In 2003, “No Big Names” cinematographer Ben Stookesberry hiked out of Antioquia, Colombia’s Rio Buey. Only 2 miles into a spectacular 25 mile class V canyon, Stookesberry abandoned the Rio Buey’s first descent. In the fall of 2005, Stookesberry convinced extreme paddler Jesse Coombs of Corvallis, Oregon to journey to Colombia to return to perhaps the most committing gorge Ben had ever seen. In this expedition, Stookesberry and Coombs were able to reach the inner depths of the Rio Buey, aided by peaceful coffee growers rather than skittish paramilitary.

After success in Colombia, the pair then travelled to Central Brazil to join Ryan Macpherson of California and Ben Zupo of Indiana for a month exploring Central Brazil’s promising class V rivers and creeks. After an anxious start with little water, the group stumbled into a granite paradise with a California like concentration of challenging waterfalls and massive granite streambeds.

The group soon parted ways, with Stookesberry and Coombs continuing on to the notoriously dangerous landscape bordering Chiapas, Mexico and Western Guatemala. Gun running, narco-trafficking, human smuggling and political dissension punctuate the Rio Umacinata in Mexico’s Chiapan Highlands through Western Guatemala’s virgin jungle. Despite it’s belligerent reputation, Chiapas yielded runable 1800+ foot per mile canyons, pristine turquoise waters, and the most spectacular series of waterfalls yet found. After a week of intense exploratory kayaking, Stookesberry convinced an international team led by Tao Berman and Josh Bechtel to join their pursuits in attempting a series totalling 350 feet in height.