Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from the book
Whitewater Classics, Fifty North American Rivers Picked by the Continent's Leading Paddlers.
***
Three of the world's five largest lakes are contained within North America's
Great Lakes system. The Niagra River connects the two lowest lakes of that
system - Erie and Ontario. Obviously, the scale of the river is awesome and
massive, and any whitewater boater passing through the area should stop and at
least look at Niagra Falls. After discussing the hypothetical scenarios of a run
with your friends, head to the gorge downstream, and you'll be amazed at how mellow
class V can look when compared to the granddaddy of all drops.
The Niagra River through the gorge is a straightforward but overwhelmingly huge
run. The crux of the run is quite short, followed by an easier lower section that
hosts tourist-toting jet boats. This huge but eminently runnable haven of whitewater
on the outskirts of Buffalo has seen only a handful of descents due to its illegality.
Within
the century, there would be fifteen runs of Niagra Falls, five of which have
resulted in fatalities.
The off-limits policy is likely due in part to the fact that just upstream lies
the tourism Mecca of Niagra Falls itself. The history of going over the world
famous falls is an interesting case study on public and governmental interaction
with thrill seekers of all kinds.
The first to successfully plunge over the 167 foot drop of Niagra was an elderly
school teacher. She took the best craft possible for the for the 1902 descent - a
padded barrel. Upon exiting her barrel below the falls, she admonished like a
true school marm; "No one ever ought do that again." That was all it took. Within
the century, there would be fifteen runs of Niagra Falls, five of which have
resulted in fatalities.
The occasional misfit going over the famous waterfall was looked on with macabre
fascination until the 1950s, then local law enforcement decided to get in on the
act by making the practice illegal. In the 1930s, "Red" Hill was dubbed the
"hero of Niagra" after running the rapids of the gorge on three occasions.
A generation later, times had changed. His son Major Hill was stopped by police
on three attempts to run the falls and/or gorge. In 1961, William Fitzgerald
became the first to be fined for attempting the river under the Niagra Parks act.
By the 80s, the authorities became brazen enough to quickly change the water
level in the river in order to snare would-be barrel riders.
In 1977, when Chris Spelius and his companion Ken Lagergren came to run the
Niagra Gorge, it was most definitely illegal. A commercial rafting venture
there had ended in tragedy with four drownings after a flip the previous year.
The story made headlines as far away as Salt Lake City, where Spelius read about
the incident, and hatched his plan to paddle the infamous gorge.
