INTERVIEW ANUP GURUNG

WHEN YOU SEE HIS NEVER-ENDING SMILE, YOU MIGHT THINK NEPALI PADDLER ANUP GURUNG HAS HAD AN EASY LIFE. BUT ANUP IS A SURVIVOR. FROM A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE WHEN HE WAS BORN, TO FALLING INTO A RIVER DURING MONSSON AT AGE 4, TO LEARNING TO PADDLE ALMOST ON HIS OWN ON THE HIMALAYA’S RAGING RIVERS, ANUP’S SMILE COMES FROM TRULY UNDERSTANDING THAT LIFE IS PRECIOUS. NOW A RAFTING AND KAYAKING COMPANY OWNER IN ICELAND, ANUP’S LIFE OBSESSION FOR KAYAKING HAS PAID OFF: HE IS A SOLID CLASS 5 PADDLER, WHOSE THIRST FOR ADVENTURE AND LIFE SEEMS TO BE ENDLESS. THIS SPRING, AS A SURVIVOR HIMSELF, HE COULD ONLY DECIDE TO GO HOME TO NEPAL TO HELP AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE. MEET AN EXTRAORDINARY PERSON, WHO MAKES YOU LOVE LIFE AND BELIEVE IN HUMANKIND AFTER YOUR FIRST MEETING.

Words: Philippe Doux - Photos: Courtesy of Anup Gurung

KS: Tell us about your first encounter with whitewater. It was a rather rough one, right? AG: My first whitewater encounter was the best experience ever. I just wish I had at least remembered part of it! When I was 4 years old, I fell into the river in the monsoon flood (around 15 cumecs). I was swept downstream around 4 km and got stuck on a bamboo bar set up by farmers to redirect water into rice field. Farmers pulled me out and left me on the ground declared dead. When my mothaer didn’t see me around she knew exactly where her son was and started sprinting downstream. When she reached the scene, farmers and villagers tried to calm her down telling her that it was over for her…

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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, KS#55 (fall 2015)

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