Chasing Niagara (2015) | Adventure / Documentary FULL Movie [1080p Blu-ray] - video Dailymotion

Darkmattor

Chasing Niagara is an intense and inspiring adventure documentary that follows professional kayaker Rafa Ortiz and his team as they prepare for one of the most dangerous challenges in extreme sports history—kayaking over Niagara Falls.  This gripping film captures the physical and mental journey of pushing human limits, as Rafa Ortiz trains relentlessly, faces brutal whitewater conditions, and attempts to conquer one of the world’s most iconic natural wonders. With breathtaking cinematography and real-life danger, Chasing Niagara delivers an adrenaline-filled experience that showcases courage, determination, and the spirit of adventure.  The documentary also highlights the emotional struggles, risks, and teamwork involved in planning such a high-stakes expedition, making it more than just an extreme sports film—it is a story of obsession, passion, and survival.  Movie Information  🎬 Title: Chasing Niagara (2015) 🎭 Starring: Rafa Ortiz, Rush Sturges, Ben Marr, Steve Fisher 🎥 Director: Rush Sturges 🎞 Genre: Adventure, Documentary, Sport, Extreme Sports 🌍 Country: United States 📅 Release Year: 2015  Why Watch Chasing Niagara?  ✔ Based on a real extreme sports expedition ✔ Jaw-dropping kayaking stunts and waterfall action ✔ Inspirational story of determination and courage ✔ Stunning cinematography of Niagara Falls ✔ High-intensity adventure documentary ✔ Perfect for extreme sports and adventure lovers  If you enjoy extreme sports documentaries, adventure survival stories, kayaking films, and real-life challenge-based movies, Chasing Niagara (2015) is a must-watch experience.  #ChasingNiagara #Documentary #AdventureMovie #ExtremeSports #Kayaking #NiagaraFalls #RafaOrtiz #SportsDocumentary #FullMovie #AdventureFilm #ExtremeKayaking #RealLifeStory #MovieNight

Transcript

00:00:031, 2, 1

00:00:321, 2, 1

00:00:341, 2, 1

00:00:362, 1

00:00:412, 1

00:00:473

00:00:573

00:00:583

00:00:58life it shapes its own path beautiful yet relentless peaceful yet unstoppable like rivers

00:01:07our lives flow in one direction through both treacherous and tranquil waters until we eventually

00:01:14find ourselves on the brink we've learned to harness the river's power to ride its flow

00:01:20but sometimes water has a mind of its own we were all riding on such a high as sore and

00:01:34as beat down

00:01:35and as broken as we all were we were heading straight to the agua soul

00:01:44i woke up feeling really really sick and still pretty concussed from the day

00:01:49of previous hits and and uh just still kind of out of it and i really knew that i probably

00:01:55shouldn't have been paddling we got to that first drop and you know we were all kind of

00:02:02kind of nervous i thought you know we're kind of all

00:02:05not exactly ready for it last thing i saw is that you know jerd was peeling out and he looked

00:02:10really

00:02:10good up top

00:02:11going over the horizon line in three two one dropping

00:02:52we tried to throw him as paddle as he got up and we missed that

00:02:55And, you know, I knew he was probably going to swim.

00:02:59I saw his head bob up for one moment,

00:03:02and then he just vanished. He was gone.

00:03:10Through the mist, we could just see

00:03:12Jared's life jacket and helmet,

00:03:14and I immediately knew he's unconscious.

00:03:16He's face down, floating in a flat pool.

00:03:21It was just a ballistic sprint

00:03:23to get to him as fast as we could.

00:03:33I saw it in Jared's face right away.

00:03:36He was gone. He was dead.

00:03:53Come on, Jared!

00:03:54Come on, Jared!

00:04:03Come on, Jared!

00:04:06How did we get to this point?

00:04:09Where did we go wrong?

00:04:11In situations like these,

00:04:13we can't help but blame ourselves.

00:04:16If only we could turn back time,

00:04:19start over,

00:04:21what would we change?

00:04:44We drove all night.

00:04:46Tough day.

00:04:47Frozen with fear.

00:04:48Super tired.

00:04:49A little tired right now.

00:04:50Tired.

00:04:51The sleepless nights.

00:04:52It's massive.

00:04:52You can definitely feel the nerves.

00:04:54Risks are always risks.

00:04:56This is a huge undertaking.

00:04:57Running your Agra Falls.

00:04:58Gonna be a real journey for Rafa.

00:05:00Water gonna be a big risk.

00:05:01Certain thoughts about death.

00:05:03Water is life.

00:05:04It shapes its own path.

00:05:07Feel how'.

00:05:08Run away.

00:05:26Go to the sitch.

00:05:27Of course we are terrified.

00:05:27Let's go.

00:05:27There you can.

00:05:28Be sure you are.

00:05:29Mentoring.

00:05:34Wait, do not forget.

00:05:35As we can.

00:05:35How do we get.

00:05:35To the picture.foler

00:05:35Henri Literary Before. One minig蘇.

00:05:35He comes in. The anniversary

00:05:36If you trace a moment all the way back to its source, sometimes you can find that split

00:05:43second in time, the decision that set fate into motion.

00:05:47And like most things in life, all of this started as a dream.

00:06:44And like most things in life, all of this started as a dream.

00:06:57Myagra Falls.

00:06:58Over the past century, it has become one of the most visited places on earth.

00:07:03With more than 22 million visitors each year, the falls attracts everyone from families

00:07:09to celebrities and dignitaries to throngs of honeymooners.

00:07:13By the early 1900s, it was dubbed the honeymoon capital of the world.

00:07:19That's me with my Spider-Man shirt, 12 years old, on my first visit to Niagara.

00:07:24I remember being mesmerized by the falls.

00:07:28Something about Niagara called to me, but I certainly wasn't the first.

00:07:34Back in the mid-1800s, a handful of daredevils found themselves drawn to the falls, attracting

00:07:41huge crowds to witness their daring feats.

00:07:43Then in 1901, the unlikeliest of daredevils appeared, Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old schoolteacher

00:07:52and widow.

00:07:53Taylor upped the ante, becoming the first person to ride a barrel over Niagara Falls.

00:08:00Safely at the bottom, she climbed out of her barrel to proclaim, no one ought ever do that again.

00:08:07But that didn't deter a long string of daredevils to come.

00:08:11To date, 15 men and women have ridden over the falls in a variety of craft and contraptions,

00:08:18from wooden barrels to steel capsules.

00:08:20Ten have survived the descent, while five have perished.

00:08:25Niagara Falls, longer challenged to the daring, is challenged again.

00:08:29A throng estimated at 200,000, watched tensely, expectantly.

00:08:40It's man versus the elements, and man loses.

00:08:44The rig is torn and battered by the long drop into the turbulent water.

00:08:47His body was found on the rocks at the bottom of the falls.

00:08:51Tragedy leaves its mark on men, but the falls thunder on unperturbed.

00:08:57I'm 24, and I've decided to run Niagara Falls.

00:09:03It's probably one of the most scary decisions I've made in my life,

00:09:06but it is actually one of the most amazing things at the same time.

00:09:10It is the one chance, I think, that a kayaker has, in this point of time, to make history.

00:09:15When I first started telling people about my plans to kayak over Niagara Falls,

00:09:20some shared my vision.

00:09:22You know, Rafa really has the integrity and the drive to pull this off,

00:09:26and I've got the utmost confidence in him,

00:09:29but in order to make this mission a reality,

00:09:32we're going to have to really put in the hours of practice and hard work.

00:09:37But most people just thought I was crazy.

00:09:40A man with a death wish.

00:09:46For me, it's so much more than that.

00:09:49It's the realization of a dream and the logical progression of our sport.

00:09:55Kayakers have been running waterfalls since the 1970s.

00:09:59Back then, a 20-footer was considered big.

00:10:02But as kayak designs got shorter,

00:10:05and the boats started being made out of durable plastic instead of fiberglass,

00:10:09kayakers began running taller and taller falls.

00:10:13By the mid-90s, the record was set at 80 feet.

00:10:18Soon, the 100-foot barrier was broken.

00:10:21The kayakers just kept on pushing the limits.

00:10:24In 2009, the current world record of 189 feet

00:10:29was set by Tyler Brott,

00:10:31Palouse Falls in Washington State.

00:10:37While Niagara Falls is not taller than Palouse,

00:10:41its scale is exponentially larger.

00:10:45Approximately 170 feet high and 2,200 feet wide,

00:10:50more than 100,000 cubic feet of water flows over Niagara Falls every second.

00:10:55A successful descent of Niagara would definitely set a new high bar for waterfall running.

00:11:02But I knew I couldn't pull it off alone.

00:11:04I was about to set off on a life-changing journey.

00:11:31I was born and raised in the biggest city on earth.

00:11:34Though it's my home,

00:11:35looking back, I think I did most of my growing up outside the concrete jungle.

00:11:44Kayaking became a vessel for exploration.

00:11:47It has given me the opportunity to travel the world,

00:11:51and challenged me in ways I never could have imagined.

00:11:54It's my lifeblood,

00:11:55and the river has shaped who I am.

00:12:04Heading east from the city,

00:12:05you pass through the desert

00:12:07and into the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains.

00:12:10Rivers are formed here,

00:12:12carving through canyons and rainforests

00:12:15on their way to the Golfo de México.

00:12:17This is the state of Veracruz,

00:12:19and there is no place closer to my heart.

00:12:32Kayaking is an individual sport,

00:12:34but you're only as good as the friends you pal with.

00:12:38When I first started looking for a team

00:12:40to help me prepare for Niagara,

00:12:42Rush Sturgis was at the top of my list.

00:12:45He's one of the most talented

00:12:47and well-rounded kayakers in the world.

00:12:49When I first met Rush in 2007,

00:12:52I was kind of starstruck,

00:12:54because I grew up watching him in kayak videos.

00:12:57But over the years,

00:12:58we've become good friends,

00:13:00and I was psyched

00:13:01when he agreed to travel with me to Mexico

00:13:03to help me train for Niagara.

00:14:21Kayaking waterfalls is an art form.

00:14:23We don't just huck ourselves off the edge.

00:14:26First, we study the river.

00:14:28We read the water like a book.

00:14:31The boils, currents, the hazards.

00:14:34We look at it from every angle,

00:14:36visualizing our line over and over,

00:14:39and then we fire it out.

00:15:03We'll see you next time.

00:15:18Not far from the river, my family owns a small coffee bean plantation, and that's where

00:15:23I spent a lot of my time as a kid.

00:15:28One of the main purposes of buying the ranch was to have both of my children, Rafa and

00:15:34Marifer, to be able to develop themselves in touch with all kinds of things in nature.

00:15:44Our idea is to have our children grow in whatever they feel they want to do.

00:15:53And I think that something that is very important is that they know what their passion is.

00:16:01And it's very pleasant for me to know that my children really love what they are doing.

00:16:12But of course, as parents, you never stop worrying because even though he has all the precautions in the

00:16:19world and he takes all the necessary measures to control risks, risks are always risks.

00:16:32This is crazy, a death-defying plunge.

00:16:35Wait till you see it.

00:16:36A professional kayaker plummeting 128 feet on a waterfall in Mexico called The Big Banana.

00:16:43Are you kidding me?

00:16:45Why?

00:16:46Why?

00:16:47You did this on purpose, right?

00:16:49It wasn't a mistake.

00:16:50I don't think that I'm especially, you know, the best waterfall kayaker.

00:16:54I think that there is certainly something different in me that not too many other people have,

00:16:58and it's probably related to danger and fear.

00:17:01I always find it really interesting how every kayaker is very much so shaped by the environment

00:17:08that they grow up in.

00:17:09So with Rafa, we see him being raised on big, tall waterfalls.

00:17:25He's kind of a self-taught kayaker.

00:17:27He really was paddling different than I'd ever seen anyone paddle before because

00:17:32he really didn't have anyone down here to teach him the ways.

00:17:35And as he's kind of integrated in with the rest of the world, he's just, you know, learned from

00:17:41everyone else and he's just become a really insanely good and stylish paddler.

00:17:45My life has evolved from being in the city to being now something absolutely different,

00:17:51being way simpler but way more enjoyable, I think, which is just being out here in the middle of the

00:17:56jungle.

00:19:08over the past few years he's been showing us these

00:19:11kind of like secret stashes and and waterfalls hidden in the jungle and

00:19:15it's pretty awesome to be falling rapid down his home rivers to feel confident exploring more

00:19:21difficult rivers you must have a solid team evan garcia is one of those paddlers who makes

00:19:30everything look easy among the world's best waterfall runners evan is famous for his smooth

00:19:36style and consistency besides being ridiculously skillful eg is also one of the most motivated

00:19:44and passionate paddlers i've ever met rush sturgis is my good buddy and the leader of our team he's

00:19:53been on the kayak scene for a long time and is one of the innovators of downriver freestyle pioneering

00:19:59tricks and flips off waterfalls both on and off the water rush is one of the most creative people i

00:20:06know

00:20:12and when i first walked up to to niagara and i looked over at the lip of it my very

00:20:17first thought

00:20:17was like man this thing's actually kind of runnable i was actually thinking in my head a little bit

00:20:21if it was something that maybe i wanted to step up to as well and after some more evaluation and

00:20:27consideration i definitely decided that this was not going to be a drop for me the risk is just way

00:20:32too much and i guess really my main role here is as somewhat of a coach you know rafa has

00:20:38built this

00:20:38reputation of really having that mindset where he's willing to take it to that next level so i want to

00:20:45help him help him try to get there i feel super fortunate right now to be here in veracruz in

00:20:52my backyard

00:20:54training in tomato falls with both rush and evan who are two of the best waterfall kayakers in the

00:21:00whole planet i'm really fired up to be here right now with them learning from them watching what they

00:21:06do and also getting good advice from them more this side really then once i see it i kind of

00:21:11start moving

00:21:12towards it start moving towards it and then kind of just drop we came to veracruz with the main intention

00:21:18of

00:21:18practicing waterfall running at tomato falls it's about a 65 foot drop and it's the most similar

00:21:24waterfall that we can find to niagara falls we're here to run laps on it and and practice as much

00:21:31as we can to try to simulate what it's going to be like when rafa runs something three times as

00:21:37big

00:21:38there are many different ways to run a waterfall just depends on how tall it is for smaller drops

00:21:44like those under 40 feet high we do what's called a booth basically paddling hard straight

00:21:50off the lip and landing flat at the base of the falls but for taller falls 40 feet and up

00:21:57we can't

00:21:58do that the force of impact can break our back so on big drops we try to land at a

00:22:0345 or even 90 degree

00:22:05angle that way the kayak can pierce the water with way less impact on our bodies and then there's

00:22:11a paddle on bigger drops some kayakers toss their paddle on the way down so it doesn't smack them

00:22:17in the face or cause too much stress on their shoulders when they land but i always do my best

00:22:22to hold on to the paddle so i can use it to roll up easier at the bottom we're trying

00:22:28to develop a

00:22:29technique for niagara that's going to err on the side of going what we call over the bars over vertical

00:22:37although not the ideal position to land in it's the safest for your spine and it's what's going to

00:22:43save your body from really taking as big of an impact as you would if as if you land flat

00:22:48it's

00:22:49falling back to the left but then that lefty stroke is bringing it back to the right and then if

00:22:55i'm

00:22:55corking out to the right i've got one more to go this way it's going to be a real journey

00:23:00for rafa it's

00:23:01going to involve him becoming comfortable with a 90 degree lip calculating how many times he crashes

00:23:07and how many times he successfully runs these waterfalls so that we can put that into the equation

00:23:12to make sure that it's a more than likely um outcome that he's going to stick it because at the

00:23:18end of

00:23:19the skills it's not worth it for our first true scouting mission at niagara we decided it'd be a

00:23:34good idea to get a second opinion so we brought along our friend and world record holder tyler brought

00:23:41i don't question ralpha's motivations for a second in running this waterfall and i do believe that it is

00:23:47a runnable waterfall every waterfall every drop speaks to everybody differently and you really

00:23:53need to have a personal connection with a waterfall to have the motivation to run it and to accept the

00:23:58consequences in running a large waterfall we basically made the decision that we were going

00:24:04to bring a team out here and we were all going to look at it and if everybody thought it

00:24:07was a bad

00:24:08idea we just walk away from this thing no problem but i sort of had a gut feeling that you

00:24:12know just

00:24:12from me being here and rafa being here quite a bit and us both feeling pretty good about it the

00:24:17chances

00:24:17are tyler um and evan we're going to feel good about it as well and i think that they do

00:24:22if this

00:24:23is going to go down and rafa is going to run niagara falls it's going to have to be choreographed

00:24:27pretty much like a you know a diamond heist i mean this is an international border crossing so

00:24:33they're pretty much on high alert watch at all times one of the most difficult things about niagara

00:24:40is that it's highly illegal so it makes everything that we're doing that much more difficult the law

00:24:46obviously views things differently but none of us have gotten to where we are because we play by the

00:24:52rules when scouting a waterfall it's always important to check it out from every angle

00:24:57and in a place like niagara there's no better way to do that than by pretending to be a tourist

00:25:26so we've decided to have one of our guys there waiting with a throw rope just in case the tricky

00:25:35part is that area is totally off limits so we pose as tourists on the journey behind the falls tour

00:25:42then jump the fence for a closer look

00:25:56the more we kind of dig deep in this quest we start really grasping if this is going to be

00:26:01possible or

00:26:02not and if it is going to be possible what are going to be the big risks to put in

00:26:06the table and

00:26:06decide if we're really willing to make this project happen it's definitely very different when you're

00:26:17attempting something that has actually been done and this waterfall back in 1990 was descended in a

00:26:24kayak by jesse sharp this guy from tennessee i mean coming from a background of whitewater but not really

00:26:30waterfall descending he just believed in it and he got in his c1 which is a kayak where you're kneeling

00:26:37down only with one blade and he went off through the middle of the waterfall and he didn't come out

00:26:44what we're doing differently is we've picked out what we think is a safer line off to the far left

00:26:50side

00:26:50of the falls staying away from the main volume of waterfall which would be the biggest danger

00:26:57what jesse sharp did in my opinion was just trying to step it up you know and you know

00:27:02and step into a realm that i mean he believed in but i don't think he necessarily was part of

00:27:09now that it feels like it's kind of a reality that the gears are in motion and that this project

00:27:13is

00:27:13going to happen um i can definitely feel it weighing on my shoulders more than it sort of has before

00:27:18and you know is it worth it to possibly lose a friend to have that on your shoulders for the

00:27:22rest of your life i mean i i don't know everything is wrong with this waterfall it's such a hard

00:27:28one

00:27:29to run it's on an international border crossing the legal ramifications i mean it's really the next level

00:27:42one of the big milestones in my training takes us to eastern washington 189 foot pelouse falls

00:27:58i'm scared it's a big one you just gotta make sure that when you get to that point right there

00:28:06you just go and take a big stroke and move that thing just body movement to control the angle yeah

00:28:12if this sets your angle already all you need to do is just being really good with the timing i

00:28:17think you

00:28:17could run left too like the line you're talking about with the where it's a little bit more of a

00:28:21rooster and i mean that might even line you up better but i would err on the side of better

00:28:27angle

00:28:27there's an immense amount of calculation and safety that goes into setting up for these descents the

00:28:34more big drops you run the more time and effort you put into understanding what it takes to run these

00:28:40drops the better you're going to be at it

00:29:21oh yeah

00:29:23let's go let's go let's go

00:29:31there he is

00:29:53i was good i was in my boat dude and then at the bottom it's just so powerful that it

00:29:58like

00:29:58ripped me out i was like holding my pelt with one hand my boat with the other just stop please

00:30:04let me be

00:30:05and then i just got pulled out man and i mean i'm glad i'm out here not back there behind

00:30:11the falls

00:30:12it was so long dude that's not three seconds that's a lifetime right there dude

00:30:23the force of the falls thrashed my body and ripped me out of my kayak

00:30:28it humbled me i felt like i had entered a new realm where human beings may not belong

00:30:35although taller than niagara falls the consequences at palooza were less severe similar outcome at niagara

00:30:42could easily result in death i still had much to learn

00:30:59with the niagara descent getting closer every day i need to push myself even harder so we travel to

00:31:06the state of chiapas for more training and a world record attempt on the rio santo domingo

00:31:12my good friend from spain aniel serrazolces and his brother jerd come along to pal with us

00:31:19before we tackle the santo domingo we first head to the aguazul for a warm-up

00:31:24the waterfalls here are totally vertical just like niagara falls but on a much smaller scale

00:31:30so it's the ultimate training ground for me to dial in my technique

00:31:38this is my first time down to the aguazul and this zone of mexico then kind of what makes this

00:31:44zone unique is the geology it's travertine rock and it makes these perfect vertical waterfalls that

00:31:51basically transition from a flat pool to uh very high free falls and dialing in that style of

00:31:57waterfall running is why we're down here and it's giving us a great opportunity to run some really

00:32:02big and awesome drops drop in like right off that curler right there yeah you see how like the water

00:32:08just kind of channelizes there a little bit that's it that's really left of the rock right left of

00:32:25uh

00:32:31uh

00:32:41uh

00:32:42uh

00:32:43uh

00:32:44uh

00:32:45uh

00:33:45He hiked right on, back up to the top and went again.

00:34:18I can't even land a 60-footer.

00:34:20How will I ever be ready for the Santo Domingo, much less Niagara?

00:34:32The Rio Santo Domingo is the steepest runnable section of whitewater on earth.

00:34:37No kayaker has ever completed a full descent of the river.

00:34:40We planned to be the first, running the whole thing back-to-back and setting a new world record in

00:34:46the process.

00:34:51The first and tallest of the drops is 80-foot-high Angel Wings.

00:34:56It's the most technical big drop I've ever seen, and there's zero margin for error.

00:35:01I found this out the hard way on my first visit to the Santo back in 2008.

00:35:08It's the first drop of the Santo Domingo in Chiapas.

00:35:12This is Angel Wings.

00:35:30If my team hadn't saved me at the last second, I would have watched over the next 80-foot drop.

00:35:37Angel Wings still haunts me to this day.

00:35:40You know, I just kind of really want to get back in one of those zones where I've been before.

00:35:46I've been pushing my own limits, pushing the sports limits, because I've been on that riot zone in my mind.

00:35:52And, you know, one part I've got to take care of my ass, you know, I've got to stay safe,

00:35:57you know.

00:35:57But at the other part, I also need to push those limits and, you know, get out there and bring

00:36:01that magic that I think Rafa's got somewhere.

00:36:21Yeah, we're bringing all this to tomorrow, man.

00:36:26Ascenders, harnesses, we're going to be romping around that jungle.

00:36:30Definitely a big day on the river.

00:36:32You're nervous?

00:36:34Yeah, a little bit, but actually not that much, man.

00:36:36I'm confident, like, everyone here.

00:36:40It's going to be a good day, like, just long and exhausting.

00:36:46Six in the morning.

00:36:47We're driving all the way to the Santo Domingo River today.

00:36:51Real excited, as it's actually my favorite river on the whole planet.

00:36:55It's kind of fired up to show new people this little paradise that we have hidden in the deep jungles

00:37:00of very southern Mexico.

00:37:08It's looking low, but low is good for the Santo.

00:37:11Low is pretty much what we need to run all these super steep waterfalls.

00:37:15That's perfect.

00:37:17We're going to be running stouts.

00:37:19It's pretty perfect, eh?

00:37:20Yes.

00:37:33We're ready to go.

00:37:35We got food, we got all we need, and now we just need big balls to do what we have

00:37:43to.

00:37:48The first section of the Santo Domingo feels like a mellow jungle river.

00:37:54But then you reach a spot that looks like the edge of the world.

00:38:00One of the biggest things in this art of running big waterfalls is the whole science that comes into studying

00:38:07a waterfall properly.

00:38:09And you look at the waterfall and you see a place where you could possibly be descending it.

00:38:14But you also study the bad parts of it where you don't want to be, and the possible dangers at

00:38:20the bottom.

00:38:23I'm just nervous about coming too hot off and roofing it, dude.

00:38:27If we can come up with a good safety plan, and I can get back to my game in three

00:38:33days, dude, I'm in.

00:38:34In order to run the Santo Domingo from top to bottom, we were going to need some practice days.

00:38:40And basically what that involves is us going down the river and scouting out the waterfalls, looking at them, evaluating

00:38:47them, running some of them, but really just kind of getting a feel for the river.

00:38:53You know, it's not like we get to these rivers and we can just, you know, run everything in one

00:38:58descent.

00:38:58We really have to look at it and make a plan and just kind of figure everything out.

00:39:03It looks horrible.

00:39:06A raptor says it's good, so.

00:39:09And you've got to trust the Mexican.

00:39:11So we're going to take the market as you continue.

00:39:36It's going to be a very long time for the Porat Bay.

00:39:40I'm going to take a few miles from thecommerce area.

00:39:40We could take the loan to track the Mercosur and the Pogosur and the Pogosur.

00:39:41Oh, my God.

00:40:20Both Evan and Rush nailed their lines.

00:40:23Now, it's my turn.

00:40:53I was ultra stoked at the bottom when I finally popped out of the waterfall and I saw the boys.

00:40:59That moment was good, you know, that everything right there had worked out.

00:41:04We still had the whole river to go, but right there, we were past the crux.

00:41:49For us, it's not about the record books or the steepest section of whitewater on the planet.

00:41:55It's really, at the end of the day, it was a personal challenge.

00:41:57It was something that we just wanted to try and see if it was possible, and it turned out that

00:42:01it was.

00:42:18Oh, man.

00:42:19I think I broke my nose again, but honestly, I probably couldn't be any happier than right now.

00:42:25Today was the first day that three of us ran the whole thing, so that's pretty historic and definitely a

00:42:32day that I'm going to keep in my heart for the rest of my life.

00:42:36Seems unreal, man.

00:42:37Frigging on top of the universe right now.

00:42:41Floating high.

00:42:42And I'm tired.

00:42:44It's like so tired right now that I can't even express it.

00:42:51Good day, man.

00:42:55Lots of white water.

00:42:56Good river.

00:42:58New favorite.

00:43:02After such a grueling day, the team is exhausted.

00:43:06But we have the helicopter for one more day of filming, so we rally and hit the road.

00:43:12Back to the Agua Azul, where we will attempt to do yet another top-to-bottom descent.

00:43:20We drove all night, slept for about four hours, and once again, we woke up about 5 a.m.

00:43:26and drove two hours down the bumpy Mexican roads to the put-in of the Agua Azul, and it was

00:43:32tough, man.

00:43:33We all had to just reach deep in and bring that motivation out to put on and get ready to

00:43:41run a couple huge 60-foot waterfalls.

00:43:44Well, uh, we're pretty beat up from yesterday.

00:43:48The good part is we're in top condition.

00:43:50We're putting on.

00:43:51We're about to meet the helicopter here in a half hour.

00:43:53I'm feeling good, nice and rested.

00:43:55We have to bomb five enormous stout vertical waterfalls.

00:44:03Most of the team is too fatigued to paddle, but myself, Rush, Evan, and Jerv decide to push forward.

00:44:18I made it to the lip of the first big waterfall of the Agua Azul, which it definitely is the

00:44:26crux of the run.

00:44:27It's kind of like angel wings in that sense.

00:44:29I was just jittery and skippy, and I just hopped right in my kayak and ran right off of it,

00:44:34and to be honest, I really didn't have that good of a line.

00:44:40Rolled up, and I was totally fine, and I took over the safety position in the base of the falls,

00:44:46and Rush came down.

00:44:56I had a really good line and was feeling super, super good at the bottom and hopped out to set

00:45:00safety, and the next thing I see is Jared flying off.

00:45:23You could see that he was struggling, and that he was probably going to swim, and then he just disappeared.

00:45:31He actually got pulled behind the waterfall.

00:45:33He was stuck in a cave.

00:45:36I peeled out around the waterfall, and then when I came out the bottom, I expected to see the boys

00:45:41just fired up, and I just kind of had no idea of what was happening downstream.

00:45:48And at that moment, I saw Jared pop up, maybe 100 feet or 200 feet downstream, and he was face

00:45:55down.

00:45:56He was on.

00:46:00He was on.

00:46:16He was on.

00:46:17We got to him as quickly as we possibly could.

00:46:21but I grabbed him, flipped him over.

00:46:25I just, he was, he was dead weight,

00:46:27and he had no life left in his eyes.

00:46:35Drop!

00:46:39He's got it!

00:46:41He's got it!

00:46:48Harder, harder, harder!

00:46:50Come on, man!

00:46:51Come on, Garry, you got it!

00:46:53Come on, Garry!

00:46:54Here he goes!

00:47:00Come on in, come on in.

00:47:04Come on, Garry!

00:47:05Come on, Garry!

00:47:08Come on, Garry!

00:47:09Come on, Garry!

00:47:11Garry!

00:47:20Come on!

00:47:50Transcription by CastingWords

00:48:20Transcription by CastingWords

00:48:51Transcription by CastingWords

00:49:21Transcription by CastingWords

00:49:49Transcription by CastingWords

00:50:18Transcription by CastingWords

00:50:47Transcription by CastingWords

00:51:13Transcription by CastingWords

00:51:25Transcription by CastingWords

00:51:55Transcription by CastingWords

00:52:02Transcription by CastingWords

00:52:37Transcription by CastingWords

00:52:40It's so much fun to be on a river like that where there's no portaging, you know, four or five

00:52:44miles of continuous class five whitewater and we can just feel so stoked to follow each other down these rapids

00:52:50and, you know, just do what we love to do.

00:53:37Transcription by CastingWords

00:53:38Transcription by CastingWords

00:54:07Transcription by CastingWords

00:54:09Transcription by CastingWords

00:55:07Massive Massive

00:55:27Transcription by CastingWords

00:55:58Transcription by CastingWords

00:56:12Transcription by CastingWords

00:56:40Transcription by CastingWords

00:57:09Transcription by CastingWords

00:57:27Transcription by CastingWords

00:57:41CastingWords

00:57:47CastingWords

00:58:00CastingWords

00:58:03CastingWords

00:58:20CastingWords

00:58:48Transcription by CastingWords

00:59:19Transcription by CastingWords

00:59:30Transcription by CastingWords

00:59:32CastingWords

01:00:02Transcription by CastingWords

01:00:32Transcription by CastingWords

01:00:53Transcription by CastingWords

01:01:06Transcription by CastingWords

01:01:26Transcription by CastingWords

01:01:37Transcription by CastingWords

01:01:54Transcription by CastingWords

01:02:24Transcription by CastingWords

01:02:34Transcription by CastingWords

01:02:36Transcription by CastingWords

01:02:38Transcription by CastingWords

01:02:41Transcription by CastingWords

01:02:42Transcription by CastingWords

01:02:45there are still lots of details to iron out.

01:03:09If we do run into that worst-case scenario,

01:03:12it'll be very difficult,

01:03:13but that's the beauty of working on the level

01:03:16that we're working on with the team that we have.

01:03:19I mean, everyone is experienced.

01:03:20Everyone's dealt with similar situations before.

01:03:24If Rafa is unconscious, we will deal with that.

01:03:27If Rafa is out of his boat, we will deal with that

01:03:32and, you know, get him out of the water

01:03:34and get him to safety.

01:03:45So the boat training here has been going really well.

01:03:48Breaking in the motor, setting up the Zodiac,

01:03:50feeling really good about our equipment.

01:04:08Physically and mentally, Rafa couldn't be more ready for this mission.

01:04:13That's all there is to it.

01:04:14He's been on this mission for a number of years now.

01:04:17Straight focus, you know, working out, running drops,

01:04:22mental preparation, you know, you got to visualize the attack.

01:04:25He's had a lot on his plate, but he's been focused

01:04:27for this end goal, his running the falls.

01:04:30He wants to do it, he will do it, he has to do it.

01:04:33It'd be crazy not to be nervous about this mission,

01:04:35but it's a healthy fear and nervousness,

01:04:37and we're going to take that and focus that, you know,

01:04:40on our end goal.

01:04:42Just hearing Rafa's passion about this

01:04:45and just seeing how it's brought this whole group together,

01:04:48it's a pretty amazing thing to be a part of.

01:04:51After a week of training on the Ottawa,

01:04:53I'm feeling really confident in my safety team.

01:04:57It's time to head to Niagara to hook up with the rest of the crew.

01:05:08It is hard to believe that this is actually all happening right now.

01:05:12This has been a pretty long road, this whole thing,

01:05:15and to have it here right now, the whole team flying in,

01:05:20just about to go down, it's kind of a relief.

01:05:24All these years and all this time and effort,

01:05:27and it's like one more day.

01:05:30This place swarms with cops.

01:05:35I think you're not a guy to have.

01:05:37Okay.

01:05:38The day before the descent,

01:05:39we arrange for the whole team to meet at a hotel near the falls.

01:05:44Under the guise of a phony nutrition conference,

01:05:46we spend the entire day going over every last detail of the mission.

01:05:51It all starts that night.

01:05:52We hide my kayak in the bushes about 300 yards above the drop.

01:05:57The next morning, the undercover safety team sets up.

01:06:00A group, armed with ropes and harnesses and posing as tourists,

01:06:05waits behind the falls.

01:06:06The rescue zodiac rushes up from a mile downstream.

01:06:11Six cameramen play strategically await the signal.

01:06:16Hidden inside the bushes above the drop, I gear up,

01:06:20get into my boat, and fire it up.

01:06:24A new morning would bring the biggest day of my life.

01:06:27I needed rest, but my mind wouldn't stop racing.

01:06:32I couldn't sleep, so I walked around town all night.

01:06:39Just before sunrise, I headed to the falls.

01:06:42Jumped the railing for one last look.

01:06:50With the flow cut down, I had a clear view of the jagged rocks below.

01:06:55I'd studied the falls from this angle so many times before,

01:06:58and I'd seen the rocks.

01:07:00Looking into the mist, I'd never felt more anxious.

01:07:04Excited and scared all at once.

01:07:07It was almost time.

01:07:26So many thoughts were flooding my brain.

01:07:29My home in Mexico.

01:07:31The rivers I grew up on.

01:07:33My family.

01:07:35My friends.

01:07:38And all the things we'd been through just to get to this point.

01:07:42Somehow, it all came crashing down.

01:07:50When I looked into the waterfall that morning,

01:07:53it no longer felt like a dream.

01:07:57And all I could feel in my heart was fear.

01:08:17So fucking hurts to say, but I'm calling it off.

01:08:19I've just been like tripping the last couple of days about the,

01:08:22you know, the depth of the pool.

01:08:25I just looked at it today, and I was like,

01:08:27like my first thing was just like, fuck.

01:08:30I'm not ready.

01:08:35So many more things that were adding up,

01:08:36and now the police was looking for us.

01:08:38And now I knew that my friends could go to jail for a lifetime,

01:08:41and I couldn't find that strength, that inner strength that I needed

01:08:45to pull it off successfully, to have a good line,

01:08:48to do it in a proper way.

01:08:52We had put so much pressure on ourselves,

01:08:55and the project, and each other to kind of get to this level.

01:09:00So I was heartbroken when I heard it,

01:09:03but at the same time, I was relieved, you know,

01:09:05because I knew that with that decision,

01:09:07that meant Rafa was going to stay safe.

01:09:09Right now, kayaking is really pushing the boundaries

01:09:15of what's possible.

01:09:17Just throughout this past year,

01:09:18we've been on a mission to run as many big drops as possible,

01:09:22to really push ourselves hard,

01:09:23and we've had several different incidents

01:09:27of really, you know, near-death experiences,

01:09:29and I think, ultimately, that's what influenced his decision.

01:09:34Rafa, three years ago, looked at this drop,

01:09:37and he said, you know, it was something that he really wanted to do.

01:09:41And every year, he practiced more, he saw more things happen,

01:09:45and the drop never changed at all, but he changed as a person.

01:09:49One big thing that I learned, and I got out of this,

01:09:53that made the whole three-year process worth it,

01:09:56was learning the importance of all those big people in my life,

01:10:02and making a big decision, not just for myself

01:10:05and for my own success, but for everyone else that's around me.

01:10:18Walking away from a dream like this

01:10:20is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

01:10:23But the river keeps flowing, and life moves on.

01:10:28Looking back on the three years I spent chasing Niagara,

01:10:32we accomplished so many things,

01:10:34visited amazing places along the way,

01:10:37and developed friendships that will last a lifetime.

01:10:41I learned a lot about paddling during this journey,

01:10:44and even more about myself.

01:10:47In the end, I realized how precious life is,

01:10:50and most importantly, what it means to truly be alive.

01:10:55music plays

01:10:59music plays

01:11:00music plays

01:11:22music back

Chasing Niagara (2015) | Adventure / Documentary FULL Movie [1080p Blu-ray]

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended