Last week, on Halloween night, the semi-famous Niagara Scow threatened to join the long list of things that have gone over Niagara Falls. Many media outlets picked the story up, so you may have heard it too. Here’s a segment from NBC Nightly News.

When I heard the story, it struck me that people who’ve never seen Niagara Falls will not feel the same way about the story as people who’ve experienced them first-hand.

If you’ve never been there, then you won’t know that there is something about the falls that seems to whisper “get closer” to almost everyone. That’s why millions of people spend so much time and money getting as close as possible. Here’s a YouTube video from Expedia that covers some of the many ways that there are to do it.

The narrator of the clip concludes with saying “no picture can capture the thrill you feel and the roar you hear when you witness Niagara’s astonishing power.”

That is true, but this 360° video from Niagara Falls USA does a great job of trying — it includes views from the river on the Maid of the Mist, arm’s length at the Cave of the Winds and from the sky in one of numerous helicopter tours available to tourists.

Of course, the phrase “going over Niagara Falls in a barrel” is in our vernacular for a reason. That’s because, while Niagara seems to just whisper “get closer” to most people, it must shout “hop on in” to a few others.

In fact, Niagara seems to be the embodiment of a dare to people with a certain bent for adventure and the ultra-dramatic. That’s why Niagara’s IMAX Theatre has plenty of material for their Niagara Daredevils Exhibit.

In case you’re not up on Niagara trivia, a star of the show is Annie Taylor — she was the one who dreamed up the stunt of going over the falls in a barrel, and she survived too!

Since Taylor’s success in 1901, there have been other successful attempts at the plunge.

For example, Pro kayaker Rafa Ortiz successfully paddled over Niagara Falls in 2015, and it resulted in the Red Bull sponsored film entitled Chasing Niagara. The film has some amazing footage for armchair adrenaline junkies to enjoy. Here’s a trailer with a sample of it.

Vicariously going over the falls can get your adrenaline going, but footage of going up might send your heart rate even higher!

Red Bull also sponsored ice climber Will Gadd to be the first person to climb up Niagara Falls. Here’s a one minute clip of that and some articles with the back-story of the stunt.


Will Gadd makes historic first ice climb up the world’s most (Josh Sampiero, Red Bull)
Check Out an Incredible Ice Climb Up Niagara Falls (Josh Sampiero, Red Bull)

So, I hope you enjoyed this vicarious adrenaline rush to start off your week/end 🙂

Have a great one!

Enjoy more adventures, check out this earlier post Armchair Getaways …

Find out more about adventure, travel in North America and the rest of the World …