Tag: Extreme sports

Obstacle course championship comes to Mammoth Lakes, California

Overcome these obstacles.

If you like obstacles and mud mixed in with your running, Spartan races are for you. And if you like to watch people clamber over nets and swing from ropes as they struggle toward the finish line, you’ll be excited to hear about the new partnership between extreme endurance brand Spartan and the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships (OCRWC). From October 6-8, athletes will converge on California’s Mammoth Mountain, coming out muddy, exhausted, and, in some cases, victorious.

“Spartan is thrilled to be returning to Mammoth Mountain in partnership with the OCRWC and Mammoth Lakes Tourism,” Joe De Sena, Spartan founder, said in a statement. “The event is one of a kind, offering something for everyone and challenges for athletes of all skill levels.”

A racer climbing a rope structure.
Photo courtesy of Obstacle Course Racing World Championships (OCRWC)

A 100-meter sprint course features back-to-back obstacles. Athletes get two attempts to finish the sprint course. The 3K has more than 15 obstacles, plus a significant elevation gain. The main event is Saturday’s 15K, which includes more than 40 of the toughest obstacles created for the sport. On Sunday, three-person teams will navigate 25 obstacles during the 6K team relay.

A 5K charity race on Sunday morning will benefit Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra, a nonprofit that offers adaptive sports and outdoor recreation for people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities. The organization allows disabled athletes to participate in many different sports, including skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, kayaking, rock climbing, and camping.

A racer climbing a wood structure next to another racer extending a hand to a third racer climbing up.
Photo courtesy of Obstacle Course Racing World Championships (OCRWC)

Famous for skiing, Mammoth Mountain is a location of knock-out beauty year-round. “We are thrilled to bring this world-class event back to such a stunning location and offer competitors an unforgettable experience,” Adrian Bijanada, OCRWC CEO, said in a statement. “We anticipate witnessing incredible displays of athleticism, perseverance, and sportsmanship.”

Do you have the urge to spice up your runs with barbed wire crawls and ladder climbs? See a sample of the obstacles racers will face here. If you’re still inclined, you can download this handy booklet about how to train for an obstacle race.

A racer hanging off an obstacle course.
Photo by Jack Goras, courtesy of Obstacle Course Racing World Championships (OCRWC)

Kayaker Dane Jackson’s wild ride down the world’s steepest rideable waterfall series

Hang tight for this thrill ride.

A hot pink kayak drops over the edge of a giant waterfall. For a few seconds, only froth and foam are visible. Then, a light pink spot emerges from the foam, getting brighter and brighter until kayaker Dane Jackson emerges victorious, still in his kayak. It’s the first giant drop in his descent down the world’s steepest rideable waterfall series at Chiapas, Mexico’s Santo Domingo Gorge.

Spoiler alert: he lived to tell the tale.

The four-part gorge drops more than 300 feet in less than .2 miles. Its four powerful waterfalls are Angel Wings, The Dome, Toboggan, and Raw Dog.

Jackson is a four-time Freestyle World Champion kayaker. His whitewater adventures include feats in Chile, Pakistan, and Kenya. But Chiapas, Mexico, has been on his mind for the last decade. 

“I have been to so many incredible places all over the world, but the Santo Domingo Gorge is truly a one-of-a-kind sequence of waterfalls,” Jackson said in a statement. “It is one of those places you can’t believe when you see it. You can look up at that majestic sequence of waterfalls and know you can run the entire thing; there is nowhere and nothing like it.”

Aerial view of a pink kayak on a river through the forest.
Photo by Lucas Gilman

The beautiful falls could easily turn deadly. Much of the Santo Domingo River is only accessible by kayak. So, if something were to go wrong, good luck getting medical help in time! The nearest hospital is two hours away by rough back roads. And that’s only going to help if you can get the kayaker out of the gorge.

Jackson assembled an international safety paddle team in case he ran into trouble. His crew — Israel “River” Maderos (Mexico), Bren Orton (United Kingdom), Adrian Mattern (Germany), David Sodomka (Czech Republic), and Issac Martinez (Mexico) — was trained in emergency procedures and positioned along the route. You can see them in the video, sitting in the calm pools at the bottoms of the falls, probably crossing their fingers and toes that Jackson didn’t wipe out. California-based adventure photographer Lucas Gilman captured the footage.

A pink kayak descending a waterfall on the right that meets another waterfall on the left.
Photo by David Sodomka

Jackson, 29, is based in Rock Island, Tennessee. He spends more than half the year living in his RV while traveling to kayaking events and looking for new thrills. Jackson started kayaking as a child. His father, kayak champ and designer Eric Jackson, founded Jackson Kayak.