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whowillsurvive2012.com - The Mayan Calendar predicts the end of time: 2012. See the trailer for 2012, opening November 13.
34 Comments
- inactive, on 07/01/2008, -1/+10This is the sort of stuff that puts you in the Darwin Awards if you fail.
- JohnnyRad, on 07/01/2008, -2/+10its cheating because they use their gigantic balls as flotation devices.
- jonboykayaks, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6The reason a kayaker can survive a drop like that is the fact that water is fluid. The bottom of most waterfalls is aerated. That means that the water is infused with air making it a cushion. The other thing that helps is that they do not enter the water flat. If he landed flat, he would have broken at least his back. They enter the water with their bow of the water hitting first at an angle.
- inactive, on 07/01/2008, -7/+11This is seriously irresponsible. It's good to take risks and have adventures, but stupid to put yourself needlessly in danger to show off.
- ecrunner, on 07/01/2008, -2/+6he's like a kidney stone.... can barely see it, but struggles through the flowing masses of fluid, until finally in the end... survival.
- ironeus, on 08/01/2008, -2/+6awesome story, just one math clarification.
the kayaker travels at 300 ft/min and plunges down the 120 ft waterfall. Meaning he clears it at 0.4 minutes or 24 seconds which sounds like slow-mo.
Numbers aside, these guys are nuts. Awesome photos! - Chordinator, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4Their numbers are way off, maybe they left out a zero and meant 3000 ft/min. This would put him falling 120 feet in 2.4 seconds which makes a lot more sense.
- Creekweasel, on 07/02/2008, -0/+3I'm a whitewater kayaker and while there's definitely danger in the sport it's certainly not Darwin Awards territory. Also most kayaking deaths are not due to huge drops, they're due to undercut rocks (rocks with water flowing under them), strainers (trees or other debris that water passes through but kayakers do not), and hydraulics, all of which can occur on relatively flat rivers.
Just for clarification, the article says it's a fiberglass kayak which is not true, its plastic. Fiberglass isn't used very much in whitewater kayaks anymore and if you decided to run a 120 foot drop in one it would probably shatter into a million tiny pieces. - RocquesDiggs, on 08/28/2008, -2/+4Wow, I love to go kayaking but appreciate being lazy in a local lake and watching the fish swim aound, and the deer walking on the shoreline, and once in a while the eagles that are there.
My thrill is getting some pictures of any of those.
I hope my mother does not see this article because she will think this is what I am doing when I go kayaking now.
Thanks for sharing this article. Like others have said the photos are amazing.
The kayakers are in their own reality. - mllawso, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2How is it irresponsible to put yourself at risk? It's my body, thank you: I'll do to it what I want.
- partrow, on 07/02/2008, -1/+3Why is it that so many "sports" participants seem to have so little mass in the cranium? What's with these people, anyway?
- Aquilla, on 07/02/2008, -0/+2Oh awesome, I'm so glad people do this kind of stuff. Maybe there is still hope for the human race!
- KarmikTrance, on 07/02/2008, -0/+1They could've meant the water is moving at 300ft/min.. 5 feet per second, which sounds about right for white-water rapids.. could be a bit faster.
They didn't include the fact that after he clears the rock, he is free falling due to gravity, which is 9.8m/s/s, and figuring in Wind resistance and such, 2-3 seconds sounds right.
Anywho, these guys are insane indeed. I know Whitewater Kayakers in the mountains where I live, and I've seen them take 30-40ft falls, even one guy standing up in a rubber tour raft. - pciulla, on 07/01/2008, -2/+3Geronimo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- leerayIG88, on 07/01/2008, -2/+3not worth the risk. I rather stay home and fap to old 80's porn VHS.
- zrcochran, on 07/01/2008, -1/+2How do these guys stay afloat with their balls of steel weighing them down?
- terrible0ne, on 07/02/2008, -0/+1Pat is from Asheville and he rips on a mountain bike too.
- jackdaniels06, on 07/01/2008, -1/+2Oh big deal. Indiana Jones, Marion Ravenwood, Mutt and Mac went down 3 waterfalls in a row and survived in 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'.
- mark076h, on 07/01/2008, -6/+7Crazy? no He's just entering into the Darwin Awards
- snowwrestler, on 07/01/2008, -1/+2These guys are the top of the sport, but pretty much anyone can learn how to kayak well enough to run small waterfalls. Learn more about whitewater boating at http://www.worldkayak.com
- gryphon50, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1This is stupid, but not as stupid as "tombstoning". That's this thing in Britain where people jump off cliffs and bridges into water that they think is deep enough. I read about this one guy who got drunk first (kind of a "liquid courage") thing and then jumped into like three feet of water; now he's a quadraplegic, of course.
- starkistuna, on 07/02/2008, -0/+1Was he carrying a crystal skull?
- inactive, on 07/02/2008, -0/+1I gotta drop some poundage,I cork my cockpit and my roll is rusty.
- HA5TY, on 07/01/2008, -1/+2Dude.. as scary as that looks, I bet its fun as hell!
- hydroplane, on 07/02/2008, -0/+1EXTREME!
- lostsymphonies1, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1Simply amazing.
- inactive, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1Photoshop
- ageofanxiety, on 07/02/2008, -0/+0I'm thinking there is big $ corporate behind it. Reminds me of the Mountain Dew deaths by stupid extreme athletes.
- allout360, on 07/01/2008, -0/+0Can anyone explain the physics of how he survived that fall?
- ageofanxiety, on 07/02/2008, -0/+0Can I UN-digg this because it was all about money for this assclown.
- inactive, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1Yikes!
- jabiggs3, on 07/01/2008, -2/+1As a whitewater kayaker, I am awed by the kinds of rapids these folks will run. Definitely too risky for me, but darned if I don't respect them.
- inactive, on 07/02/2008, -2/+1Kayaking is for pussies. Pfff, I could do that but I don't wanna.
- lardoandkeg, on 07/01/2008, -3/+2Holy amazing Batman.
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