Christopher Columbus wasn't Belgian. Neither was Sir Francis Drake or Ferdinand Magellan, but one Belgian (and a small group of his friends) has quickly become known as an explorer in his right.
Filmmaker and photographer Francois-Xavier De Ruydts and an expedition of sorts canoed across the 麻豆社国产River last summer in search of canyons.
And what he found was pretty remarkable.
I'm a photographer and was looking for a niche and started with caving, he said. When I was done with caving I discovered canyoneering and saw that almost nobody was doing it out here.
Canyoneering is a sport where participants descend down canyons using ropes. De Ruydts said there are a few sites to do the sport in North Vancouver but he had heard rumours about sites on the other side of the 麻豆社国产River.
We crossed the river in a canoe and hiked up a trail and had a look at the canyon and thought it was just an amazing place, he said. I'd never seen anything like it.
He and a group of three experienced friends checked out Monmouth Creek and then followed another stream to a canyon that he thinks no one has ever seen before.
One [Manmouth Creek] is visible from Downtown 麻豆社国产but the other canyon we filmed in was hidden, he said. We basically saw a little stream coming down the mountain and decided to follow it up. It could have been nothing but we got lucky.
De Ruydts filmed the adventure for two days and then put together his first-ever documentary film using that footage. The film is titled Down the Line.
The cool thing about this movie is canyoneering is a really new thing out here, he said. I think people are stoked that there are still new sports out there and still room for exploration. We tend to think everything has been explored but there's still places no one knows about.
Damien Briguet, who appears in the film, said it was a memorable experience to take part in the movie.
We decided to go check out that canyon and I was expecting a little YouTube video, he said. But what came out of it was pretty amazing.
Briguet has been involved in canyoneering for 12 years and first became interested in the sport while working as an outdoor guide in Switzerland.
It combines the water world and the climbing world and it's a nice place where both sports meet, he said. In Switzerland most of the canyons have already been descended and we usually know what to expect. Here in Canada you get more of the exploration side, which can make it a fun activity.
Down the Line was selected to appear at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) this past February and De Ruydts said he hopes the film gets an invite to the Banff Film Festival taking place later this year. It was also featured at the 5Point Film Festival in Colorado last month. His photography has also been featured in Canadian Geographic and several other outdoor magazines.
For more details on Down the Line, visit www.deruydtsphotography.com.
