Saut du Doubs

This one was on our list since a long time!
It’s the first thing I thought after I accomplished my first descent of this waterfall.
The last 22nd of October we went to the Jura area with the goal of paddling and doing the first descent of the tallest drop ever done in France: Le saut du Doubs, 25 meters which this day it appears to have approximately 70 cubic meters per second.
We started the day with a big crew on the Loue river, to warm up, and after that almost all the group went to the saut du Doubs. It was so impressive; we arrived at the top of the waterfall with all the tourists who were around to look at this monster too. It was the first time I saw it with my eyes and the first thought that came to my mind was “fuck it rained too much, the level is too high”. After 15 minutes looking from the top, we walked to the bottom of the waterfall and have a proper look from the front. It was then when we saw a nice line on the right side and our hope of doing it arisen. It was time to discuss of who wants to do it or not. Finally, it was 3 of us who decided to go and 2 of our partners helped at bottom with safety.

We came back to our cars to take all our personal equipment and gear, and of course all the cameras and drone to have some nice shoots. Since night time was already coming, the organization of the group was quick and everyone was in position and ready to be witness of this jump!
At the top of the waterfall but on the opposite side of where we started to look, Arthur Bernot, Arthur Paulus and me, were excited and anxious. There was one thing we were sure of: the line was looking good for us. After a short agreement Arthur Bernot went first. All of us looked at him closely when he sent the perfect first line which gave us a lot of trust and confidence. He was all right at the bottom, just without his paddle. Then, Arthur Paulus jumped it and managed to have an excellent line too. However, I could see the boilers at the bottom were really huge so I decided to use the Washington tuck technique to keep the paddle with me. I launched from the rocks and reached a little eddy and continue quick to the lip. Once there, I had to manage with my paddle to stay straight and on the right side of the waterfall. I hit softly the little kicker and plunged in the water of the waterfall. The impact was really soft but the boilers were really powerful. I spent a few seconds underwater which seemed like minutes to me with my boat and paddle. When I came up to the surface I had the most intense feeling seeing everybody safe and happy to have accomplished our main goal.
This day was unforgettable for all of us and of course we had to celebrate with a couple of beers at the bar. This night my friend Maxime Lemorvan got motivated to do it the next morning. We camped close to the waterfall and at the first hours of the day we went for another run. Maxime run the waterfall first and totally nailed it. It was the second time for me but this time with less water but not so much, just the kicker was a bit more important, but everything went great once again!