Pictured: The moment record-breaking kayaker plunged 127 FEET off waterfall... and survived


Faced with this awesome waterfall, most of us would be happy to stand at the side and enjoy the view.

For one man, however, that wasn't enough. Pedro Olivia risked his life by jumping into his kayak, paddling straight over the edge - and dropping an astonishing 127 feet off the Salto Belo falls in central Brazil.

He fell head first for 2.95 seconds before hitting the churning waters below at 70mph.

And after vanishing at the base of the falls for a few heart-stopping minutes, he reappeared to claim a new world record in waterfall descents. 

The 26-year-old, who has spent the last four years searching his country for the perfect location, shattered the previous 108ft record.

Perdro Olivia kayaking at Salto Belo falls

Daredevil: Pedro Olivia freefalls down the Salto Belo waterfalls in central Brazi

‘It’s a story that I will be telling for the rest of my life,’ he said.

‘In all I have spent the better part of13 years developing my kayaking skills, searching the Brazilian rivers for the most spectacular rapids and falls.’

Joined by some of the world’s most able class V (extreme kayakers) on the Brazil World Record Attempt Expedition, Pedro achieved his amazing feat on March 4.

Team leader Ben Stookesberry helped to plan and record the extraordinary event.

‘As with the majority of our descents in Brazil, we were led to this falls by extremely friendly and helpful locals,’ he explained.

Pedro Olivia

Made it: Pedro after successfully breaking the previous waterfall record, which stood at 108ft

The Salto Belo on the Rio Sacre in Campos Novos, Mato Grosso, is a massive river running with 5,000 cubic feet per second of tepid, crystal clear rainwater.

Using a static line loaded with a dry bag, Ben and his team set out to get an accurate measurement of the drop.

‘At 38.7m it was just shy of our guides' claim of a 40-metre drop, and five and a half metres over the current world record height of 33.1m, or 108.3ft,’ the 30-year-old said.

‘Pedro was intrigued from the start and quickly gave up his role as lead cinematographer to seriously consider the drop.

‘From the beginning Pedro had his eyes on a big converging tongue of water on the left side of the river, but he wanted to see it from all possible angles.

‘This had him inching his way through waist-deep water at the brink of the falls to get the view he would have from his kayak.’

Spending three hours scouting the Salto Belo falls, which span nearly a quarter of a mile in width, Pedo considered every scenario before attempting the daring descent.

‘I did have a serious moment while scouting the falls where I had to line everything up in my head,’ he says.

Enlarge   Pedro Olivia kayaks over Salto Belo waterfalls

On the edge: Pedro, 26, just after beginning his 70mph descent

‘I had to know exactly where to go over the lip of the falls that was over 100 metres wide.

‘I had to pick out every little wave, hole, or rock that would lead me to the exact perfect position on the lip.

‘Every detail had to be memorised and then executed perfectly from the seat of the kayak.

‘Once you are in the kayak at river level the slope of the falls hides all but those seemingly inconspicuous markers that you have chosen.

‘The actual free fall felt like an eternity of acceleration and waiting for a huge impact in the pool below.

‘As I drifted over vertical into a head down position I braced for the worst in a protective tuck position.

‘But the massive impact never came.’ With safety teams waiting in nervous anticipation at the top and the foot of the falls, Ben hit the record button as Pedro climbed into his kayak and charged at the sloping lip of the falls.

‘After the first 13 metres, or 43 feet of free fall, Pedro began to over rotate into a head down position,’ explains Ben.

‘From high on river left, we lost sight of Pedro after approximately 2.8 seconds of visible free-fall.

‘Without a sound, Pedro disappeared into the 10 to 15 feet of spray that emanated from the base of the falls.’

Enlarge   Pedro Olivia kayaks over Salto Belo waterfalls

Into the depths: Clouds of foam and spray cover the pool Pedro plunged into after falling for 2.95 seconds

Not emerging from the falls for several minutes, Ben and his safety team were set to spring into action when a scream of excitement emerged from the base of the falls.

‘Pedro’s experience on the other side of the camera was quite different,’ said Ben.

‘With the massive amount of water mixing with 127 feet of air, the landing was much more like 15 feet of churning dry powder snow than the hard surface of a lake.

‘This took Pedro and his boat deep into soft but violent water.

‘His paddle snapped and flushed away as he was churned in the base of the falls.

‘As he felt the violent churn of the falls ebb, he brushed against some rocks that he grabbed to right his kayak.

‘Pedro caught his bearings and realised he had entered a scenario that could have been a kayaker’s nightmare: resurfacing behind the falls.

‘Rolling up in these extremely inhospitable surroundings behind the falls, Pedro emerged from the cavern behind the falls like a man returning from another world, and without a single scratch to show for his record breaking descent.’ For Pedro however, this great risk was worth the reward.

‘The sensation of running the world record falls was like no other experience that I have had,’ he says.

‘I was literally putting my life on a thin ribbon of water that would deliver me safely into the pool below.

‘A couple of feet one way or another was all it would take to turn the world’s most exhilarating experience, into the ultimate consequence: serious injury, broken back, or death.

‘But this is what we have been doing on this expedition is going to the most beautiful places which are in turn also some of the most dangerous places.

‘For me breaking the record was not a victory over nature but a harmony between myself, my team, and the river.’

 

 

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