Shaun Baker has two equally crazy ways of descending through the torrents of a waterfall in a
small kayak. He either paddles through a series of boulders that could smash him and his boat to
pieces, or pushes his boat out into the air so that he free- falls through the air into the water
below.
He calls this extreme kayaking. Others may be tempted to translate this as sheer lunacy.
However, everyone agrees that it is a high- risk sport.
When Baker, a 32- year- old professional white water rodeo champion from just outside
Maidenhead, explains what he does, it sounds impossible. When he actually shows you, it is
truly amazing how, each time, he emerges from the waters below, a little bruised, but in one
smiling, triumphant piece.
One of his favourite areas to perform these daredevil feats is in a valley of waterfalls on the edge
of the Black Mountains in central Wales. A breathtakingly beautiful but dangerous spot, it
provides Baker with as nerve- wracking a challenge as any he has faced in the twenty years he
has been in some king of canoe.
“It is in my blood”, he explains, preparing himself both physically and mentally for the challenge
ahead. “I don’t do this for any macho reasons, I do it for myself. If I’m honest, it scares the life
out of me, especially when I start to tip over the edge and I know there’s no turning back.”
“The trick is to turn the fear into positive energy. You are frightened at the top of the fall, but
this changes into a survival instinct. You need every ounce of mental energy and reaction to
survive. The real kick is when you hit the bottom and reappear from under the water. That’s
when you know you’ve made it and that is the moment when you have a sense of elation.”