New world record waterfall descent

Yesterday, Brazilian Pedro Olivia piloted his Jackson Rocker off the 127 foot Salto Belo falls on El Rio Sacre in Brazil, breaking the previous record of 108 feet. Olivia was paddling with Ben Stookesberry and crew, so be sure to look for footage of this record breaking drop in the next installment of the Hotel Charlie video series. More from Stookesberry below:

Yesterday the 4th of March, 2009, Brazilian kayaker and fellow Brazil World Record Attempt Expedition member Pedro Olivia shattered the existing world record (108 foot or 33 meter) with a 38. 7 meter (127 foot) waterfall descent on a tributary to the Amazon on the Rio Sacre in Campos Novos, Mata Grosso, Brazil. His 2.9 seconds of pure freefall sent Pedro rocketing into the pool at right around 70 miles per hour in his Jackson Kayak Rocker. Although people have certainly perished upon hitting a pool of water from such heights, the team counted on the massive, gushing rivers of Central Brazil to produce the softest water landings on earth. This particular falls was nearly a foot ball field in width, with approximately 5000 cfs of crystal clear 70 degree rain water spilling over the lip. This meant that although Pedro´s boat went over vertical, he and his boat were swept and kept intact into a deep mist filled pool. In fact Pedro resurfaced behind the falls were he was able to right himself with his hands on a conveniently located boulder bar. The place is truly beyond description, and I guess that is why it is aptly named Salto Belo or Beautiful falls.

Our team and Pedro in particular have been searching for a world record falls during the rainy season in Central Brazil for the last two years and it was certainly surreal to see both the Team´s and Pedro`s dream come true. I think it is now official that this Area of Mato Grosso and Goias is the true “North Shore´´ of big waterfall kayaking.

Make sure to check out this record breaking and mind boggling descent in this year´s late April debut of Hotel Charley volume 4: At your Own Risk.