Upside Down on a Flooded waterfall in Wales (Entry #32 Beaters For All 2021)

Watch Matt Ryan running upside down the second part of the Rhaeadr Mawddach waterfall in Wales; footage captured by Robert Eggleston.
Rapid name: Rhaeadr Mawddach
River name: Mawddach
Beater: Matthew Wyatt
Behind the camera: Robert Eggleston

Disclaimer: Originally, we created the Beater For All Video Contest with fun beaters in mind (kayakers getting worked and swimming out of it (or not…) with a smile. However, we have been receiving more and more video showing scary & sketchy situations, some being real close calls. This created a debate among us, enriched by comments from viewers: should we or should we not show those videos. By encouraging and magnifying carnage and beatering, do we promote it? Do viewers forget the dangers of kayaking? We think otherwise. We came to the conclusion that those videos can be educative and show how dangerous the sport of whitewater kayaking can be, how nasty and quickly can a situation turn from funny to bad. By showing those videos, we firmly believe that these can create discussions and a space for exchange about what could/should have been done to avoid such situations, which will ultimately lead to increases in safety and river knowledge. Note, we never show videos in which people would get hurt badly, or even worse, showing fatal accidents. Last but least, the videos are submitted by their authors, most time the « victims » themselves. NB, We do not poach videos.

The post Upside Down on a Flooded waterfall in Wales (Entry #32 Beaters For All 2021) appeared first on Kayak Session Magazine.