Posted on 01/30/2015 2:29:28 PM PST by windcliff
Nine daredevils have gone over Niagara Falls in barrels and lived to tell the tale. This week, ice climbers Will Gadd and Sarah Hueniken became the first to reverse the trip.
The pair became the first to ascend the world-famous falls on Tuesday, following a 30-foot-wide (9-meter) strip of rotten spray ice that formed along the left edge of Horseshoe Falls, which rises up 150 feet (46 meters) as it straddles the border between the United States and Canada.
Horseshoe Falls is the largest of Niagara's three major sections, or cataracts, and is considered the most powerful waterfall in the world.
"The power of the falls is staggering," Gadd said after reaching the top. "It vibrates your intestines and makes you feel very, very small. I've never experienced anything like it."
The U-shaped Horseshoe Falls stretches for 2,200 feet (670 meters) from Terrapin Point on New York's Goat Island to Table Rock in Ontario. The falls drain from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario at an average rate of four million cubic feet (113,267 cubic meters) per minute. It was widely reported that the falls froze last year during the polar vortex, but Niagara Falls State Park officials say that Horseshoe Falls has never completely frozen.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
How can it be frozen? The Prez, Pope and others say we are engulfed in Global Warming.
rotten spray ice
Wind driven droplets freezing on contact with the adjacent rock.
A better climb is slow moving water freezing in layers that have consolidated.
That said, it may look OK but ‘dinner plate’, where plate like chunks blow off when struck with your tool.
Way more fun than sitting home.
But awesome stuff!
I carry a Stanley thermos with hot tea and some snacks.
Longer routes can take a few hours and longer if there are more than two climbers.
My partner used to razz about the weight of the thermos.
Until a long route in New Hampshire, we took a break in an ice cave and my drink was steaming hot.
Down climbing on vertical ice is very difficult and to be avoided.
The tools are made to swing overhead and pull on the handle.
You can perch on top of the tool but hard to swing upside down.
Your partner should have top roped you.
Very secure and you may have enjoyed it.
Thanks for the note Dave!
Every Republican in Congress should study this, especially that dramatic pic in reply number one, as an example of what it means to have balls.
Thanks for the explanation. I thought “rotten” spray ice was a typo.
You are right, of course, that it is the spray that froze and not the falls. That’s what just skimming gets me.
I like it when the water goes over a cliff and just falls down.
It had better not be peanut butter.....
“Not to diminish the accomplishment, but he climbed the ice covered rock face next to the Falls.
Ascending Frozen Niagara Falls is literally impossible - the Falls are not frozen.”
That’s what I thought. It’s the frozen ice spray from the falls next to it.
The Ice Climb would make a nifty citizenship requirement. I am 100% in favor of granting any illegal alien who survived the climb a probational green card good for 60 days. It would of course be renewable by sliding down on a Flexible Flyer, and re-ascending.
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