Apart from various national white water rodeo championship wins, Baker also holds the record
for the highest free- fall waterfall drop in a kayak, as well as the world speed altitude drop of 50
metres. He is just about the only regular extreme kayaker in the world.
“The reason why I still do this”, he says, “is that I have the ability to work out whether I can
survive or not. If I think something is too risky, I won’t do it.”
“Too risky” in Baker’s language is, of course, totally different to my or your interpretation. As
he steadies himself for his first descent, a slide down a fall of around 60 feet, with dangerous
rocks at the bottom, you are left wondering just how he is going to succeed. In his tiny, 2.2-
meter- long “Eskimo” kayak, the smallest in the world, Baker begins.
It is all over in a few seconds. He drops, like a stone, down the fall, and is then forced to his left
and onto a totally different route than he had planned.
He then moves downstream to his second challenge in order to perform an actual free fall.
“The trick here is to punch the water with the nose of the kayak,” Baker explains. “If you have a
flat landing, it could kill you.”
Baker holds his arm in the air, shoots his thumb up, and then leaps out into the sky before falling
down and under the river. There is a second’s silence before he emerges again – wet, a little
bruised, but safe.
“It’s a whole way of life for me,” he explains, as we climb our way out of the valley and back to
the cars. “It’s not that I go out to impress anyone, or try to say I’m better. It’s just the wonderful
experience of testing myself against nature and the elements. And each night I look back on a
day like today and realise there’s nothing I would rather be doing with myself.”
Apart from various national white water rodeo championship wins, Baker also holds the recordfor the highest free- fall waterfall drop in a kayak, as well as the world speed altitude drop of 50metres. He is just about the only regular extreme kayaker in the world.“The reason why I still do this”, he says, “is that I have the ability to work out whether I cansurvive or not. If I think something is too risky, I won’t do it.”“Too risky” in Baker’s language is, of course, totally different to my or your interpretation. Ashe steadies himself for his first descent, a slide down a fall of around 60 feet, with dangerousrocks at the bottom, you are left wondering just how he is going to succeed. In his tiny, 2.2-meter- long “Eskimo” kayak, the smallest in the world, Baker begins.It is all over in a few seconds. He drops, like a stone, down the fall, and is then forced to his leftand onto a totally different route than he had planned.He then moves downstream to his second challenge in order to perform an actual free fall.“The trick here is to punch the water with the nose of the kayak,” Baker explains. “If you have aflat landing, it could kill you.”Baker holds his arm in the air, shoots his thumb up, and then leaps out into the sky before fallingdown and under the river. There is a second’s silence before he emerges again – wet, a littlebruised, but safe.“It’s a whole way of life for me,” he explains, as we climb our way out of the valley and back tothe cars. “It’s not that I go out to impress anyone, or try to say I’m better. It’s just the wonderfulexperience of testing myself against nature and the elements. And each night I look back on aday like today and realise there’s nothing I would rather be doing with myself.”
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