Why do I want to make this movie?

I have been accompanying adventurers in the great outdoors for many years. In particular, I had co-organized and participated in Arthur's adventure in Aslaska, recounted in the film “ The Power of Dreams ”.

The expedition whose adventures I would like to tell is the most ambitious that I have set up: a month of total autonomy in the depths of northern Canada to descend the Nahanni, one of the wildest rivers there is and climb a mythical wall with 4 other less experienced adventurers.

Sportingly, scenically and humanly, it was very strong. But this experience resonates in a very special way for me. Going down the Nahanni was a homecoming. It was when I was 15 I devoured “Nahanni”, Roger Frison Roche's latest book and “Victoire sur la Nahanni”, the story of the first descent. These books literally propelled me into Adventure. The years go by and of course there will be other expeditions, but this one will also remain especially that of my last big climb, my last “big wall”. I had the chance to live this moment with companions of the rope who could understand this moving handover.

It is also my first film as a director. Here opens a whole new chapter to continue this passion to transmit which is mine.

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Why do I go on expeditions with younger people so often?

First of all, I like the silence and the rhythm imposed by the great outdoors. Then I like climbing, packraft, Nordic or alpine ski touring, walking etc. It is every year more difficult to find people of my age to accompany me. So I solved the problem by leaving with younger people who also really challenge me.

 

 

What is my added value in these expeditions and what do I find there?

We live in an increasingly virtual world where everything is going faster and faster. I am convinced that adventure sports can be an antidote. By inventing an adventure, we can take back the reins of our lives, but on condition that certain rules are respected.

My greatest joy is helping the youngest to overcome the disconnection between friends or the sporting challenges they set themselves, to open up to the silence and the rhythm of the step, the paddle or the sliding of the ski. in these large spaces. This is where they discover their own music, which they really are. This is where the masks fall and a new, exciting relationship with others can begin.

At the same time, what I like more than anything is the transmission: empowering these young adventurers in the management of the risks that these adventures require. Rather than buying an “all inclusive” prefabricated adventure including photos to post on Facebook, I push them to invent their own adventure and try to help them set it to music themselves.

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What was the biggest challenge of this expedition to Canada for me?

This is the biggest expedition I have ever organized. Already just that, it's exciting. With one month of complete autonomy, the organization had to be impeccable at all levels: gear, food, logistics but also technical preparation of the participants.

But above all I had to manage to integrate myself into a group of 4 adventurers much younger than me, for whom many things were new. I didn't want to be their guide but I wanted to experience something strong together with them while sharing my experience and what made sense to me.

For my companions, the packraft on the Nahanni was above all a means of transport to access the Lotus Flower. For me it was much more. From the start, I felt that my biggest challenge would be to help them overcome their legitimate quest for a summit to enter this Nahanni with its rapids, its long moments of flatness and this interior music that it can make us. discover. For me, the success of the expedition depended on this challenge. On the one hand, during the month of autonomy in these large spaces, there were only two or three days of climbing and that's a month long. On the other hand, the two objectives had to meet and enrich each other, otherwise we would find ourselves quite alone together.

 

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What was the most difficult for me?

Yes, of course, physically, I hit my limits because it was huge sportingly speaking, but it was especially psychically that it was the hardest.

When you are the most experienced and you therefore anticipate more than the others what could go wrong, you have to explain everything a little at the beginning and impose certain rituals: how to set up the camp, to use the gas stoves, to cook, tidy up the camp before going to sleep, taking into account bears, requiring the wearing of life jackets and helmets even on the flat, drying the waterproof bags to prevent mold, etc. You have to pay a little attention to everything and you intervene a little on everything all the time. In short, even if you pay attention to the way to do it, you are often quickly perceived as a little "boring" by others.

Usually I play this role for the first two days, and then I let the rituals set in, see them change. I am not a guide and I do not want to take everything on my shoulders, it is against my philosophy of adventure. I try to be just a catalyst to facilitate autonomy in the management of the risks inherent in all adventures and ultimately… in life.

The problem is that often, and it was the case here, there is a backlash. When the reaction sets, the catalyst is ejected a little from the reaction. On the one hand, by appropriating the rituals, we tend to want to demean the one who introduced them. On the other hand, the catalyst which is no longer essential at the start of the reaction feels a little useless and uncomfortable. He must invent a new role in the group. In a way, it's healthy, but here the first two days on the river had also been the most difficult technically and psychologically to manage. I was exhausted and I had a little trouble going through this passage which is all in all quite classic. But everyone was tired and reacting as best they could. It was all understandable. We talked about it and it was a highlight. But mesmerized by the top, the rest of the team didn't immediately get what I was talking about, although we managed to deal with it well. It took me a while to get back into the group but we got there. It was a wonderful expedition for all and it really brought us together.

How does the age difference complicate things?

It's a very curious situation because I'm older than their father. At first it creates discomfort but it never lasts long. Very quickly everyone lets go and tells questionable jokes without making a difference. It is the magic of the experiment.

The problem here was that I was the only “old man” and that on the 550 km of river there were a lot of big dishes where discussions are the main pastime. And there the young people, they talk, they talk… I tried to listen and join in their conversation, but very quickly, I had to admit that in fact, I did not understand much. 'they said. They were talking about Youtube video clips, series, cult films like Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings with a multitude of details the complexity of which I was far from imagining.

I tried to launch a few topics but they gave me the same look of incomprehension that I did in the face of their discussions. In short, yes more than the physical, with age, it is also the cultural difference that creates a gap. But it is also the richness of this kind of expedition that bridging these gaps. From this point of view this expedition was a success and that is what I would also like to tell you in this film.

Dominique Snyers