Whitewater First Descents
Tao Berman drops 98.4 feet
into the mainstream. PHOTO BRANDON KNAPP
UPPER JOHNSTON FALLS
BANFF, ALBERTA From the moment a 19-year-old Tao Berman and crew began testing Upper Johnston Falls in Alberta’s Banff National Park more than seven years ago, it has been kayaking’s greatest focal point for the general public. Before what would become a world-record event
even happened, its appeal was obvious. More than 100 dumbstruck onlookers, some even wailing in fear, lined the park’s pathways and lookout spots just to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Almost instantly, video circulated worldwide in easy-to-digest, jaw-drop- ping simplicity. On August 23, 1999 Tao Berman’s run of Johnston
Falls broke the waterfall record for height at the time by about 20 feet but he also broke another barrier—white- water kayaking became mainstream extreme. “I didn’t realize just how much exposure that drop was
going to get. With that one I wasn’t looking for exposure, just a 100-foot fall to run. People started to recognize me who had never paddled before. That’s when I noticed things were starting to get different.” Berman explains. The plunge made headlines on NBC, Sports Illus-
trated, Extra, and even Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of attention for Tao, and in turn, kayaking. NBC’s Jeep World of Adventure Sports approached him in 2004, asking what he was up to next. “Lacy Falls, British Columbia,” was Berman’s reply. More rock quarry than waterfall, it is difficult to fathom
the remote coastal stairway sluice of Lacy Falls as one of the more pivotal locations in recent whitewater history. But it too dropped extreme kayaking into a mainstream audi- ence. This time with 20 different camera crews on hand, footage hit CNN, Fox News, the Discovery Channel, Real TV, the Outdoor Life Network and far, far beyond. Careening down the slick, snaking conduit of inches-
deep water, hitting more than 65 kilometres per hour, Berman’s 280-foot toboggan ride to the Pacific Ocean was so enthralling, terrifying and immediate, it was ex- actly what mass media and the TV viewing public con- sume and respect. “Tao’s descent of Lacy Falls was watched by roughly a
million viewers on NBC’s Jeep World of Adventure Sports in its premier airing,” explains the show’s Executive Di- rector Rufus Frost. “Not surprisingly, we were drawn to cover Tao and his attempt at this descent because it was a dramatic feat that would resonate with viewers who did not follow the sport of kayaking.” —NE
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