Dropping the Mariman Waterfall in Pucon, Chile

Kayak Chile

For the past 2 years I have had the privalige of photographing and documenting the Mariman Extreme White Water Race on the Rio Trancura in Pucon, Chile.

It seems strange sitting at my desk with my crutches next to me unable to put any weight on my ankle. The snow is falling and as I look through the photos from last year, I yearn to be back in Chile. So below is an article that I wrote and was published in The Paddler, British Canoeing’s kayaking publication.

I look forward to hearing back from this years event and I will be keeping a keen eye on how Josefa gets on competing this year!

Extreme kayak slalom racing in Pucon, Chile

Kayak Pucon

I was back in Pucon, Chile escaping a Winter of rather poor snow conditions at home in Austria. Our lodge on the flanks of the Villarrica Volcano was coming along nicely and we were looking forward to welcoming our first guests to the lodge for a week of Class 3-4 kayaking. The madness of February around Pucon was now over and next on my kayaking calendar was the Mariman Extreme Kayak Race at the beginning of March.

I had managed to take photos in 2022 and had put a small article together for The Paddler last year and Santiago (the organiser) was keen for me to be involved again this year.

The race was originally developed by Santiago to highlight not only the stunning location but also to show there was more to the Trancura River than just the rafting companies pumping down all the tourists that visit Pucon, which is one of the main adventure capitols of the Southern Hemisphere, not just in South America.

Extreme kayak slalom on the Rio Trancura in Pucon, Chile

River Trancura

The River Trancura originates from the stunning Lanin Volcano on the Chile / Argentine border. As it makes its way down towards the Villarrica Lake where the town of Pucon is situated, it picks up volume with rivers such as the Maichin (my personal favourite around Pucon), Palguin (a steep creek made famous by its abundance of waterfalls), plus the outflow of the Caburgua Lake via the Carrileufu River and finally the Liucura River. The Lower Trancura is a Class 3(4) popular section of whitewater and the Upper is pool drop in character with steeper drops with amazing snowcapped volcano views in the background and plenty of green vegetation along the banks of the crystal clear water. As you kayak down the Upper section the drops and rapids become steeper and more challenging until you come to the hardest one, the Mariman. The rafting companies portage their clients around and if they are lucky and the levels are perfect they get to watch the kayaks run the rapid and waterfall along with the tourists who have paid to hike in and watch it from the viewing platform on the other side of the river.

The rapid entrance is a small drop, then you move over to river right to catch the diagonals and tongues that lead you into a small sticky hole. Once you have punched this you must maintain your speed as the boils along the side of the main current are just waiting to catch you and drag you offline before you finally reach the 4 metre waterfall where you have to work out your line and boof stroke with no visible marker when you are on the river. Also there is a slanted rock where you should put your paddle stroke in which can catch your blade and in the worst circumstance will rip your paddle out of your hand!!

Once you land it is just the final rapid on the Upper Trancura, the Class 5 aptly named Last Laugh!

Day 1 of Mariman Extreme Kayak Race in Pucon

This year, Santi had decided to change the format of the race with it happening over 2 days. The first day as a downriver race in the morning on the quieter final part of the Upper section finishing at the Metreñehue Bridge on the road from Pucon to Lake Caburgua. This was also a qualification run for the second day. Each kayaker was given a start time and it was a race against the clock to see if you were going to be one of the selected few to qualify for the next days event. It was a couple of kilometres long and so it was a test of stamina, strength and of course technique to make it into the top 20. I positioned myself around the Metreñehue Bridge and it was not only a good place to get some photos of the racing but to see the effort on the faces of the competitors and as kayaked through the final rapid to the touch point.

However, it was not just the format of the competition that had changed. This year in conjunction there was a women’s event, Santi is keen to make it all inclusive and with plenty of female kayakers in and around Pucon it proved to be a great idea!

In the afternoon, the second event was a mass start downriver race. The men were first with some serious amount of force and power being exerted to get a good position going into the first rapid, followed by the women where again there was plenty of jostling trying to make sure the kayakers were heading first into the river. After wading across eddies, clambering over slippery rocks, I managed to position myself slightly further into the river and had the best view to capture all the action at the start!

At the end of the first day, the stoke was high and everyone was buzzing for the following morning.

Day 2 of Mariman Extreme Kayak Race in Pucon

The second day saw me meet up with Santi and head to the Mariman Waterfall. The organising team were just getting ready to set up the course and it was certainly taking a different format than previous years! It was decided that rather than just having a downriver race on the rapid, instead there was going to be an extreme slalom with 2 gates placed at 2 extremely difficult eddies. The idea was to enter the first part, work to river right and make the gate on the far right in an extremely tight and boily eddy. Next followed a tricky move back into the main current through a hole while working hard left into a very unpredictable eddy where the stern of the kayak could get caught and flip you over as the returning current of the eddy was taking you up to the hole that was formed by a 2 metre drop. Once you had negotiated this gate, you need to cross the main current (which was pushing you back to river left and a horrible manky drop) to get to lip of the big drop and the final gate. Avoid the gate, boof to keep the bow free and clean while keeping hold of your paddle and not letting that cheeky rock underwater grabbing your blade, before a final sprint over the pool below. This was not an easy thing to achieve but as Santi liked to say: it is the Mariman Extreme event and you need to up your game. Judging by some of the faces of the competitors scouting the line and course you could see it was not going to be easy!

So with the gates set, safety put in along the sides of the rapid and with me on the island in the middle with camera in hand we were ready to start!

As each competitor dropped in for their run, you could see that the first gate was manageable and the line could be held. However, the second gate was proving to be very unpredictable. Everyones stern was getting caught on the entrance and then it was a question of where the boils were sending you. If you flipped, you were going to the hole at the bottom of the drop, if you made it upright you were trying to get to the only piece of green water in the eddy to then turn the kayak, set the angle and make the gate. If you were really unlucky the boils pushed you further lower in the eddy, killing your speed and all but ending you chance of a podium finish - it truly was an Extreme Slalom and this was before the main waterfall!!

It was a full day of extreme action and by the end we had the top 3 but in my eyes all the kayakers who competed on the second day were heroes.

Kayaking in Pucon

The prize giving was in Pucon, where the party went on all night. What a couple of days!!

Those 2 days of competitions were packed full of action, adrenaline, friendship and a community coming together.

These are just a few of my highlights throughout the event:

The inaugural women’s event was a great addition. Though the ladies only raced on the first day, they put on a great show and I am sure this will inspire not only the future generation of female kayakers in and around Chile to come and compete and not only to compete on the first day but a second day of racing especially set up for them to develop and show just what they can do on such a serious piece of whitewater!

Watching the youngest competitor of the race at the age of 13! Vicente Villagran certainly made his father proud, though I have to say his Mum was a nervous wreck watching her son race in the time trial but he paddled well, learnt a lot and while watching the second days action with his Dad you could see Vicente’s goal of competing with the best in Chile as he gets older!

Mens mass start on the Mariman Extreme Kayak Race

Also the affection within the Chilean kayaking community! Chile’s top kayakers were travelling from across the country to come and compete. Travelling to Pucon from Patagonia is an adventure in itself. To see the support and respect they have for Santiago’s passion in organising the Mariman Race is truly special.

And finally I would say the opportunity for me to get some sweet shots that showcase Chile’s best whitewater kayakers!!

Mariman Extreme Kayak Race in Pucon, Chile