With some trepidation, I watched the original chaotic Terminator Rapid footage, which marked the end of the first attempt to raft the Futaleufú. Like a giant yellow beach ball, one of the fully loaded 22-foot rafts tossed and turned for 30 minutes until the monstrous hole finally released it. Stripped down to the tubes, the limp raft floated helplessly downstream.
That rapid, aptly named Terminator, marked the end of Steve Currey’s 1985 attempt to raft the wild Patagonian river with the melodious name that few had heard of and even fewer could pronounce. While his company had successfully navigated the upper river and nearly a dozen rapids, the lower half—including the now-renowned Bridge-to-Bridge day-trip stretch and another 15 major rapids—remained an enigma to the rafting community for the next five years.
Another Look
The month before I watched the Terminator Rapid video, I was in Northern Patagonia scouting the same “unraftable” river. I marveled at the swirling turquoise water from a bridge, where a sign read, ‘Futaleufú, un paisaje pintado por Dios’ (‘A landscape painted by God’). The road sign’s message intrigued me and piqued my imagination. As I drove, I was amazed by the valley’s stunning beauty. The road followed the river for the first few miles, and I stopped multiple times to examine different rapids. They looked daunting, but I could see possible lines through the rapids and decided to embark on an exploratory trip the following February.”
Planning the First Raft Descent
When I returned to the US, I spoke to Steve Currey, who had attempted the first descent, about my plans. He was extremely pessimistic:
“Eric, forget it. If the river had any commercial promise, I would have returned.” He said, and explained that the giant, twenty-two-foot Chubasco rafts they used were unbelievably difficult to turn once they got going. Their size and weight were beneficial for smashing through the giant waves and hydraulics in the constricted, less technical rapids in the Upper Canyon, but they required Herculean strength to control in technical rapids like Terminator. I invited Steve to join the expedition, but
he declined and sent me the video from his trip, that included the Terminator debacle,”Watch the video,” he said, “and see if you’re
still interested.”
Terminator Incident
There were four rafts rowed by an experienced team consisting of Steve, Peter Fox, Dan Bolster, and Brad Lord. The fully loaded oar boats had people holding on and looked more like something you’d see in the Grand Canyon. The grainy video and dark, gloomy weather gave the river an ominous feeling. In Terminator, Brad Lord’s boat was slightly offline and was surfed out to the center of the river and into a monstrous hole, where it thrashed for what seemed like an eternity. The tossed-out occupants took a nasty swim but were rescued.
As daunting as Terminator appeared, I was undeterred. With light, maneuverable boats and trained client paddlers assisting the oarsmen, I thought it might be possible to run commercial trips. Seeing the entire river was the only way to know.
The First Complete Raft Descent of the Futaleufú
In early February of 1990, we launched our exploratory on the Futaleufú with two oar-paddle-assisted rafts, guided by myself and Randy Porpiglia. Chris Spelius, whose company Expediciones Chile had been offering expert kayakers trips down the river, was the lead safety kayaker. Each raft had four paddlers, consisting of intrepid paying clients and training guides. Baggage was kept to a bare minimum. At the last minute, Steve Currey decided to fly down and join the expedition, but due to back issues, he would only be part of the land team.
While the team was scouting the first Class V rapid in Inferno Canyon, Chris mentioned to me that he was curious to see how the rafts would do in the “Futa’s” bigger rapids. Having kayakers along who were familiar with the river was an advantage. Even so, kayak lines are very different from raft lines, and Randy and I spent hours scouting rapids. The rafts made it through Inferno and down to Zeta Rapid without any incidents. At Zeta, the entire river squeezed through a dangerous, undercut “Z”-shaped slot.
Portaging Can Be More Dangerous Than Running Class V
Randy and I decided to “Ghost Boat” the rafts—carry the gear around and push the empty rafts through. One raft made it safely to the bottom, but the other flipped and got stuck in a pocket eddy on the right wall. If the boat could not be freed, the expedition would end there. Steve had mentioned that on his 1985 expedition, they took so long to circumvent the rapid that they were forced to camp there.
Chris and I climbed down the 50-foot wall and jumped on top of the bobbing, upside-down raft. The plan was to flip the boat back over and row it out of the eddy. We attached a flip line and began to pull the boat over. We were standing on the edge, ready to pull when I noticed the water below was disappearing under the wall and emerging 30 feet downstream. Flipping the boat over and winding up in the water would be suicide. I alerted Chris, and the plan was quickly abandoned. Two hours later, we were able to free the raft by attaching a throw rope to the bow and tossing it to Randy on the opposite shore, who was able to pull it out.
With the exception of a flip in a straightforward Class IV rapid we named “Asleep at the Wheel,” the rest of the upper river down to the infamous Terminator rapid went smoothly. Unlike the 1985 attempt, our light, agile, oar-paddle-assisted rafts had no problems with Terminator or the remaining 15 world-class rapids below. The first complete raft descent of the Futaleufú was complete, and I was convinced of the river’s commercial potential.
From Obscurity to One of the Top Rafting Destinations in the World
In 1991 and 1992, we ran a number of commercial trips, set up water gauges, and established high-water cut-offs. In 1993, Bio Bio Expeditions began offering rafting trips. In 1994, we introduced the “Safety Cataraft.”
Present Day
There are now nearly a dozen rafting companies running the Futaleufú. The popular “Bridge to Bridge” section that we first ran in 1990 constitutes 95% of the river’s traffic and is considered one of the best one-day whitewater stretches in the world. Rafting is the largest industry in the area, and the publicity generated by the river has been the most important deterrent to building dams.
A World-Class Rafting and Multi-Sport Adventure
With more than three and a half decades of experience on the Futaleufú, Earth River now offers multi-day rafting, biking, and hiking adventures to the valley, ‘Painted by the Hand of God.’ Our lodge-based trips blend comfort with chef-prepared meals and are suitable for people of almost all ages and abilities.
By Eric Hertz
Historical Note:
A Misnomer About The Exploration of the Futaleufu
The Futaleufú was never scouted and explored as a replacement for the imperiled Bio Bío River to the north. Steve Currey first saw the Futaleufú as a teenager on a Mormon mission in the late 1970s, decades before the Bio Bío was ever run or the dams were proposed. In 1985, five years before construction on the Bio Bio dams began, he fulfilled his ambition and returned. Earth River’s impetus for exploring the river was solely about finding a great destination for our guests. At the time of our 1990 descent, we were working with NGOs like GAAB and NRDC, running conservation awareness trips to protect the Bio Bío, not replace it