News | 24 November 2020

White water, Russian bears and the power of saying yes: an interview with Sal Montgomery

Sal Montgomery is one of the UK’s leading kayakers. She’s led expeditions across the world and made national headlines last July when she rescued Steve Backshall while on a river in Bhutan. Now she’s taking on her biggest challenge yet – becoming an official Scout Adventurer

Can you remember the first time you ever sat in a kayak?

I was in Scouts and we’d gone away on camp. At the time it felt like we were in another country, but realistically, we were only half an hour away from home. Typically for the UK, the weather was atrocious. It was cold and windy but I still didn’t want to get out of that kayak. I just wanted to keep going and going!

Who was it who gave you that early encouragement?

Our Scout leaders were amazing. They gave us just the right amount of motivation and encouragement, and also a good bit of banter! They could tell that I wanted more and wanted to be outdoors doing adventures, and organised as many opportunities as possible.

What are the key skills you need for kayaking?

One of the key skills to master when you’re first starting out is the ‘roll’. If you and your kayak flip over, you need to be able to get back upright again. Until your roll is solid, you’re going to be reliant on people to look after you and rescuing you and your gear when you do flip over.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re doing big gnarly stuff, teamwork is absolutely essential. A lot of things wouldn’t be possible unless you work together. That keeps us safe, and also makes it a lot more fun because you get to have all these awesome experiences with your buddies!

What are the biggest rewards for a life of adventure?

A huge reward of this lifestyle is the places it’s taken me to that I wouldn’t have been able to access otherwise. Like Bhutan for instance. The canyon we kayaked through was completely unexplored – no one had ever been there before. That’s a pretty incredible experience! That feeling of being in wild, remote places and the wildlife you see is just amazing!

What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen on your expeditions?

One evening while on the Bhutan expedition, we pulled up our kayaks to make camp and realised that there were fresh tiger prints all along the beach – right where we were putting our tents up. The next morning, we found the remains of the tiger’s dinner, not far from where I had been sleeping.

What are the biggest drawbacks of your lifestyle?

I can be away for several weeks, even months, in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes you don’t see other people for quite a long time. It’s just you and your team in the wilderness. You get into a daily routine and each day is packed full of adventure, challenge and adrenaline. You go through so much together, as a small close-knit team, and it can be quite a shock when the trip finishes and you come back to what most people consider ‘normal life’. It’s a sudden and dramatic change of lifestyle and daily routines, which can sometimes be tough. I remember returning from a winter spent kayaking in Chile and going into a big supermarket in the UK – it was so crowded and chaotic that I freaked out and left without buying any groceries.

Tell us a bit more about how you started out.

My family aren’t particularly outsdoors-y. I obviously kayaked as a Scout. But I didn’t kayak again for a while because I thought kayaking was just something you do on Scout camp. When I realised this was something I could just go and do – I was addicted. I spent all my free time working on my kayaking, putting the hours in practising techniques and going on more and more adventures. I was truly hooked!

Was there somewhere nearby that was quite affordable?

Yeah, there’s an artificial white water course in Nottingham where I grew up, although I didn’t find out about it until later on. It’s a great place for practising on so while studying at uni, I got a weekend job there and spent as much time on the water as possible. It basically became my second home.

Do you feel defined as a kayaker?

Kayaking is my biggest passion and I’m proud to call myself a kayaker. I do love pretty much anything outdoors though, whether it’s climbing, ski-touring, running, cycling, swimming; most things really! This is pretty handy when I’m in the UK, as the rivers only really run when we’ve had a lot of rain, so all these other interests help to keep me fit and strong – ready for the next time I’m in my kayak.

I went for swim this morning before my day job as a physio in the NHS, and I’ve just been for a run now. During this tough year, I felt it was important to go back to the NHS and do what I could to help. Being able to exercise outdoors around work has been a huge help to me.

What’s your most memorable expedition?

That’s a tough one. What started me on bigger scale adventures, was a trip I’d planned to Nepal. The plan was to go kayaking on the big rivers in the Himalayas with a group of friends I’d met through paddling. As the trip got closer however, my friends all started to pull out. I had to make the decision whether to go alone, bearing in mind I’d never been on a solo trip before, or to wait and go another year. In the end, I decided to just go. There were definitely some ups and downs but it turned into an incredible adventure.

It was a pretty shaky start when I got in the middle of Kathmandu, which is a very chaotic place. It was dark, I couldn’t find the address of the place I’d booked to stay for the night, and I had a 25kg kayak and all my luggage with me! I thought ‘What have I done? I should never have tried to do this on my own.’

But the very next morning, I got on a bus heading to the mountains, and instantly knew I’d made the right decision. It just got better and better from that moment onwards. The original plan was to stay for three weeks and I ended up staying for six. So many crazy things happened – things I never would’ve expected. For instance, I ended up going on some amazing multi-day kayaking trips, as well as being involved in a North Face documentary about the paddling in the Himalayas, working as a safety kayaker on a pretty extreme river (the only female safety kayaker!) and running some big waterfalls. I came back and immediately said ‘What’s next?’ My life changed dramatically from there.

Can you tell us a bit about how you rescued Steve Backshall in Bhutan?

We were on a first descent in Bhutan. It was the last ‘un-run river’ there, so a very special opportunity. The reason no one had explored it before was because the legend had it that it dropped off the face of the world, so everyone was scared and stayed away. We went to explore it and had a fantastic time.

That particular day, we’d found an amazing section of white water. It was the kind of day when everyone constantly had big grins on their faces. Just as we left the last big rapid, the river began to relax a lot. There wasn’t a lot of daylight left and we all started to look for somewhere to camp. By this point, the river was really mellow, and we’d all kind of dropped our guard a little. Then suddenly, round the corner, this huge rapid was in front of us. There wasn’t an easy way to get out. We were in a really steep sided canyon and to get out, we’d have to paddle long distance back up stream and then try to bushwhack and hike with our kayaks around. We knew it was already getting late and that we didn’t have a lot of time left before it got dark. I could see that there was a ledge and an opening after the ledge. I went first, then another member of the team. Then Steve went. We’d had a big day and were all tired at this point. Steve didn’t quite get a strong enough stroke off the ledge. He nearly made it, but the river pulled him back in. The recirculating water wanted to hold Steve and his kayak, and the situation suddenly got very serious. He was stuck under the powerful, freezing cold water. Luckily, I was able to paddle back up the white water, get out onto some boulders and then throw him a ‘throw bag’. He managed to grab the bag of rope and I pulled him away from the dangerous place, back towards us on the other side of the river. It was a very close call, and it really shook him up afterwards.

Sometimes it takes just a small mistake for things to get very serious, very quickly. You have to turn off the emotions and the stress, and just focus on what you need to happen and do it. Teamwork is absolutely vital.

Why do you think Scouts is important for young people getting their first taste of adventure?

Everything about Scouts is just awesome! Even just the basic idea of bringing people together to have fun, make new friends and learn new stuff. Scouts also creates super valuable opportunities that you wouldn’t have had otherwise, opening your eyes to so many cool things you can do.

My family aren’t really into adventure, but Scouts made me see what else was possible.

When I was growing up, I did a lot of sports, but it wasn’t quite enough. I didn’t know it at the time, but I wanted adventure. Scouts introduced me to the world of adventure and I absolutely loved it! I would count down the days to the next Scout camp, and then pretty much cry all the way home because I didn’t want it to end.

What would your advice be to a young person who would love to have a go at kayaking?

I would say, ‘Say yes and give it a go!’

Tell us about your most recent trip?

I’ve just come back from another epic expedition with Steve Backshall. We were filming a new documentary in Kamchatka, Eastern Russia, where the world’s biggest population of brown bears live. It was another world first descent. There’s nothing quite like coming round the corner and being faced with a bear. It was a first for me!

Finally, how does it feel to be a Scout Adventurer?

Amazing! I learnt so much from being a Scout – way more than I realised at the time, which helped shape my future and adventure lifestyle. I feel extremely grateful even to be nominated and am super excited to get started.