Video Proof That Kayakers Are Completely Insane

While I've been known to kayak in the past, most of my time was spent on water that was horizontal.  If I was going over a waterfall, it was purely by accident.  Apparently, some people seek that sort of thing out.

When I lived in Alaska, we'd have guests on our radio show every year that would drop off the latest extreme skiing and kayaking videos released that year as part of a local film festival.  I was amazed at Valhalla, an extreme kayaking DVD that also had a great soundtrack.  I watched it over and over, showing guests at my house what I thought was pure insanity.

When I got into kayaking, I knew there weren't a lot of options available to me for any kind of extreme kayaking.  I also know what an incredible chicken I am when it comes to putting my body in harm's way.  It wasn't going to happen.  My kayaking style could more be described as "slow and steady wins the race" than Valhalla-ish.

I'm truly impressed that people that so clearly aren't functioning at full brain-capacity can live such seemingly normal lives.  Anyone that chooses the direct approach at getting past waterfalls over portaging isn't all there, and to be honest, they should probably wear the helmets ALL THE TIME.

These kayakers may as well be called "fallers", because honestly when you're going straight over a waterfall and dropping any more than 15 feet you're really just falling and hoping for the best.  And by "hoping for the best", I mean anything shy of a broken spine should be considered a success.

For those that feel plummeting over waterfalls hundreds of feet to the water below just isn't enough of a rush, some have now taken the sport (or bad choice of hobby, depending on your personal thoughts on the matter) to the freezing waters coming off glaciers.