is called that :-) It is located directly at the western end of the Schluchsee - this is where we want to board the tour. We pass the road and walk a little to the right on the footpath. Then we take the footpath for pedestrians down to the lakeshore.

Brilliant: The overcrowded car park at the top of the road in summer, the parking fee of 5 euros per day, the approach via the B31 often marked by traffic jams in the Höllental - none of this interests us! We arrived relaxed at our destination and can go straight down to the shore.

Here we find a stretch of shore where we can pump up the boards. The Schluchsee is a reservoir, so the area of the shore varies greatly. Sometimes the lake is dammed up so much in summer that the sandy shore is covered with water at this point.

Now let's take our time to get the boards ready and inflate them. We simply pack clothes, towel and valuables in the backpack in which we transported the boards. This backpack is waterproof and can easily be attached to the board - so nothing is left behind on the shore and we are completely flexible to decide how far and how long we want to paddle today. We don't have to come back here, there's no car here, we leave nothing on the shore. It feels good, somehow unusual and free.

We set off and cross directly the narrower, western part of the lake, over to the opposite shore. The south side of the Schluchsee is the more exciting side, because here the forest lines the shore and we are far enough away from the road to no longer hear it. There are always exciting things to discover on the shore, for example the trees gnawed on and felled by beavers - it looks very pristine and gives an almost bit of wilderness feeling. The water is clear and very clean, the brownish colour comes from the numerous branches and trees of the forest along the shore that fall into the lake over the years and rot there.

We are approaching the "Emperor's Bay". At this point the lake is 1.5 kilometres wide. At the beginning of the bay, the shore changes, it becomes sandy, more open and invites you to linger and swim. A little way up the meadow, behind the birch trees, is the Unterkrummenhof. This inn offers typical regional snacks - tarte flambée, salads, sausages and drinks. It is possible to plan a stop here and leave the boards on the bank for a while. But we are drawn a little further into the bay, because we want to discover more of this unspoilt shore.

And here we find a place where we feel like staying for a moment. It is shady and quiet here, and there are always small, hidden bays and opportunities to land. After a short break, we continue east. There is one thing you can rely on at Schluchsee: during the late morning / midday, a wind freshens up that can make the water choppy and sometimes comes right from the front :-) So it can be a bit strenuous.

If the 7 to 8 kilometre stretch to the other end of the lake is enough, you can plan your exit here. To the right of the mighty dam wall that marks the end of the lake, it is easy to get out and pack the boards back into the backpacks. Once you have crossed the dam wall on foot, you arrive directly at the small Seebrugg railway station. This is the terminus of the Höllentalbahn. From here you can start the return journey to Freiburg.

Or you can continue a little further to the station in the small town of Schluchsee. The best place to get off is at the jetties at the pedal boat rental, from here it is just under 1,000 metres to the station on foot. If you paddle back to the starting point at Aha station, you will have covered a good 16 to 17 km by the end of the tour.

Stations of the tour at a glance:

Departure from Freiburg main station, 1 hour to Schluchsee Aha station.

Possible stop for refreshments at Unterkrummenhof

Possible exits:

- at the dam wall after 7 to 8 km, return via Seebrugg station

- at Schluchssee, after approx. 10 to 11 km, return via Schluchsee railway station

- At the village of Aha, after the boat harbour and after 16 to 17 km, return via Aha railway station.

Information on safety during the tour:

The Schluchsee is located at an altitude of almost 1,000 metres. This means that the water is cold for a long time. Even in summer, if it is very hot and you fall into the water, you may get a cold shock. We therefore recommend wearing a life jacket or using a leash. The leash prevents the board from moving away and keeps it close by as a saving island. Motorboats are not allowed on the lake - with the exception of the excursion boat "Nikolaus", but the lake is used by sailors in the Aha / Kaiserbucht area. Here it is always advisable to be a little careful.

Lite Venture: The boards for adventure from German development

Lite Venture is a small company based in southwest Germany near Freiburg. We have developed the boards that we ourselves have long dreamed of: Nothing should interfere with the precious time we spend on the water. That's why we place great value on functionality and well thought-out design when developing our products.

Visit our shop at our headquarters in the Breisgau industrial park near Heitersheim. Here you can see all the boards, get information, test them directly on the Rhine by appointment and also buy them directly. We usually have everything in stock! Accessible via Heitersheim train station or the A5 Heitersheim exit: Lite Venture Shop, Breisgauring 3, Gewerbepark Breisgau, 79427 Eschbach.

If you don't live nearby, drop by one of our test stations!