Rafting & Gorge Walking: What’s Happening This Season on the Dranse?
Where We Raft
At Frogs Rafting, we run our trips on the lower Dranse River, near Thonon-les-Bains. This stretch of river is fed by two main tributaries—the Dranse of Morzine and the Dranse of Abondance—plus several smaller streams. Most of the water comes from the Morzine side, where it flows into the reservoir near La Baume. The reservoir is managed by EDF (Électricité de France) and releases water through the Le Jotty dam to generate electricity at the hydroelectric station in Bioge.
Why Water Flow Matters
Rafting relies on having enough water in the river. Legally, a minimum of 8 cubic meters per second must flow through the EDF system for rafting to be allowed. Tributaries add a bit more, giving us around 10 cubic meters in total where we launch the rafts. In the past, EDF had made an effort to maintain this flow—even during droughts—but only for shorter windows. Still, years of water shortages have taken their toll: half the rafting bases on the Dranse have closed. For a rafting business to stay viable, we need to run at least three trips per day. In recent years, we’ve been forced to cut down to two or even one trip daily, especially in late August.
What's Different This Year
Despite a wet spring, EDF is now releasing water at night instead of during the day. Apparently this is because it’s more profitable to generate electricity at night, when the price it can sell it for is higher. This means that since mid-June we have been getting 4 hours of raftable flow—from 8am to midday—while 12 to 18 cubic meters flow through the turbines all night. It is illegal for us to be on the river from 6pm.
Additionally, EDF just announced a full dam shut-down from 23 June to 3 July for maintenance, draining the reservoir and reducing the river to a natural flow—not enough for rafting. All rafting trips during this period have been cancelled.
Our New Plan: Gorge Walking!
This is very frustrating, and we're negotiating with EDF, however we're very small and we're not holding out hope that we have much sway over the public / private giant EDF! But we're not giving up - where a door closes, a window opens! With the dam now closed each afternoon, we finally have access to the upper Dranse —a section previously too dangerous due to powerful syphons created by full river flow.
This summer, we’re thrilled to launch gorge walking trips in this beautiful and undiscovered area. Think of it as an iintroduction to canyoning: you'll wear the same gear as rafting, plus a harness, and explore the gorge by swimming rapids, climbing through rock formations, and jumping into deep pools. It’s suitable for anyone 8 years and older, and costs €50 per person.
We’re currently waiting to confirm July water release times with EDF, so afternoon bookings aren't open yet. If we get more rain and the river is too high for gorge walking, these trips will be transformed to rafting trips.
Stay Tuned
We’ll update you as soon as we get the green light. In the meantime, we’re here, ready to adapt and excited to offer this new adventure - please bear with us while we work out the logistics!