Video: An elite climber just went UP a frozen Niagara falls
Ice climber Will Gadd became the first person ever to scale Niagra Falls - while it was frozen solid.
The world-famous waterfall has a height of 51 metres (167 feet), and the section Gadd climbed is 45m (147 feet) by itself.
Of course, Niagara - located at the border of Canada and the US - flows with a lot of water, and not all of it is frozen this year.
That's not necessarily a good thing - 150,000 tons of water drop over the falls every minute, as fast as a speeding car.
The section on the left side of the rushing water had enough ice accumulated to make the ascent possible - but remained a difficult challenge.
The climb is complicated by the fact that the whole area is preserved - which means no bolts, and nothing left behind in the ice. Safety was restricted to crampons, an icepick, a hook - and Gadd's lifetime of experience.
"I was so close to the water, I could reach out and stick my ice tool in the Niagara Falls," Gadd told Red Bull Adventure.
"At one point I was behind the water, climbing on ice that froze behind the falls. I got [a] whole lot of Niagara down my neck!"
Despite the challenges, after the first successful climb, Gadd went back and did it twice more.
Now dedication.
