“If there is magic on this planet it is contained in Water”
Nestled on the banks of the Sesia river in Scopa, Valsesia, Italy, you’ll find Riversoul, run by Davide Longoni, Elena Luciotti and Luigi Paracchini. Riversoul was born in 2021 out of the madness of Lockdown, beginning operations in 2022.
Davide and Elena were living in Milan, working as engineers and they realized through covid times that’s not where they wanted their future to be. A change was needed, covid pushed that change, a change to create their own opportunities and craft a future together.
Davide has been boating since his formative years, inevitable really as his father Paolo was and still is a kayak instructor. He started taking it seriously aged about 12 on the Lower Sesia, maybe taking a few swims along the way but by the age of 14 he had his roll and at 16, he knew. He knew that kayaking was for him, by now lapping the Sermenza and the Alpin Sprint on the Sesia.
Elena started boating in 2011 after meeting Davide, also coached by Paulo, she’s a natural boater. She works full time at Riversoul and at being a mum, and she is the boss, making the telling decisions.
Luigi, (GeeGee) has been friends with both since 2015 and shares their philosophy and Riversoul’s purpose, to make more people fall in love with water and rivers, as they have. GeeGee has been boating since the age of 10, on the river Adda, in Valtellina. Following in the paddle strokes of his father Francesco, a kayaking instructor, who also used to teach kayaking in Valsesia when he was younger.
The trio use the company as their medium for spreading the good word, the word and language of the river. Riversoul is about building a community, a meeting point and way of living and a lifestyle promoting and caring for the environment. Riversoul has a love friendship, sharing the joys and their dream, making their pleasure their work, along with the Italian obsession with food and perhaps the odd bottle of wine thrown in for good measure.
Rafting is the most commercial aspect of their business. The season runs from April through the summer months to September, taking new and repeat customers down the River Sesia, affording them the unique view of the region from river level. Rafting tends to bring in local custom from the immediate area and wider from the nearby cities of Milan and Turin
The kayak season is shorter with reliable water through May and June for the Sesia and its’ tributaries. The quality of the rivers and kayaking in the region brings people from across Europe and Riversoul is keen to expand that customer base, working with other commercial operations, Escape to Adventure and Gene 17 amongst others.
All three paddle rivers regularly but gain more satisfaction from sharing their local runs with others, guiding individuals and groups.
Between them they have paddled extensively, including Chile, Ecuador, India and Norway and they will be expanding their guiding and coaching operation to new areas in coming years.
Need some coaching? Riversoul can provide all aspects, from beginner to advanced, want to know if boating is for you or step up to your next grade, they can accommodate your needs. Drop them an email to discuss
Riversoul’s heritage comes from family ties. Paolo is still boating, you’ll find him on the Alpin Sprint at 75 or lower on the gauge and he was running Mollia until 2021. Indeed it’s only recently that Davide has bettered his father in river races.
Paolo is one of the people responsible for opening the rivers of the area up for kayaking and has maintained a book detailing rivers, dates and levels. A quick glance at this bible of river running shows his/the first descent of the Egua on 27th May 1984.
The family heritage on the local rivers extends deeper in GeeGee’s family, his grandfather, also Luigi, a pioneer of kayaking in Italy, was the first person to paddle through the Sesia gorges back in 1964. GeeGee has had the rare opportunity to hear stories about the birth of kayaking directly from those who were there. Stories that today seem almost unbelievable, stories of jars of resin being an essential part of the gear to repair the 5-meter-long fiberglass boats; of plastic bags used as rain jackets; of life jackets avoided because they were thought to be dangerous, possibly trapping paddlers in holes; of fires lit at the take-out to warm up after cold (and very wet) early-season descents, while waiting for the never-ending shuttles, eating and singing together.
If only he knew his grandson would be firing up drops like this in the future.
See you on the river, wherever it may be
A huge thank you to Davide, Elena and GeeGee for taking the time to answer my questions and providing me with pictures to use.