Kayaking down a 100 foot waterfall

[donny h]

I could do this.

Once.

[sreed]

IS THAT YOU? THAT IS FREAKING SICK.

[derstuka]

That guy is insane!!! I wonder if that S.O.B. lived or not? If he hit flat I could see his back/neck snapping instantly...among other things!

[donny h]

That is not me, that is some guy named Tao Berman, I hear there is a video of that plunge, I haven't seen the video yet.

[donny h]

I went and googled Tao Berman, it turns out he is a big name in extreme kayaking, and holds multiple world records, including a waterfall plunge of 98.2 feet, which must be that pic above.

Here is some footage of Tao, it is a long video, the 100 footer isn't on there, but there is an 80 footer that boggles my mind:

http://www.grindtv.com/video/more/kayaking/kayaking_tao_berman/

[derstuka]

I went and googled Tao Berman, it turns out he is a big name in extreme kayaking, and holds multiple world records, including a waterfall plunge of 98.2 feet, which must be that pic above.

Here is some footage of Tao, it is a long video, the 100 footer isn't on there, but there is an 80 footer that boggles my mind:

http://www.grindtv.com/video/more/kayaking/kayaking_tao_berman/

DAMN!!! That is some sick sh*t brah! Have you done any kayaking in Cali donny? I was gonna do some white-water rafting last year on the Kern, but the plans fell thru.

[donny h]

No whitewater for me, yet.

It's kind of funny that I have never been on any real whitewater, I have been to the world class Kern River probably thirty times, and have been many times to the American, Merced, Feather, Eel, Smith, Mad, Klamath, Trinity, Van Duzen, and Rogue Rivers, and haven't floated any real rapids on any of them.

Those are all top whitewater rivers, and all but the Rogue (OR) are in Ca.

My style of kayaking is slow, beer belly style, I kayak to camp, and kayak to fish.

Jason, I hope to eventually hook up with the PlasticNavy, they host tournaments and outings for yak fisherman, and they are based in San Diego, the yak fishing capitol of the west.

I don't have a decent pic of my current yak, but heres a pic of the yak I'm gonna' buy this summer, unless I buy a camper instead, this yak is maybe good to class II with me paddling:

[derstuka]

No whitewater for me, yet.

It's kind of funny that I have never been on any real whitewater, I have been to the world class Kern River probably thirty times, and have been many times to the American, Merced, Feather, Eel, Smith, Mad, Klamath, Trinity, Van Duzen, and Rogue Rivers, and haven't floated any real rapids on any of them.

Those are all top whitewater rivers, and all but the Rogue (OR) are in Ca.

My style of kayaking is slow, beer belly style, I kayak to camp, and kayak to fish.

Jason, I hope to eventually hook up with the PlasticNavy, they host tournaments and outings for yak fisherman, and they are based in San Diego, the yak fishing capitol of the west.

I don't have a decent pic of my current yak, but heres a pic of the yak I'm gonna' buy this summer, unless I buy a camper instead, this yak is maybe good to class II with me paddling:

Damn Donny, you slut! You have been around more than a veteran hooker on dollar night! You have been to quite a few rivers. :2thumbs: I bet if you would have hit many of them in the spring there would have been insane rapids.

I like the yak that you posted. A buddy of mine calls those kind "fun-yaks" since you don't get into the boot. The only real kayaking I have done is on a couple lakes/rivers in Michigan, and on San Diego bay about 10 times. The only way that the latter was fun was because a buddy and I start ramming each other (rental kayaks) and try to tip each other over. An overweight buddy of mine tipped over in the middle of San Diego bay and I would have to say that it was a real b*tch to get him out and back on his fun-yak! :lol8: Demolition kayaking is fun!

[donny h]

I AM a camping slut, no doubt about it.

I could try to blame Jerry Garcia, but it's all me.

I used to think it would take a lifetime to explore Ca., but I think I did it in twenty years, ironically enough the only piece of Ca. I haven't explored is out your backdoor, Anza Borrego, Salton Sea, the far south of Ca.

You mentioned spring rapids, one year I did Yosemite all four seasons, and that spring was the biggest runoff in thirty years, the Merced looked like instant death that spring.

I was at Happy Isles (since destroyed by a rockfall, a piece of granite, 26k tons, freefell 800' and wiped out Happy Isles, and covered 40 acres with an inch of granite dust) on a footbridge over the Merced, and the water was so powerful you could feel and hear BIG rocks moving on down the riverbed.

The sheer power of the river, the speed, the indifference of that cold bitch of an angry spring river was immensely beautiful, and awe inspiring, but so is a volcano, and entering the Merced that day looked like the same odds as a volcano.

I remember thinking, how can anyone float rivers like this?

That was before I had seen all this extreme video footage, now I realize those rivers are floatable, just not by me.

Demolition kayaking, huh? I like it.

That is the draw, for me, of the plastic sit on tops, they are pretty durable, and reasonably cheap.

I wouldn't want to worry about some pricey, fragile fiberglass, or wood boat, I just drag the plastic one around, bounce it off rocks, beat it to death, and as a bonus, when some drunk in a campground runs it over I'm not out thousands of bucks.

Oh, my new mission is to explore all of Utah, I wonder if it will take a lifetime... thanks, Jerry.

:rockon: i spent the night in utah in a cave up in the hills :drums:

[derstuka]

I AM a camping slut, no doubt about it.

I could try to blame Jerry Garcia, but it's all me.

I used to think it would take a lifetime to explore Ca., but I think I did it in twenty years, ironically enough the only piece of Ca. I haven't explored is out your backdoor, Anza Borrego, Salton Sea, the far south of Ca.

You mentioned spring rapids, one year I did Yosemite all four seasons, and that spring was the biggest runoff in thirty years, the Merced looked like instant death that spring.

I was at Happy Isles (since destroyed by a rockfall, a piece of granite, 26k tons, freefell 800' and wiped out Happy Isles, and covered 40 acres with an inch of granite dust) on a footbridge over the Merced, and the water was so powerful you could feel and hear BIG rocks moving on down the riverbed.

The sheer power of the river, the speed, the indifference of that cold bitch of an angry spring river was immensely beautiful, and awe inspiring, but so is a volcano, and entering the Merced that day looked like the same odds as a volcano.

I remember thinking, how can anyone float rivers like this?

That was before I had seen all this extreme video footage, now I realize those rivers are floatable, just not by me.

Demolition kayaking, huh? I like it.

That is the draw, for me, of the plastic sit on tops, they are pretty durable, and reasonably cheap.

I wouldn't want to worry about some pricey, fragile fiberglass, or wood boat, I just drag the plastic one around, bounce it off rocks, beat it to death, and as a bonus, when some drunk in a campground runs it over I'm not out thousands of bucks.

Oh, my new mission is to explore all of Utah, I wonder if it will take a lifetime... thanks, Jerry.

:rockon: i spent the night in utah in a cave up in the hills :drums:

Hell, I explored the Salton Sea a couple of times, you ain't missing much but one of the stinkiest bodies of water that you will ever smell. Thanks in part to two of the most polluted rivers in the nation dumping into them, The all-American Canal being one of them) and having no outlet. There are HUGE fish die-offs in the summer time, when the masses of algae bloom, robbing most of the oxygen from the sea, and sufficating the fishes. When i was walking around the shore, I had to try and not step on a dead fish, there were that many of them.

I was at Yosemite year before last and it was a good year for run-off. I know what you mean about those rivers thundering underneath you. I was amazed at how fast that they move. Truly amazing. Yosemite is probably the most beautiful place I personally have been to. In the Spring time especially.

I hear ya about the cheaper kayaks. I would be thinking the same as you if I were buying one...especially the way that I treat the rental kayaks!

[donny h]

especially the way that I treat the rental kayaks!

:haha:

Drive it like you stole it.