In 90 minutes, the film "Wild Waters" revisits the particular journey of Frenchwoman Nouria Newman, who went from artificial ponds to the most impressive rivers and waterfalls on the planet.
In the film "Wild Waters" (see below in full), director David Arnaud takes us into the life of Frenchwoman Nouria Newman, now considered the best extreme kayaker in the world. However, she was far from this specific discipline of kayaking during her early years, shining more on the slalom courses. World vice-champion of the specialty, Nouria Newman finally decided a few years ago to leave the artificial basins to devote herself to expedition kayaking.
At 30 years old, she now boasts an impressive record of achievements with three extreme kayaking world championship titles. She faces the highest waterfalls in the world and competes with men when it comes to the most challenging rivers on the planet.
"Wild Waters" also allows us to travel with the Savoyard woman, a specialist in extreme expeditions in distant lands. Adventures that obviously require intense work before departure. "I first spend hours looking for a place, a geographical area that I like, where there are incredible things to do" explains Nouria. "Once this basic dream is defined, I look at a lot of satellite images, I analyze the profile of the river, to have an idea of the flow, the difference in level and to study the feasibility. If the river can go down, then we must anticipate all the problems. Then, we form a team according to the terrain. Girls, boys, it doesn't matter as long as there is mutual respect and that everyone enjoys themselves with common objectives. We also have to organize ground support in case of emergency, and this person can also sometimes take on the role of weather router. These are people who are not on site, but without whom the adventure would become really dangerous."
From the Himalayas to Patagonia via Iceland, "Wild Waters" proves just how far the Frenchwoman has pushed herself to reach the limits of her sport (she holds the world record for the largest waterfall ever achieved by a woman in a kayak, at 31.7 meters high). Sometimes, it is not the moments spent in the water that are the most demanding, but rather the approaches to the rivers, real expeditions in themselves, like the one in Ecuador in 2021:
"We were supposed to go down a river in 16 days, but we didn't even get halfway down in 22 days! It was the steepest course we had ever attempted in terms of elevation gain. To give you an idea, at 4 % of slope, it is complicated and on this project, we had long portions at 7 % and up to 12 %! The difficulty in the jungle is the progression: to carry our kayaks one day to make 2 kilometers because it is necessary first to trace a way with the machete. And once you are engaged in a canyon with super steep slopes, it is not possible to turn back. And to add to the difficulty, you have to keep carrying the kayaks, as the river current is far too strong to navigate. Not to mention the unfavorable weather conditions: as soon as it rained, the water flow was too great, and we had to wait for the water to recede, sometimes for up to three days.
A reference in her discipline, Nouria Newman still has many rivers and waterfalls to face. While never rejecting the notion of fear, which she believes is useful to her practice: "For me, fear is a tool, a super alarm. It forces me to be extremely vigilant and concentrated. My worst kayaking accidents happened when I was not afraid, in my comfort zone, like in Zanskar. You have to use fear. I like being afraid, otherwise I wouldn't put such high levels of stress and commitment on myself."
