One of the steepest navigable sections of whitewater on the planet has simply been descended once more, this time with plenty of water and a few world-class photographers and cinematographers on scene. The Santo Domingo Gorge close to Chiapas, Mexico, could be the last word playground for the perfect waterfall kayakers on the planet.
Dane Jackson and Bren Orton paddled down this insanely steep and formidable part of waterfalls on March 3. High water made the descent that rather more tough, because the kayak speeds elevated and the hydraulics had been that a lot larger.
While Jackson ought to want no introduction, some outdoors of kayaking might not have heard of him. He’s a four-time Freestyle World Champion, five-time Green Race Champion (and record-holder), four-time North Fork Champion, and three-time Whitewater Grand Prix Champion.
He has additionally kayaked enormous rapids and waterfalls (seven 100-plus-foot waterfalls to date) world wide — and a lot extra. Jackson makes large, high-consequence rapids seem like a stroll within the park and does so with a easy, unmatched model.
“I have been to so many incredible places all over the world, but the Santo Domingo Gorge is truly a one-of-a-kind sequence of waterfalls,” he stated after his profitable descent.
“It is one of those places you can’t believe when you see it. You can look up at that majestic sequence of waterfalls and know you can run the entire thing; there is nowhere and nothing like it.”
Kayaking Santo Domingo Gorge
About 9 years in the past, Rafa Ortiz, Rush Sturgis, and Evan Garcia did the first descent of Santo Domingo Gorge.
“Having seen this place in photos and video for over 14 years, it was a section always in the back of my mind,” Jackson stated. “Coming up on 10 years since the last crew was able to make it happen, we knew it was finally time.”
The gorge descends almost 800 toes in simply over 2 miles. The steepest part, featured within the video, is a 0.2-mile part of whitewater that drops over 300 toes.
There are 4 essential drops on this part. It begins with 80-foot Angel Wing Falls, then goes into 85-foot The Dome, then 65-foot Toboggan, and eventually 35-foot Raw Dog. Each drop has its personal challenges, however the actual problem is that they’re stacked on high of one another, so a mistake at any stage might have a ripple impact.
The aquamarine-blue waters flowing over the travertine stone create stunning rapids and waterfalls. The gorge is in a distant a part of Chiapas, Mexico, which suggests the closest hospital was two hours away on tough backroads.
Add within the time it could take to get an injured kayaker out of the steep gorge to a automobile, and it was vitally vital to have security in thoughts when trying this kayak descent.
The staff in Mexico with Jackson consisted of Israel “River” Maderos from Mexico, Bren Orton from the U.Ok., Adrian Mattern from Germany, David Sodomka from the Czech Republic, and Issac Martinez from Mexico.
World-renowned motion photographer Lucas Gilman was additionally onsite to seize the motion.
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