SAMAYA X NOURIA NEWMAN
COMBINED SKI/KAYAK EXPEDITION IN GEORGIA
Nouria Newman, accompanied by Tiphaine Duperier and Carole Chambaret, set off to discover Georgia in May 2023. Attracted by the duality of the landscapes, between the austerity of the glaciers and the flourishing nature in the heart of the valleys, they chose to carry out an expedition that reflected this contrast, combining the practices of skiing and kayaking. For Samaya, Nouria recounts their journey.
"Tiphaine and I wanted to set off on a project that was fairly short and not necessarily ultra-committal. Georgia seemed like the perfect destination, both for kayaking and for skiing, which seemed crazy. For the first part of the trip, we left with Carole, a good friend, to do all the mountain part.
When we arrived, we had a very small weather window, and as Carole wouldn't be here for long, we were in a hurry and tried to get to the mountains as much as possible. Except that the conditions weren't really there: either it was too hot, or the weather was fine, but only for a very short time. In the first 10 days, we only made 3 attempts. It was hard because we weren't acclimatized, and we chose something a bit hard so we ended up with a goal. It started to warm up very early in the ascent of the couloir, and we saw an avalanche going off not far away, so we turned back. It was the same for the second attempt.
What was really amazing was that, out of nowhere, dogs followed us all over the mountain. They slept with us at base camp, followed us when we started our climbs and only turned back when we put on our crampons.
When we got to the other side of the glacier, we found ourselves really on our own, and we were finally able to ski some nice slopes. It was really hard for me, I was at the end of my tether at every turn, I had to concentrate and I was scared. I had to concentrate and I was scared. But I liked it all the same, and it made me progress in my kayaking too. I feel like I've been stuck in the same place for 3 years now, and I'm realizing that doing other activities, especially in the mountains, helps me with everything to do with decision-making, handling and endurance. There are real transfers being made.
It's also interesting, I think, to be in a discipline where, ultimately, you're not good and you're hyper-vulnerable, which pushes you to seek out sensations where you're afraid, you put yourself in real difficulty and that's great because to be in the same state in my sport, it implies that I really put myself in danger.
In the end, Georgia was a combined expedition. It's funny because when we were skiing in the mountains, it was very steep and the glaciers were scary. Then you go down to go kayaking, in the heart of a small forest, it's springtime, with flowers everywhere. As for the kayaking, we were in superb canyons with beautiful waterfalls. The problem was that it had rained so much that it was flooding and I was doing sessions in places I didn't know, so I was under a bit of pressure. But I also wanted to sail as much as possible, so I went for it!
