Kayaking
Nouria Newman extreme kayaking in Iceland – you're gonna wanna see this
From unpredictable weather to other unforeseen events, kayaker Nouria Newman recounts how a trip to Iceland brought home the harsh realities of her sport.
When it comes to pushing the limits of kayaking, Nouria Newman is always right there. After her plans of travelling to Nepal were scuppered, Newman ventured to Iceland and one of the most extreme spots on the planet.
Amid the unique surroundings, the French adventurer never imagined her month-long stay in the land of ice would unfold as it did.
“It was a tough time for travel so we had to adapt as much as possible. When you imagine a trip to Iceland, you imagine a dream trip,” says Newman. “It's all very beautiful and everything looks easy. There, it was the dream anti-trip. It wasn't always very beautiful, let alone easy.”
The quality of the kayaking spots though is almost unrivalled. "Iceland is very famous for waterfalls," she says. “Its geology is volcanic, so the rocks are more suitable for waterfalls than in an environment like the Alps where the rock is often not so good."
The perfect line
© David Arnaud
The land of kayaking
© David Arnaud
Feeling small
© David Arnaud
The big jump
© David Arnaud
Expectations vs reality
Accompanied by Anup Gurung and Tiphaine Duperier, Newman undertook a dream trip, encouraged by all the incredible videos produced in Iceland each year.
“There are a lot of images that are made in Iceland in outdoor sports because the light is always good,” explains Newman. "What we often see are high quality images where the beauty of the landscapes is always put forward. But in our discipline, we often film with smaller means and lower quality since we have the complexity of our environment, which is water, which is even more complex if the weather conditions are not optimal."
It reached -15 degrees Celsius
And so it proved. Evidenced by the freezing temperatures, the team quickly faced.
“At night in the tent, it reached -15 degrees Celsius,” she recalls. “Our shoes were freezing, and in the morning we had to thaw them in the stove because we couldn't undo the laces or even put them on. We expected it to be cold as we arrived quite late in the season, but not so early in the trip.
“From the second day, we were already in winter temperatures, it was a shock. With more than a month of trekking ahead, we were hopeful that we would have at least one week to be able to take pictures without being overly cold, but it happened right away."
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An injury to Anup also meant Tiphaine had to do both the video and safety parts of the planned shoots, which made it even more difficult.
When shooting began, Newman quickly realised the reality of kayaking in Iceland has nothing to do with how it looks. “The kayaking videos in Iceland are very action-clip formatted and you always have that notion of adrenaline and extreme,” says Newman. "What you forget is that before jumping into a fall you are very calm, sometimes even meditating, and you analyse each risk. This is something that breaks with the representation of our sport and what is really going on, hence the idea of playing on that cliché.”
The goal is to push the boundaries, but also minimise risk. “I think it's important to deconstruct this image of kayaking,” says Newman. “Otherwise the public just thinks we're oblivious to the risks."
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