Kayaking the Rio Santo Domingo, Chiapas, Mexico

Kayaking the Rio Santo Domingo, Chiapas, Mexico

Photograph by Marcos Ferro, Red Bull Content Pool

"This is a shot of the last drop off in the big canyon of the Rio Santo Domingo," recalls kayaker Rafael Ortiz of this moment on the steepest known kayakable whitewater sequence in the world, found in Chiapas,
Mexico. "I was feeling totally stoked and high-energy when dropping the
last 50 feet." This section of the river, which carves a path near the Guatemala border, tumbles over the rocks at an average slope of 1,900 feet per mile.
Ortiz, Rush Sturges, and Evan Garcia ran the full sequence of falls—dropping 80 feet, 80 feet, 20 feet, 70 feet, 20 feet, and then these last 50 feet—which had been a longtime goal for Ortiz. "Just for Angel Wings, the first and most savage drop, you have to count 100 percent on your team if anything goes wrong."
"I've been to this river every year since kayaker Ben Stookesberry showed it to me six years ago," recalls Ortiz. "And I've always dreamed about doing every single one of the drops in one day. It's the ultimate thrill. You can paddle every single one of the drops in less than three minutes—it's insane!"