Of all the places I’ve traveled to and Kayaked, The Futaleufu remains one of the locations I’ve returned to the most. Large, long powerful rapids, dotted with spectacular play waves and the odd monster rapid will always keep me returning when I can.
Two rapids stand out for the butterfly factor, rapids that make you consider your line, your equipment and your ability long before you reach them, while your stomach progressively tightens and knots. On the upper section of the river soon after the infamous inferno canyon the Futa drops through two very large and commercially unrunnable drops, first Zeta and then The Throne room.
The first is a funneling of the river before a sharp 90 degree right turn through a slot and a final sharp left hand turn, literally a Z shape, hence Zeta the Castillano for Z. While the slightly less technical of the two drops Zeta poses the greatest risk through its lack of forgiveness, less than a slightly perfect line will deposit you in places that could cause you to swim, and a swim is unthinkable here. The line is simple: hang onto the inside of the first right turn and drive through the slot, this runs against the grain of the whole drop which is driving left. It’s a simple line at its grade you just have to keep driving right and allow no interference from the rapid, easier said than done. As with all big drops you have to be in exactly the right place on entry but a solid horizon line means it’s hard to tell until the very last minute and so my line up to that point is mapped out by a sequence of tiny ripples and diagonals that will lead me into the right entry point, the key to success. I splash my face, forget all distractions and now become the line.
Just half a kilometer downstream the river plunges down a long steep wave train into a house-sized boulder, The Throne. The current peels heavily off either side, on the right into a horrible slot called the Toaster and on the left (the preferred line) into a window by a very large hole. The Throne room is probably the less perilous of the two runs, but is probably the harder line technically. The route drops you though a long wave train before the cushion wave on the Throne. It’s a game of nerves because if you go left too early two diagonals throw you back onto the pillow in way that you’re more likely to drop into the toaster. So leaving the push to the left until the very last minute allows you to avoid the diagonals and a better chance to go left for success. But I bungle it, in my eagerness to stay away from the Toaster I hit the first diagonal early, I’m up on my tail and as I hit the second diagonal it smacks me over. Using the flow of the water under the pillow as I hit it, I roll fearing that I’ve dropped too far right but slammed up by the water I can see I’m still on The pillow wave. Immediately I edge downstream, surf left and am out of the maelstrom and thru the window, I’m through, until the next time.
Alex Nicks, 18.April.2012
