Paradise Carved by Whitewater
The white-water outfitter Eric Hertz spent a lifetime searching for the perfect river. In 1990, he finally found it, in Patagonia.
Fu Fighters
Cutting through the green, snowcapped Andes in southern Chile like a satin ribbon, the “Fu” is nirvana for paddlers. Along with mind-bending Class V rapids, the river has two unique…
Rafting the Futaleufu
One day in 1989, as Eric Hertz's rented Toyota van bucked along a dirt road through the remote mountains of southern Chile, he looked down from a bridge and was…
Fighting the Fu
Time may be running out for adventurers who want to tackle Chile's Futaleufu River - A 100-mile cerulean stripe that roars out of the Andes across the top of Patagonia…
THE SOUND AND THE FURY
The Futaleufu River's Terminador rapid can be heard surging from a quarter of a mile away. The Class V stretch of white water cascades over and around imposing granite boulders…
The best Whitewater Rafting
short of measuring the size of every wave, it's impossible to create an empirical list of the world's best whitewater. In addition to the water itself, we looked at the…
On the Wild Side of Chile
FUTALEUFU, Chile—So, my neighbor said, you really should come along. It's summer down there in February and this river is supposed to be beautiful.Chile? Yeah, right. That'll happen. Rafting? On…
A River Too Far
THE JOO-MILE-LONG Futaleufu River begins as an icy trickle high in the Argentine Andes and picks up speed and volume as it roars across the Chilean border toward the Pacific,…