Arriba! NRS has released its newest short film, “Something Is Changing,” highlighting Jan Larrue and Mikel Sarasola’s three-day race against the snowmelt to paddle Spain’s full Río Ara while there’s still water to do so.
“In the spring, the winter snow begins to melt and the water fills the valley full of life and colors,” says Sarasola of the glacial-fed river that starts high up in the Pyrenees and is regarded as Spain’s last free-flowing river. But the two paddles note that it’s drying up from climate change and there might not be too many other chances to paddle it.
Sarasola and Larrue have reunited each spring in the Pyrenees, brought together by a common passion and shared dreams to explore the rivers of their homeland. In 2022, they rushed to attempt a top-to-bottom descent of the Río Ara, starting with the rarely-run Upper Ara and ending with the uber-classic Lower Ara before the water dropped out from under them. With the season growing increasingly shorter, they worry that the community will disappear, too.
“I would like to think that ours won’t be the last generation to enjoy these rivers that give us so much… But I’m not very optimistic now,” he says.
Watch video here:
