Packrafting Meet-Up Coming to France in 2026
10-minute read
Max Clemencon is a newer member of Aqua Bound’s Ambassador team who has been organizing packrafting meet-ups in Europe. The next meet-up he plans is in France in Spring 2026.
(Photo courtesy of Max Clemencon)
We wanted to introduce Max to you, have him tell us about his packrafting journey, and share the whys behind his packrafting events in Europe.
Here’s our interview with Max Clemencon:
AQUA BOUND: Tell us about your packrafting background.
MAX: I started packrafting in 2017 (back when thigh straps were just getting to be standard), paddling a few days a year.
The very first time I got into a packraft was during a 3-day packraft-specific rescue course in New Zealand. I then moved back to Europe and paddled on the Soca River in Slovenia, to finally move to the Durance Valley in France in 2023.
Since then, I get to paddle a LOT more as I have access to a lot of world-class rivers just outside my house.
I also got into kayaking when I moved to the Durance Valley. I find that kayaking opens up a new way of working on my skills. There are so many kayak designs that they allow more feeling for the water, thus improving my skills in a different way. The downside to that is that I tend to “collect” boats more than is reasonable!
(Photo courtesy of Land Water Adventures)
AB: When and why did you create your “Whitewater Media” YouTube channel?
MAX: The idea of the channel is to share some paddling tips and do product reviews of gear I have personally tested and own.
When I started paddling I had very little guidance, and I think that with just a few tweaks and advice, my paddling would have improved dramatically. So that’s what I try to share on that channel: paddling tips to help people out so they can learn from my mistakes!
Also, since I am a gear nerd and love learning about new products, new features and all that, I will dedicate a chunk of the channel to product reviews. You can check out all the content on Whitewater Media.
AB: What made you decide to organize packrafting meet-ups?
MAX: I’d love to say there was something holistic behind the idea, like. “I wanted the whole European packrafting community to connect under one event,” or something, but no…
Let’s be honest, it was a very selfish reason: I was really new to the sport at the time and I wanted to meet new people to go paddling with and learn from them. So I thought that organising a meetup would be a great idea for that. That was goal number one.
But there was obviously more to it than that. I knew from organising the first European meetup in Slovenia the year before, that a meetup is a fantastic opportunity to connect with other packrafters and share the knowledge: whether it is about paddling tips, safety, gear preferences, or even getting first-hand information about potential rivers to run.
I have also always been very concerned about the culture of safety in packrafting, so I thought that organising meetups would be a perfect opportunity to share good practices, train together, and also give newcomers (like me!) the opportunity to learn and practice in a more “controlled” environment.
So if I had to give a more serious and shorter answer, I’d say that the event was about creating a culture of safety. Giving people new to the sport the opportunity to practice and learn from more experienced paddlers.
I also knew the event would be the opportunity for people to meet new paddling partners and talk about gear and equipment, which is actually a very big part of the meetups. I find the talks going on in the evenings almost as important as the river time.
(Photo courtesy of Land Water Adventures)
AB: What’s the most rewarding part of these events to you?
MAX: The most rewarding part for me is to see people actually coming to the event…and coming BACK! The smiles on people’s faces in the evenings, the thank yous we get.
Every time—and this has happened a lot over the years—somebody comes to me and says, “We learned a lot this week. I have come to realise that I wasn’t being safe because of A or B. And so now I will stop doing this or that because I am realising how dangerous that was.” For me, it’s a win. It’s what this event is about.
Also, and particularly this year (2025), I got a LOT of photos from participants who met at the meetup, then met again and went paddling together later in the season. That makes me VERY happy.
AB: What are your biggest challenges?
MAX: The biggest challenge before the event is actually to get the word out. A few years ago I would set the event up on Facebook, share it on all the packraft-related groups and the word would spread. These days, with a lot of people deserting Facebook, it’s not as easy. I am trying the Instagram thing, but it doesn’t work anywhere near as well as Facebook.
The biggest challenge during the event is to keep everyone paddling within their own skill level. What I see a lot of is people who think that going down a stretch of river makes you a capable paddler. It does not. As I often say, it’s not about the stretches you run, but about the eddies you can catch. You think you can paddle down that rapid—how about paddling it UP?
And that’s what the event is about, getting people to dial down the rivers they run to really style every rapid they run. Most people come to the meetup and they want to paddle everything when they don’t actually have the skills (even though they think they do).
To prevent that, we have a “pedagogic” safety talk on Day 1 and an on-river skill and safety workshop after that. Usually, it humbles participants enough to keep them safe for the rest of the week—and hopefully the rest of their paddling career.
AB: Where do most of your participants come from, and how many do you expect for the 2026 event?
MAX: Oddly enough, France is very poorly represented at the event. We do have people coming from all around the world, however. Every year, I am amazed by the diversity. I believe in 2025, the most represented nationality was Belgium, with the US and Australia close behind.
We limit the registration to around 40 people because we have found that around 40 is the sweet spot to keep this event community-focused, making sure everyone knows everyone by the end of the week. We might have a few more people coming, but we stop the registrations right around that number of participants.
Registrations open February 1st, first-come, first-served. People can register at packraftingmeetupfrenchalps.wordpress.com.
(Photo courtesy of Tyson Crockett)
AB: Generally, how popular is packrafting in France?
MAX: I can only talk about the whitewater side of packrafting since it is the only thing I do and the only people I talk to and hang out with. I would not say that packrafting in France is super popular, but it is taking off, definitely.
From my experience, a lot of people come across packrafts because they do other sports, like hiking or cycling. They end up packrafting because they want to go on the river, they want to do whitewater stuff. Usually, they don’t have a paddling club nearby or storage space, so a packraft allows them to play around without the very steep learning curve that kayaking requires (and I actually think that kayakers would benefit from starting in a packraft, but that’s for a different conversation).
So they can go on easy rivers, have a bit of a feel for it, come to packrafting events where we’ll give them some guidance on safety and paddling, and then they can just deflate it and store it away easily.
Adventure racing is also getting very popular in France. These are races that combine multiple sports like running, biking and packrafting, for instance. I am actually extremely concerned about that because those races are all about being as light as you can (to go the distance), sleeping as little as you can, and transitioning from one sport to the other as fast as possible.
Consequently, at those races, a lot of people go without the appropriate equipment (the mandatory equipment is nowhere near what you would take for a safe paddle), minimal paddling skills and oftentimes, close to zero knowledge of whitewater safety.
From what I can see online, it is concerning and we must address the issue with the organisers of those events and the adventure racing community.
AB: What led you to an Aqua Bound partnership?
MAX: Since I am quite involved in the packrafting community in Europe—organising events, talking to paddling folks in the Durance Valley and now working on my presence online—I guess it was fitting for Aqua Bound to have somebody represent them in this part of the world.
It was a great surprise when I got the first call, but I am glad to be part of the ambassador team, and really look forward to working with Aqua Bound more in the future.
AB: Is there anything you'd like our mostly-American audience to know about packrafting in your part of the world?
MAX: As an American, if you make it over to Europe, you’ll be very impressed by the diversity of rivers and culture you will find within a few hours' drive. The food culture is HUGE here. The feedback I get from people coming here is actually how well they ate during their paddling trip.
That being said, river-wise, I would recommend coming to Europe somewhere between early June and the end of July. August is the BIG tourist season, and a lot of places are packed, a lot of people are on the roads and fewer rivers are running.
If you wanted to do a super trip, I would start at the end of June or beginning of July in the Durance Valley, France (where I live). Peak flow here is from mid-May to mid-June, and more and more places become very low from mid-July. Eat a lot of croissants and cheese during your stay.
From there, drive up to the Valsesia Valley (northwest of Italy), which is only a few hours away. Paddle there, eat pasta, pizza and Parmigiano cheese. Then keep driving up across Austria and Switzerland.
The Inn River is a very good starting point, the Isar as well, July and August being the best time to paddle them. Keep driving up, paddle some rivers in Southern Germany and then straight up to Norway on the Sjoa!
Max at a packrafting event (Photo courtesy of Max Clemencon)
A big thanks to Max for his time with us answering our questions, as well as for the photos he sent over.
Again, you can find out more about the 2026 Packrafting Meetup in France here: packraftingmeetupfrenchalps.wordpress.com. Follow Max Clemencon on YouTube at Whitewater Media.
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