Australian Josh Sanders joined pro stars Parks Bonifay, JD Webb and wake skater Brian Grubb in conquering the falls, described by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”.

At maximum volume, a million litres of water passes through the outer section of the falls every second. Despite their name, the Horizontal Waterfalls are not waterfalls. They‟re a geographically unique series of violent rapids, 300 metres apart, caused by consecutive bottleneck gaps joining two deep lagoons and the open ocean.

As the area‟s extreme 11-metre tides rise and fall – the largest tidal range in the Southern Hemisphere – water banks up on one side of each bottleneck. The difference in water levels on either side of the smaller, eight-metre wide inner gap can reach five-metres.

Red Bull’s 10-day Northern Tides project was timed to coincide with 10.8 metres spring tides when the torrent generates random whirlpools deep enough to swallow a dinghy. Aussie Josh Sanders knew how dangerous this project was to take on: “It‟s sketchy because we don‟t normally ride this type of stuff – it‟s really dangerous and there are lips and caves and jagged rock ledges on the side walls. Then once the tide change starts ripping through there are eddies* everywhere and strange currents; it‟s hard to comprehend the volume of water flowing through,” explained Sanders.

Bonifay adds: “The first time I did it I was literally wakeboarding uphill - the water level at the top was eight or 10 feet higher than at the bottom. It‟s really intense – you‟re just trying to survive and navigate your way through. If you fell, I‟m not sure you‟d definitely come up, but if you did you‟d be shredded.”

Located at Talbot Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago, 260 kilometres from Broome, the falls are extremely dangerous. Tour operators have reported at least 14 capsizings in the past two years and multiple earlier fatalities, while eight passengers were hospitalised in August when their tourist craft was slammed into the passageway‟s jagged rocks. The Northern Tides wakeboarding project explored the saltwater crocodile-infested area‟s tidal opportunities, also visiting the never-before-ridden Silicon Beach and Montgomery Reef.