Nature 1, Extreme Kayakers 0
The highest waterfall in the world, the water at Angel Falls
travels 979 meters, which includes a free fall drop of 807 meters.
It cascades over one of the biggest table-top mountains in
the Canaima National Park in southern Venezuela, known to the local Pemon
people as Devil's Mountain. Most of the water evaporates as mist before
reaching the bottom.
Angel Falls is in remote jungle near the Canaima airstrip,
which can be reached by plane from Ciudad Guayana or Ciudad Bolivar. Local
Pemon people work as guides. www.angel-falls.com
Angel Falls (Spanish: Salto Ángel; Pemon language:
Kerepakupai Vená, meaning "waterfall of the deepest place", or
Parakupá Vená, meaning "the fall from the highest point") is a
waterfall in Venezuela. It is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, with
a height of 979 m (3,212 ft) and a plunge of 807 m (2,648 ft). The waterfall
drops over the edge of the Auyantepui mountain in the Canaima National Park
(Spanish: Parque Nacional Canaima), a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Gran
Sabana region of Bolívar State. The height figure 979 m (3,212 ft) mostly
consists of the main plunge but also includes about 400 m (0.25 mi) of sloped cascades
and rapids below the drop and a 30-metre (98 ft) high plunge downstream of the
talus rapids.
Falls are on Gauja River (alternatively known as the Kerep
River or Kerepacupai), which flows into the Churun River, a tributary of the
Carrao River.
Name
The waterfall has been "Angel Falls" for most of
the twentieth century, named after Jimmie Angel, a US aviator who was the first
to fly over the falls in a plane.[2] The common Spanish name "Salto
Ángel" derives from his surname. In 2009, President Hugo Chávez announced
his intention to change the name to the purported original indigenous Pemon
term ("Kerepakupai Vená", meaning "waterfall of the deepest
place"), on the grounds that the nation's most famous landmark should bear
an indigenous name.[3] Explaining the name change, Chávez was reported to have
said, "This is ours, long before Angel ever arrived there… this is
indigenous property."[4] However, he later said that he will not decree
the change of name, but only was defending the use of Kerepakupai Vená.[5][6]
Angel Falls during
the dry season
Exploration
Sir Walter Raleigh described what was possibly a tepuy
(table top mountain), and he is said to have been the first European to view
Angel Falls, but these claims are considered far-fetched.[7] Some historians
state that the first European to visit the waterfall was Fernando de Berrío, a
Spanish explorer and governor from the 16th and 17th centuries.[8]
According to accounts of Venezuelan explorer Ernesto Sánchez
La Cruz, he spotted falls in 1912, but he did not publicize his discovery. It
is possible that Cruz saw other - Montoya Falls in the Sierra Pacaraima
region,[9] which are more than 500 m tall.[10] They were not known to the
outside world until American aviator Jimmie Angel flew over them on 16 November
1933 on a flight while he was searching for a valuable ore bed.[11][12]
Returning on 9 October 1937, Angel tried to land his
Flamingo monoplane El Río Caroní; atop Auyan-tepui, but the plane was damaged
when the wheels sank into the marshy ground. Angel and his three companions,
including his wife Marie, were forced to descend the tepui on foot. It took
them 11 days to make their way back to civilization via the gradually sloping
back side but news of their adventure spread and the waterfall was named Angel
Falls in his honor. The name of waterfall - "Salto Angel" - was first
published on a Venezuelan government map in December 1939.[9]
Angel's plane remained on top of the tepuy for 33 years
before being lifted out by helicopter.[citation needed] It was restored at the
Aviation Museum in Maracay and now sits outdoors on the front of the airport at
Ciudad Bolívar.
The first recorded person of European descent to reach the
base of the falls was Latvian explorer Aleksandrs Laime, also known as
Alejandro Laime to the native Pemon tribe. He reached the falls alone in
1946.[10][13] He was the first to reach the upper side of falls in the late
1950ies, by climbing on the back side where the slope is not vertical.[10][13]
He also reached Angel's plane 18 years after the crash landing. In 18 November
1955, independence day of Latvia he announced to Venezuelan newspaper "El
Nacional" that this stream without any known local name shall be called
after Latvian river - Gauja. In 1955 this name was registered in National
Cartographic institution of Venezuela (Dirección de Cartografía Nacional).
There are no convincing proofs that indigenous Pemon people had named the local
streams as Auyán-tepui was considered to be a dangerous place and was not
visited by the indigenous people.[10][13] However, lately the Pemon name Kerep
is used as well.
Laime was also the first to clear a trail that leads from
the Churun River to the base of the falls. On the way, there is a viewpoint
commonly used to capture the falls in photographs. It is named Mirador Laime
("Laime's Viewpoint" in Spanish) in his honor. This trail is used now
mostly for tourists, to lead them from the Isla Ratón camp to the small
clearing.
The official height of the falls was determined by a survey
carried out by an expedition organized and financed by American journalist Ruth
Robertson in 13 May 1949.[9][14] The first known attempt to climb the face of
the cliff was made in 1968 during the wet season. It failed because of slippery
rock. In 1969 a second attempt was made during the dry season. This attempt was
thwarted by lack of water and an overhang 400 feet from the top. The first
climb to the top of the cliff was completed on January 13, 1971. The climbers
required nine and a half days to ascend and one and a half days to rappel
down.[15]
Angel Falls is one of Venezuela's top tourist attractions,
though a trip to the falls is a complicated affair. The falls are located in an
isolated jungle. A flight from Puerto Ordaz or Ciudad Bolívar is required to
reach Canaima camp, the starting point for river trips to the base of the
falls. River trips generally take place from June to December, when the rivers
are deep enough for the wooden curiaras used by the Pemon guides. During the
dry season (December to March) there is less water seen than in the other
months (This can be clearly seen in the photos of the falls above).
Filming location [edit]
Angel Falls also inspired the setting of the Disney animated
film Up (2009) although, in the film, the location was called Paradise Falls
instead of Angel falls.
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