Kayaking
Rafa Ortiz had a dream to kayak over Niagara Falls. Follow his journey with Chasing Niagara.
Niagara Falls by the factbook is daunting: 567,811 litres of water per second, 51m high, an international border shared by Canada and the United States. It's sheer power has captured the attention of athletes on different ends of the sport spectrum. Will Gadd had a dream to go up the falls. Rafa Ortiz, on the other hand, had another dream.
Chasing Niagara is about that dream. It's a documentary about how a young kayaker, raised in Mexico City, and now one of the world's preeminent whitewater paddlers, decided to do the near-impossible, and the consequences of that decision.
So how do you train to drop Niagara Falls?
Rivers like the Santo Domingo in Chiapas, Mexico and waterfalls like the 60m-tall Palouse Falls in Washington State are the training grounds. "This section of the Santo Domingo is the steepest section of whitewater on Earth," says Ortiz of the Santo Domingo. "No kayaker has ever completed a full descent of the river. We plan to the be the first."
Needless to say, the Ortiz's journey to confront Niagara Falls. The hour-long documentary showcases Ortiz and friends as they test their limits and face serious questions about whether it's a good idea to risk life, limb and liberty on Niagara Falls.
Want to see the full movie? Watch Chasing Niagara on iTunes.