This high density production takes one on a mission of one guy to learn to kayak in one week and attempt to kayak the Class 4/5 rapids of the Futaleufu. Incredible scenery is captured by state of the art HD cameras including a gyro camera form a helicopter.
Chris Spelius was relating the story to me that he was in his office one day when a guy calls him from New York asking him if he thought he could teach a guy to roll and kayak in one week. Chris repsonded yes. Then the guy asked if he could get him on the big rapids of the Futaleufu in the same week. Apparantley Chris laughed and said what kind of athlete is this guy that wants to do this. At that point the caller identified himself as a Discovery HD producer and they set the process in motion for show of the Adventurist series. This series show cases Joby Obgwyn traveling the world and attacking world class sporting challenges in one week. This time however it was on the threatened Futaleufu river.
However three memories of this filming really stood out.
1. The lengths they went to make this show real. The second day a windy rain storm made it impossible to film while we are at the hotspring. I told the producer if you want Joby to be able to descend the Futaleufu I need to continue teaching. Roman the producer said no way.....everything has to be filmed, nothing happens with out filming.
2. The first time he swam on our beginning river the Rio Espolon I was shocked at the numbers of photgraphers and what they did. A scuba guy dove into the river that I was not even aware of and was under my kayak filming Joby underwater with high definition cameras all as I rescued eskimo rescued him. Five cameras followed us everywhere.
3. The final day of the week had Joby running the Himalaya rapid. It was a classic beautiful day in the Terminator section. He was exhausted from the vigorous schedule of preparation. I was sitting on a rock enjoying the sound of the river, the color of the water and thinking ok this is my test! What a great environment this is to work in. Did I prepare this guy? Is this going to be a fiasco? I wondered if his roll would work. I looked at Joby and thought he is stressed, he is scared, and he is exhausted. As I thought of that I reasoned most of us have a choice when we are learning to back off a given rapid and await the next day. With 100s of thousand of dollars invested in this production, twenty thousand dollars of helicopter fees, film crew waiting.....my safety team in place.....he did not have a choice.......he had to go he had two hours for him to think about this while the crew set up. WITH NO CHOICE. It put a smile on my face. I was convinced he was going to go over on the first move I was asking him to do. I talked to my head kayak guide Fergus and said drop beneath that rock. He is going to flip there and maybe you can help him. . I had not said anything to Joby in several hours of this wait but coldly convinced he would go over, I told him "Stud if you go over you CAN roll. You are ready, and when you do it will be nothing short of heroic". I got in my kayak and asked him if he was ready. He said lets go. I precisely put my boat on an eddy line to be drawn away from the rock and yet not eddy out. I looked back and he was not following my line but heading toward the rock that I had mentioned to Fergus. Then he was over..........all at the top of the Himalaya before the big stuff even started. Chopper throbbing overhead. My trusted safety team below of world class guides below, camera men all over the place. I was thinking Joby JOBY MAKE ME PROUD.
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0:37Helen Wigmore-Throne Roomby speusa22,038 views
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It will be released thursday Nov 4 2010 DISCOVERY HD
speusa 1 year ago
It has not been released yet.
speusa 2 years ago
Yes there is a second part to it but the video has not been released yet in the USA. This is a trailer introduction. Watch for the Adventurist series on Rush TV. In High Definition it is the ultimate. It is released by Nat Geo International outside the USA. It is a very interesting piece watching what an incredible environment this takes place in, and seeing the stress Joby is under to complete his mission. By the way this is a great place to learn how to kayak.
speusa 2 years ago
is there a 2nd part to it?
seank077 2 years ago
Keep your eyes open on Rush TV this fall for it.
speusa 2 years ago