Big Drops
The main event. In well under a mile the Colorado throws its three heaviest punches back to back — Big Drop 1, then Big Drop 2 with its infamous Little Niagara and Ledge Wave, then Big Drop 3 (Satan’s Gut) guarding the exit. At flood the three fuse into one continuous, heart-in-the-throat plunge with barely a breath between them: the most consequential whitewater on the Colorado above the Grand Canyon, and the reason crews train for years before they run Cataract. Scout it from the right. Respect it. Then hang on.
Also known as: The Big Drops, Big Drops Sequence
The three-rapid sequence — Big Drop 1, Big Drop 2 (Little Niagara), and Big Drop 3 (with Satan's Gut as the river-left pourover feature inside it) — that defines Cataract Canyon. Consecutive, scoutable, and the focal point of every Cataract trip. Runs Class IV through most of the runnable range; flood-stage flows above ~50,000 cfs push the sequence into Class V territory.