Ben Stookesberry sends in this update from Brazil… with Hotel Charlie: Lost World filming only 8 days from completion!

By Ben Stookesberry

Subject: A new freefall benchmark

Hey EJ,
I can´t take the title away from Tyler Bradt yet but there is a good chance
I will run this one again with some sort of supper glue on my spray skirt
and a willingness to get beat down by massive converging
currents in the pool below. This 33 – 39 meter falls
is an example of hydraulic perfection in Brazil. 3000 cfs on the Current
River converge into a 15 foot wide power tongue that plummets into the pool
107 – 115 feet below. Due to heavy rain, the river was running about 9
feet above base flow creating a roiling pool with a 6 – 10 foot boil in the
pool below. Certainly the act of running a falls like this seems to be the
epitome of hedonism, but I like to think about it as a group descent. My
safety and film team at the bottom consisted of Ryan Mac and Chris Zawacki.
Ryan McPherson has been to Brazil for the last 5 years and knows more about
Brazil’s class V rivers than anyone else on the planet. Chris Zawacki is
your go anywhere do anything positive laid back kind of guy that is an
amazing boater and photographer. My company at the lip consisted of two of
the most positive people on the planet… Jesse Coombs and Pedro Olivia.
Pedro has been pushing this trip to the amazing quantity of huge runnable
falls that exist in central Brazil and he can be seen in the photo living it
up in the 70 degree spray of this monster. As you already know, Jesse
Coombs is the hardcore kayaker \ business man that brings a coherent
analytical perspective to extreme end of the whitewater spectrum.

The story goes on and will develop more as our trip comes to an end over the
next 8 days. This is just a teasing taste of what you will see in this the
third volume of Hotel Charley: The Lost World.

Thanks again to you and the whole Jackson Team/ Familly for building the
safest, strongest, and most fun boats on the planet.

Cheers

Ben