TAKING A PLUNGE
KAyAkers EdwArd Muggridge And Aniol SerrAsolses AChieved A rAre feAt lAst week, whiCh Muggridge CAlled “A reAlly risky gAme,” plummeting over the 30-metre RAm FAlls neAr Nordegg.
Squamish, B.C., resident Edward Muggridge says a waterfall run he and fellow whitewater kayaker Aniol Serrasolses completed near Calgary last week was a rare feat that only three other people have accomplished.
Muggridge and Serrasolses, who is from Spain, descended the 30-metre Ram Falls near Nordegg on July 12 — the highest waterfall Muggridge says he has tackled in his kayaking career. The height of the plunge was equivalent to that of a 10-storey building.
The 21-year-old said it was an experience he has been waiting for since he was 16. The two athletes decided to make the descent last week after determining the water conditions at the time were safe.
“With whitewater kayaking, you want to have a waterfall that has a combination of a deep enough pool and enough volume of water flowing over the actual lip of the falls,” Muggridge said.
“You want to be able to have enough aeration in the landing and a deep enough pool where you can safely descend the drop. It’s definitely a really risky game, and it takes some serious precision and mental focus to be able to pull something off like that.”
Muggridge, who wears a helmet and life-jacket during his kayaking runs, said anyone trying to get an idea of how to properly approach whitewater can learn about safety in a swift-water rescue training course.
While he had been anticipating the run for a long time, Muggridge admits he was “pretty shaky ” when he got to the top. “It was a really crazy feeling — I haven’t been that scared in a while,” he said.
“I got in my boat and I really settled myself and just told myself it’s something I’ve been training for my whole life, and that this was the most perfect opportunity I could have ever asked for.”