I got a last minute call from Jason telling me he and a friend (Jeff) were going to run the falls during the snow storm. Virginia side. Cool. I'll be there. They made one pretty wild run and decided to climb the rocks (that's right, in the snow!) and have a second go of it. The series below documents a little too much excitement on that second run.
Jeff going over the upper falls.
He gets caught in a hole or "reversal."
He's been pushed over to the opposite side.
Still under. Trying to right himself.
Here he rights himself very briefly.
Jason enters from the left.
Tries to get to Jeff.
The current is strong. Pushes Jason away from
Jeff who is once again upended.
Jeff finally extricates himself from the kayak.
Hidden from view,
he clings to the rocks..
You can see Jeff as he sticks his head above the rocks,
looking for his kayak.
Finally, Jeff makes it to his feet to watch his kayak float away.
This entire event spanned just a little more than a minute. But it seemed to last a lifetime. Very helpless feeling up on that overlook. Surprised I kept shooting. I stopped briefly looking around for Rangers or someone to call out to. There was no one. So I continued to shoot. All the while I could hear someone saying, "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!" Turns out that was me. Scary stuff.
I got to talk to Jeff when he made his way onto shore to retrieve his boat. He was pretty wiped, but OK. Laughed about it. Then he jumped back in the kayak and went over the lower falls, the BIGGER falls!
And here's a shot of that.
Craziness, I tell ya!
Excellent series and those guy are just plain NUTS. ;-)
ReplyDeleteRob
Nice piece of journalism! I like the final shot here for it's dramatic setting and sense of movement!
ReplyDeleteMy cousin Ben finally get his work "online" via flicker...it's really cool to see it up, organized and edited.
I think this first step into a "website" will also help him find direction with his work/photography. Ben is a student of journalism in Las Cruces, NM.
I never really explored flicker until yesterday, there is rotation of the best images from the "last seven days" that one can constantly refresh...and I would add that I was very impressed with the images there, very professional, lots of variety.
Check it out, it may even prove to be a good avenue for "exposure" aside from having a professional website/stock archive.
Cheers, Jeremy
Thanks guys.
ReplyDeleteRob,
Yes, just a little.
Jeremy,
Will check out Ben's site.
Cheers.
I should add that though it may not look like it they really are very smart about how they go about these runs. Tons of experience and talent. Not hotdoggers.
ReplyDeleteBut still... ;^}