News Digest

Daredevil ice climbers become first to scale frozen Niagara Falls

A Canadian adventurer climbed into the history books Tuesday as the first person to scale the frozen waters of Niagara Falls. Will Gadd, 47, has been ice climbing since the age of 16 but never thought he would see anyone — let alone himself — conquer the world’s most famous waterfall. Sarah Hueniken, 40, his girlfriend and fellow ice climber, held the rope for her boyfriend from an ice cave. “I had a lot of time to feel connected to the place, to be aware of the power and magnitude and vibration in the area,” she told Yahoo News. Afterward, she climbed up to clean all the protective equipment — becoming the second person to scale Niagara Falls.

I was so close to the water, I could reach out and stick my ice tool in the Niagara Falls. The massive water flow constantly shakes the ground and makes the ice shelves and walls around you unsteady and unpredictable.

Will Gadd told the Toronto Star

The mountaineers used a specially designed ice hook, axes and crampons (traction devices attached to boots) to ascend the Horseshoe Falls, the largest of Niagara’s three main sections. Not everything was frozen solid. The alternating layers of ice and snow created an unstable surface. Just feet away, 150,000 tons of water raced over the crest every minute — at close to 62 mph. One of the hardest parts of the climb was Terrapin Point, about 147 feet from bottom to top, which was getting extremely wet in the bitter cold. Gadd’s friends, who call him “Captain Adventure,” had been telling him to climb Niagara ever since the polar vortex hit last winter, but he did not think the New York State Parks Department would allow it.

My sport is — let’s face it — not exactly mainstream. And on Super Bowl weekend, to have a lot of people looking at my sport and seeing the beauty of it, I’m really stoked. It gives me a real charge!

Will Gadd