When Ben Stookesberry uses “dicey” and “spectacular” to describe kayak porn, you are safe from hyperbole. The 30-year-old Colorado native has been on the forefront of, and documenting, the bleeding edge of expedition Class V+ kayaking for quite some time now. The fourth installment of his Hotel Charlie (slang soldiers in Vietnam used to say hardcore) series will premiere Saturday, April 18 at Hood River, Oregon’s Kayak Shed and River City Saloon. Hood River is just one of 19 venues around the nation at which the film will premiere over the next month and a half.

Hotel Charlie features paddlers Stookesberry, Darin McQuiod, Chris Korbulic, Jesse Coombs, and Pedro Olivia. Its main segments are a first descent of 100 miles of the Rondu Gorge shot in three weeks and the Brazilian waterfall expedition, shot in three weeks as well, in which Olivia claimed the controversial 127-foot world waterfall record. Stookesberry says the short introduction with Rafa Ortiz in Mexico is the most spectacular intro to a video he has ever worked on. “No one got injured, thankfully,” Stookesberry explains. “We had good safety and things still almost went wrong.”
Wars, bombings, and guerrilla rebels often deter paddlers from certain international destinations (Canoeing on the West Bank, anyone?), but they have a way of enticing Stookesberry. “[Pakistan] was another one of those trips where I was drawn by political unrest,” he says.
While he was expecting political intrigue to create most of the excitement for the expedition, he was surprised at the amazing whitewater that the Rondu Gorge had to offer. “Our focus went from dangers out of the water to what was there at level,” says Stookesberry. The level of whitewater in that gorge also blew away McQuiod. “It’s unbelievable how dynamic and how powerful big water like that is. You can get knocked 20, 30 feet off line by large wave holes,” McQuiod said.
The most-talked-about part of this video is Olivia’s run off of Rio Sacre’s 127-foot Salto Belo Falls. The footage has been featured in the mainstream media like NBC’s Today Show and pop-culture gossip website www.tmz.com, many whitewater kayakers are left with questions in regard to Olivia’s line going off the drop and how he resurfaced behind the waterfall. Stookesberry hopes that this video will give boaters the opportunity to answer any questions themselves. “People can take the DVD home with them and put it on slow, speculate exactly how it went down,” says Stookesberry, “At the end of the day hopefully people will relax and say ‘Let’s examine it,’ and not just play it off as another crazy stunt.”

Saturday, April 18—WORLD PREMIER: Hood River, OR: The Shed & The River City Saloon
Thursday, April 23—Boise, ID: Alpenglowidaho
Saturday, April 25—Billings MT: Montana Brewing: Hooligans Restaurant
Thursday, April 30—Redmond, WA: Outdoor Adventure Center in Redmond
Friday, May 01—Bellingham, WA: Bellingman Whitewater
Saturday, May 02—Portland, OR: Alder Creek
Tuesday, May 05—Ashland, OR: Kokopelli River Sports & Standing Stone Brewery
Wednesday, May 06—Mt, Shasta, CA: Wayside Grill and Shasta Base Camp
Friday, May 08—Reno, NV: Reno River Festival
Tuesday, May 12—Salt Lake City, UT: Wasatch Mountain Touring
Thursday, May 14—Gunnison, CO: Gunnison Paddle Club
Friday, May 15—Telluride, CO: Jagged Edge
Saturday, May 16—Durango, CO: Four Corners Riversports
Monday, May 18—Edwards/Vail, CO: Alpine Quest Sports
Tuesday, May 19—Winter Park, CO: Rocky Mountain Adventures
Wednesday, May 20—Denver, CO: Confluence Kayaks
Thursday, May 21—Fort Collins, CO: Rocky Moutain Adventures
Saturday, May 23—Buena Vista, CO: Paddlefest CKS/ Mountain Film
Friday, May 29—Jackson Hole, WY: Rendezvous River Sports & Jackson Hole Kayak