Kayaker Dices With Death In 96ft Waterfall Plunge

[Faline]

This is the unbelievable moment a man takes kayaking to the extreme — plummeting almost 100ft down a waterfall.
Jesse Coombs became the first person to kayak successfully down Abiqua Falls in Oregon, USA.



His friend and extreme sports photographer Lucas Gilman captured the jaw-dropping three-second plunge on camera.

The thrill-seeking pair hiked to the remote 96ft waterfall armed with five cameras to film the stunt.

Before Jesse only athlete Tim Goss had attempted to kayak down this waterfall.

But he landed badly and dislocated both knees.
Despite the risks, 40-year-old Jesse was not put off.

He positioned himself in his kayak at the summit of the near-vertical waterfall and dropped into the pool below while Lucas looked on nervously.



Lucas said: "Jesse is a good friend of mine and you never want a friend to get hurt so there was a lot of pressure to make sure nothing went wrong.

"It took us two days to prepare for the shoot. We had to set up a zip line to capture the fall at the right angle and there were certain safety procedures we needed to put in place, which included positioning two kayakers in the pool below which was tricky.

"Abiqua Falls isn't the highest waterfall but it is considered the hardest.
"The lip of Abiqua Falls is very tricky, it goes from flat to vertical very quickly. So getting the right angle to hit the water is really hard.

"If you hit the fall at the wrong angle you risk serious injury.

"There were definitely some nerves there but you just have to remember you're there to document it and hope for the best."

And although the jump was a success, Jesse suffered a fractured shoulder socket and a collapsed lung. And just a week later kayak world record holder Tyler Bradt broke his back in the same stunt.

It was feared that Tyler, who holds the record for kayaking down the highest waterfall at 180ft, would never walk again but he is now making a full recovery.

Jesse said: "This waterfall comes with heavy consequences so not many people have attempted it.

"Three world class kayakers have attempted Abiqua Falls and all three of us have been injured to some degree.

"It's not the tallest waterfall but it's definitely considered one of the most dangerous.

"To fall 96ft takes around three seconds, so there is not much room for error.

"But knowing I'd nailed it gave me a huge feeling of elation."

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[collaredgirl65]

Breathtaking.

[Lee]

[kellyhound]

vid removed
That's some crazy stunt he pulled there

[Faline]

Vids here, it's great
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/...article/69289/

[Softballmama13]

Look's scary as hell! The way I see it, no one should attempt to go down this waterfall again as there is A 100% failure rate thus far!! All 3 got hurt