The last time I saw Aniol Serrasolses, we were in a dimly-lit honky tonk in Cascade, Idaho, sipping cold beers after sweltering under the sun during at an event on the Payette River. He was telling me the story–I might have been prodding him uncomfortably–of his brother Gerd, who basically died in Mexico the previous winter. He was revived by a group of friends and then flown out of the jungle in a helicopter. As professional kayakers often do, Gerd (the brothers are both from Spain) was wearing a GoPro, so the whole scene is documented and part of Rush Sturges’ new movie, Chasing Niagara. As you’d expect, it was impossible not to hang on his every word. But he calmly laid out the whole story and talked openly about how his brother had been pinned underwater after running a waterfall.
He was humbled. And thankful. Aniol and Gerd have indesputably been two of the best whitewater kayakers in the game over the last five years, charging harder, and with more confidence, than any other paddlers on Earth. Gerd–more successful in the competitive realm–has won nearly every Class V creek race in the world in that time. Aniol’s contribution has definitely been to the style aspect: and he has added much of it to the waterfall chase, mixing freestyle maneuvers into his lines as often as possible, effortlessly (and purposefully) cartwheeling end-over-end while running the world’s most picturesque, and often difficult, cascades.
Aniol Serrasolses, left, with brother Gerd.
Because of its immense trove of whitewater–and outdoor opportunities in general–the brothers have both made Chile a second home, spending many Northern Hemisphere winters there. In 2012, Aniol was the first paddler ever to step up to 115-foot Salto de la Puma, an extremely dangerous, and technical, waterfall on the Fuy River in Southern Chile. But the falls wasn’t having it, spanking him like an unknowing child. He was ejected from his boat and forced to swim into the pool below the falls. The thing about both of these paddlers (and something that might sound outlandish to the casual reader) is how calculated they are when things are most dangerous. Aniol didn’t run Puma again until the recently-released video (above) was shot last year (he expands on his thinking in the solid short film, below). He had a chance in 2013 and passed on it. But he had visualized it over and over again in his mind since, thinking about his line, and perhaps studying this descent by his friend Evan Garcia. Then, when he felt right, Serrasolses went out and stuck the shit out the thing like a beast. You and I may never run a waterfall like this during our time here on Earth. But the process of running a drop like this might be a good way to try and live: When life beats us down, maybe we can learn to be patient, bide our time, study our flaws, and stick the hell out of our lines the next chance we get.
