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Niagara Falls has seen daredevils go over barrels, but this week, ice climbers Will Gladd and Sarah Hueniken became the first to reverse the trip. Click here to see the incredible video.

Canadian daredevils make historic climb up Niagara Falls ice wall


Dalia Ibrahim
Digital Reporter

Friday, January 30, 2015, 10:17 AM - Niagara Falls has seen daredevils go over barrels, but this week, ice climbers Will Gladd and Sarah Hueniken became the first to reverse the trip.

History was made as two Canadian daredevils became the first to climb about 46 metres up on the Horseshoe section of the famous falls, which borders the US and Canada.

Gadd, 47, and Hueniken, 34, made the ascent on Tuesday afternoon, though news on the event was kept under wraps by Red Bull, the energy drink maker, which sponsored the climb and planned to publicize it after the Super Bowl this Sunday. When word leaked out, the company released the news. 

"The power of the falls is staggering," Gadd told National Geographic after reaching the top. "It vibrates your intestines and makes you feel very, very small. I've never experienced anything like it."

Gadd, who was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, led the overhanging ice climb belayed by Hueniken, who, according to National Geographic, spent hours huddled in an ice cave part way up the route to avoid being hit with chunks of ice.


SEE ALSO: Frozen waterfalls draw in thousands of tourists to China's Sichuan Province


"As a kid, I always felt drawn to the edge of the falls," added Hueniken, who grew up near the falls, after the climb. "I think it's human nature to be curious about gravity and to wonder what it would feel like to go over." 

Gadd said the climb was not easy, but safety was a priority. 

"The climb was serious. It's an upper incline, it's not something that I would recommend to too many people in the world," he said in an interview with ABC News

Gadd was reluctant to rate the climb, but when pushed he said it was a grade 6, the second highest rate on the ice-climbing difficulty scale. 

The U-shaped Horseshoe Falls stretches 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 113,267 cubic meters per minute. While it was widely reported that the falls froze last year during the polar vortex, Niagara Falls State Park officials say that Horseshoe Falls has never completely frozen. 

WATCH BELOW: Our exclusive interview with Will Gadd

With files from National Geographic, ABC News

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