BerimanBlog

Armchair Adventures - Episode 3

Hold onto your paddles, this week, we're heading to remote Papua New Guinea on a truly epic expedition!

OK, so we realise that not everyone is a white-water kayaking nut but for half term, we thought we'd include a longer Armchair Adventure film and it's a real corker!

'Locked In' is a stunning film about multi-day expedition kayaking.  ‘Remote’ would be a good word to describe the journey. ‘Extreme’ another. “Completely and utterly bonkers” is probably how most people would choose to describe it though.

But most people aren’t Ben Stookesberry, a Redbull professional kayaker who, along with three companions, journeys to the remote jungles of East Britain, an island off Papua New Guinea.

Their goal? To attempt a first descent of the 4000 ft deep Beriman River gorge: 55 Km of Grade 6 white water, in a stunning limestone canyon clad with forest covered vertiginous walls. There is no way out but to ride to the ocean. Battling 80ft waterfalls, food shortages, foot rot and incredibly fine margins, the expedition is far from straight forward.

This is an expedition right on the edge of what is humanly possible and it makes for riviting watching and a stunning film. It also makes for a great debate on the balance between pushing limits and ‘risk vs reward’ safety management.

Put the kettle on and settle in for the ride!

Locked In. First descent of the Beriman Gorge