How-To: Go Over Niagra Falls...And Survive. Maybe. (But Probably Not.)

First, a few facts about Niagara Falls:

• The Falls are actually 3 Falls, Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls. Only Horseshoe Falls is survive-able.
• It's 176 feet from the brink of Horseshoe Falls to the water below. However, because of the rock-lined base, the actual fall is only 70 feet.
• Water rushes over the Falls at a rate of 150,000 gallons per second.
• The first person to go over the Falls in a barrel and survive was a 63-year-old schoolteacher, Annie Edson Taylor (pictured). I don't know if she was wearing her hat at the time.
• Since then, 14 other daredevils have taken the plunge in barrels or other devices. One guy went in a kayak; another went over in a jet ski. Of those, 10 have survived.
• Two people survived the plunge without any protection, including a 7-year-old boy wearing only a life preserver, and Kirk Jones, who jumped, sans preserver, in 2003.

In addition to being illegal ("stunting without a license" can cost you as much as $10,000), going over the Falls is not a "good" idea. Pretty much everything about riding in a wooden barrel over a raging waterfall is dangerous:

• Being battered by the crushing flow of water inside a barrel can lead to a concussion -- or worse.
• Even if you survive the actual fall, the rocks below the Falls are huge, dangerous, and, um, rock-hard, capable of crushing the barrel (and a person) easily.
• Then, of course, there's always the water. Simply put, you could drown.

However, there are a few theories (not tested personally, mind you) about how to survive the world's bitchin'-est flume:

Filed under: History, United States