If you found this compelling (separate from whether or not you approve of it), you might enjoy The Emerald Mile, which is the story of the fastest recorded run

If you found this compelling (separate from whether or not you approve of it), you might enjoy The Emerald Mile, which is the story of the fastest recorded run of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. The team took advantage of similarly extraordinary conditions and pulled it off with incredible style in a dory. Interwoven with that story are the stories of the commercial river trips that got caught in the perilous conditions and the struggle to save Glen Canyon Dam from catastrophic failure. Edited to add: I don't want to oversell this or anything, but I'd say it's on my list of candidates for greatest story ever told with the likes of Miracle in the Andes and Touching the Void.