cnn
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When Dane Jackson turned and looked up at the tower of foaming water above him, he could hardly believe what he had just experienced.
The American has taken his trademark pink kayak to some of the world's most remote waterfalls, but few, he says, compared to the Santo Domingo Gorge in Mexico, home to the steepest and most passable whitewater section in the world.
Buried deep in a jungle in the southern state of Chiapas, the four densely populated waterfalls are well isolated from civilization, and are as dangerous as they are idyllic for kayakers like Jackson.
“It's one of those sections you just can't believe exists,” he tells CNN Sport, several weeks after descending the rapids section in March.
The race drops more than 300 feet in the space of 0.2 miles and is divided into four sections: Angel Wings, The Dome, Toboggan and Raw Dog.
The first two are the highest and therefore the most challenging; Angel Wings drops about 80 feet and runs almost directly toward The Dome, which is 85 feet.
“They have a unique shape,” Jackson says, “particularly those first two waterfalls: They're very close together, which means that from the first big, most challenging waterfall to the next, there's almost no time.
“You have to really make sure you're in line, and that's why we really prioritize getting as much security as possible around that particular waterfall.”
As part of those safety precautions, Jackson and his team checked water levels and surveyed the surrounding area, then placed ropes on both sides of the river to assist with any extraction if something went wrong.
The entire stretch is high risk, especially since the nearest hospital is almost two hours away by car. Since one waterfall joins directly into another, even a small mistake at the top of the descent can create problems later on.
Jackson and his friend Bren Orton became the fourth and fifth people to complete the entire sequence, according to Jackson's rep, due to the potentially dangerous nature of having such large waterfalls so close together.
Rush Struges, Rafa Ortiz and Evan García were the first people to tour the waterfalls from top to bottom in 2013.
“It's a very remote place,” Jackson says, “so you really have to make sure you trust your decision to run it and also the people who are there to help you.”
Jackson, 29, is as comfortable kayaking through a secluded gorge as he is competing internationally, having won four freestyle world championship titles since 2013.
Three years ago, he descended the 134-foot Salto del Maule in Chile, the second-highest waterfall descent in history and an experience he compared to “falling off the face of the earth.”
Jackson's achievements in the sport are perhaps not entirely surprising considering his family background. Her father, Eric, was an Olympic kayaker and world freestyle champion, while her sister, Emily, also won world titles.
But that doesn't stop Jackson's family from getting anxious as he embarks on a big project, including his descent into the Santo Domingo Gorge.
“My dad is a professional kayaker, my sister is a professional kayaker and my mom has been there every step of the way,” Jackson says. “I think especially my mom and my sister in particular, they don't love it when I do big things like this.
“I usually just let them know after the fact what happened, what I'm doing… They're always excited to know when everything's going well.”
Amid the dangers presented by Jackson's latest challenge in the Santo Domingo Gorge, there was also a reminder of why he fell in love with kayaking in the first place.
“Do it well and safely and be down with your friends?” he says. “There is nothing like it.”
