CFCA is proud to be a sponsor of the Waterway Down project. Read on for more information and how you can help and participate. Visit the project website here.
The Sierra Nevada mountain range spans more than 400 miles in California. Deep canyons, cutting through this granite landscape, flow with the Sierra’s crystal clear life blood. Exploration of these profound gorges is the ambition of a team of canyoneers led by Sati Shah and Melody dos Santos. The team seeks to locate, descend and document three new canyoneering routes. Our purpose in taking on this expedition is not only for the thrill of the adventure but also to help promote awareness and conservation of these spectacular and unknown places.
By leveraging our years of experience exploring the Sierra Nevada, our team will select and scout prospective canyons. The promising prospects will become sites for descents. Technical problem-solving and teamwork will be the paramount challenges as the team works our way through these mountain waterways.
The documentary will capture a canyoneering team’s quest to promote a deeper understanding of precious wild places and of a community that truly values them by exploring canyons in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The film will vividly reveal the sport of canyoneering as well as the process of descending a canyoneering route without prior knowledge of the obstacles that will be encountered.
The film will document the emotional and psychological sides of this type of journey as well as each team member’s reason for taking on the risks associated with the expedition. This visually stunning piece will bring to life the waterfalls and pools of the Sierra’s granite gorges.
The documentary will celebrate the belief that access to wild places helps in their preservation and protection by raising awareness of the significance of the backcountry. This team hopes that our efforts will support this ethic in future Sierra waterway exploration.