The moment that I savor most in kayaking in extreme
places is the one that is captured here. We're well
beyond the point of no return, where the anticipation,
excitement, and anxiety of the outcome meld into
a singular focus and you become totally absorbed
in the moment,” says kayaker and photographer Ben Stookesberry. Stookesberry, one of our previous Adventurers of the Year, was part of the expedition with Chris Korbulic (pictured) and Pedro Oliva to explore the Mekong River in Laos.
Stookesberry set up the framing for the photo and ran a one-second time-lapse while positioning himself at the base of the falls to support Korbulic in case anything went wrong. “Pedro and I followed Chris into this maelstrom soon after the camera captured this photo," he recalls. "Then the scariest hour of our 12 days on the Mekong began as we paddled eight kilometers to the nearest village of Hang Khon, Laos.”