May 30th Showing of
Paucartambo: The Rest of the River
Directed by John Armstrong
May 30th at Gold Trail Grange, Coloma, CA
Step into one of the most daring river expeditions ever captured on film. Paucartambo: The Rest of the River follows a team of legendary American kayakers on a perilous 19-day descent of Peru’s remote and unmapped Paucartambo River—plunging 13,000 feet from the Andes to the Amazon Basin in what was, at the time, the greatest sustained vertical drop ever achieved in kayaking history.
Filmed in 1986 and hailed as one of the earliest expedition kayaking documentaries, this award-winning film (including the People’s Choice Award at the Banff Mountain Film Festival) goes far beyond adrenaline. It captures the raw reality of expedition life—grueling portages, unrelenting rapids, and the ever-present risk of isolation where rescue is impossible. Along the way, the team encounters the Quechua people, offering a rare and human glimpse into life along this powerful river.
Notably, the film was also groundbreaking for its time, featuring one of the first mixed-gender expedition kayaking teams ever documented.
Now beautifully restored from its original 16mm film to stunning 4K, this new version reveals breathtaking detail and depth never before seen, paired with a rich, immersive soundscape crafted specifically for the journey.
Join us for this special screening and experience a landmark in adventure filmmaking—while supporting the vital work of Friends of the River to protect and restore wild rivers.
Following the screening, stay for a special Q&A with director John Armstrong and original members of the expedition, offering rare behind-the-scenes stories and firsthand reflections from this historic journey.
Bonus screening: Paucartambo: Inca River — a newly restored 4K film capturing the original 1985 expedition’s first attempt to run the Paucartambo River from its highest source. Forced off the river by high water less than halfway through, this film sets the stage for Paucartambo: The Rest of the River.
WHEN: Saturday, May 30th. Door Open 6pm, Screening 7pm.
WHERE: Gold Trail Grange, 319 CA-49, Coloma, CA 95613
TICKETS: 10$ online or $12 at the door.
About the Director: John Armstrong
John Armstrong is an award-winning cinematographer and filmmaker with a 35-year career capturing some of the world’s most extreme adventures and compelling unscripted television. His work spans both groundbreaking expedition documentaries and major reality competition series (think Survivor, The Amazing Race, and American Ninja Warrior).
Armstrong’s cinematic achievements have earned him three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Sports Emmy Awards for Cinematography. His adventure films have also received top honors, including the Grand Prize at the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival for Bashkaus: Hard Labor in Siberia and Best Documentary for Curtain of Ice.
In recognition of his lifetime contributions to the field, Armstrong was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Unscripted Camera Operator by the Society of Camera Operators in 2025. His career and impact were further highlighted in a feature by Harvard Magazine, reflecting on his journey since graduating from Harvard in 1974.
Through decades of work behind the lens, Armstrong has helped define the visual language of adventure storytelling—bringing audiences into some of the most remote, challenging, and inspiring places on Earth.
About the Expedition Team
Phil DeRiemer: Introduced to the outdoors at an early age through camping and backpacking, Phil was hooked on a life outside.
After a couple of false starts, his paddling career spans over four decades of doing his best to avoid a traditional job. For 10 years he was a lead instructor for Sundance Kayak School on Oregon’s Rogue River which overlapped with 20 years at Otter Bar Lodge on the Cal Salmon. Phil guided with Expeditions Chile for 4 years on a variety of rivers there, including the stunning Futaleufu -on which he was a team member that bagged the first descent.
In 1993, along with his wife Mary, Phil started DeRiemer Adventure Kayaking, offering instruction and multi-day trips on a number of classic Western rivers in the US, as well as in Ecuador, Bhutan, Honduras and Costa Rica. They co-authored and were featured in several award-winning instructional videos. With Mary, he was inducted into the American Canoe Associations “Legends of Paddling” for their “legendary contributions to paddle sports”. They also worked behind the scenes on the Meryl Streep movie, The River Wild.
Phil has been on numerous kayaking adventures involving first descents -from the Himalayas of Nepal and Bhutan, to the Andes of Peru and Chile. He was one of three kayakers to self-support on the second descent of the Stikine. On Baffin Island, Phil with 3 others, linked 3 rivers, paddling down two and portaged up another, on a 22-day journey to traverse the island.
When not paddling, Phil brought his design background to Kokatat’s early foray into drysuits, and he developed their line of PFDs. He also designed for Patagonia and other outdoor brands.
Throughout his 45 years on rivers, Phil will tell you his most rewarding accomplishment has been teaching and guiding. His love of helping people overcome their fears and improve their skills is a gift that he shares with joy and humor.
Eric Magneson was part of an active first wave of Class 5 paddling in the Sierra Nevada in the 80s and 90s with a number of first descents and other notable paddles including the first no portage run of the "Golden Gate" on the upper South Fork American River. International adventures followed, among them first descents in Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Nepal, and numerous first d's in Chile, including the Siete Tazas on the Rio Claro and the southern jewel, Futaleufú.
Eric also ran Sierra Kayak School with Lars Holbek, and that partnership led to the making of Wild Americans, an early video guide featuring Class 5 sections of the American River watershed . . . and Lars' alter ego "Bob."
After losing several friends in kayaking accidents, Eric designed and led the West Coast's first whitewater kayak-specific safety and rescue courses which he taught throughout the West and Alaska for 15 years.
Other exploits include: winning Project Raft's International Whitewater Competition in Costa Rica ('91) and Turkey ('93) as a member of Team California; working on numerous films and advertisements as a whitewater safety specialist, rigger, stunt performer, and as a featured actor in HBO's White Mile; and paddling in Alaska on a self-supported sea kayak trip from Seward to Homer with buddy Dennis Eagan.
Eric is a contractor and humble graybeard who notices everything is still better after a river paddle with friends.
His explorations in California gave him the knowledge, expertise, and credentials to author “The Best Whitewater in California” in 1984. Though the guide book was written 25 years ago, it is still the undisputed authority for paddling in California. Working with the Tuolumne River Preservation Trust Organization, Lars helped save the Clavey River, a Tuolumne River tributary, from an unnecessary dam.
During her college years at Colorado University, she alpine ski raced in the winter, and summers were spent teaching kayaking and raft guiding for World of Whitewater in California and Sundance Kayak School in Oregon. This is where she realized that kayaking would be her life. After college she started a kayak school and her father suggested they also open a retail store and a mail order business. Four Corners Riversports was born.
In 1984 after college graduation, and before getting to work, Nancy went to Chile to kayak with two women, traveling in a small Suzuki minivan. They had very little beta, as rivers were just starting to be explored in Chile. This trip piqued an interest in paddling adventures and exploration.
The next 18 years were full-on paddling (or mostly working!): running and managing the store and kayak school; self-publishing the mail order catalog (every year); hosting whitewater events in Durango, including the Champion International Whitewater Races, U.S. Junior Slalom Team Trials, Animas River Days, and Open Canoe Nationals. Nancy feels that her greatest legacy is having started the kids paddling school that is still in operation today.
During these years Nancy was invited to participate in the second expedition and filming of the Paucartambo River in Peru, a Mutual of Omaha kayak and raft expedition on the Boh River in Kalimantan, Indonesia, Project Raft in Costa Rica, kayaking with filmmaker Roger Brown in Sulawesi, and a Survival of the Fittest competition, where against all odds, she finished first.
After selling Four Corners River Sports in 1998, Lars Holbek decided Nancy finally had time for a relationship. He moved to southwest Colorado and Nancy and Lars built a passive solar off-grid adobe house. While Nancy finished the house by building cabinets and concrete countertops, Lars converted their diesel vehicles to run on vegetable oil. Of course, they took time to kayak, bike, ski, and walk in the mountains with their dog Boojie.
Beth Rypins’ life has always been shaped by resilience, curiosity, and a willingness to chase adventure wherever it leads. A childhood stroke survivor, Beth went on to become a 3-time Whitewater Rafting World Champion—an outcome that says a lot about both her grit and her refusal to be defined by limits.
She discovered kayaking in 1979 at age 15 and was guiding rafts by 16. What began as a passion quickly turned into a global journey, as whitewater carried her across continents. Along the way, Beth picked up languages, immersed herself in different cultures, and built a life that was anything but conventional.
In 1990, she returned to UC Berkeley to study Soviet Politics and Russian, initially planning a future in the former Soviet Union. But the pull of the river proved strong, and she found herself back in the world of whitewater during some of her most impactful years. Beth helped pioneer new international commercial river runs with Earth River Expeditions and worked in outdoor television both in front of and behind the camera. She even added Italian to her growing list of languages.
Never one to shy away from meaningful life experiences, Beth became a mother at 39—an adventure she considers among her greatest.
Now in her 60s, Beth channels that same energy into running a CrossFit gym, where she helps others build strength, improve their health, and reconnect with their bodies. Having experienced paralysis, she brings a deep sense of purpose to her work. For Beth, helping others rediscover their strength feels like a full-circle moment—one that ties together a lifetime of challenge, movement, and perseverance.