@Demarini71691 classified by whom? It's illegal to run now, as far as I know, but when it was run it was run as class 5. Just being big volume doesn't make it a class 6
@kyledrum15 it really isn't class 6, it's just a big volume river. and yes, I have been a lot in whitewater... wondering if you have been in real white water, class 4 and 5 ??
@Energiserr I've been a whitewater canoeist with the three rivers paddling club for a little over two years, the first class V I've done being the upper yough. I'm from the niagara area, and have had relatives run the gorge in the mid-80's when permits were given out. What would classify it as VI would not just be the waves that collapse on themselves, but more about the whirlpools and the penalties for not rolling up
I also believe when running rivers away from the usual places everyone should check in with the local Search and Rescue folks or jet boat operators in that area if there are any, both before and after making that run. If you let these folks know where and when, they just might be able to show up in time to pull your skinny ass out if things don't go well.
@whaleshrimp111 well where he is shooting is a class V at lower flows. it can get to class VI. there was a 19 foot boat that was pushed straight up and sucked to the bottom.
By giving my honest opinion about the rapids in this video being just big haystack waves, I am trying to lesson the attraction created by this video. I think HKelch was thinking about the amount of views it would get, not the danger misrepresenting these rapids could cause when he wrote it. Maybe he will add his comments.
pilot4life Having been on a river trip or two and done a bit of river rescue myself. I have found ways to avoid river deaths before anyone gets on the river. The rivers on earth have mostly been run already. Tough young folks looking to make a name for themselves might read “the most dangerous rapids in the world” and decide to have a go at this stretch of rapids. I think you will agree with me that swimming below these rapids in Whirlpool is very dangerous.
There are some places far away from the safety of nearby help where the rivers run big and bad. Type this into your search youtube box and have a look "Devil's Canyon of the Susitna, Alaska"
pilot4life15 I am only addressing the rapid in the video not the whirlpool below. Possibly you are involved in river search and rescue on that stretch of river? If not you might well know other who are who would like to comment. I recently received a comment from a paddler who mentioned seeing a pack of hungry lawyers on the American side. This added danger should be considered when planning a float trip here.
@whaleshrimp111 I am, but we don't attempt rescues in the rapids because of the danger. I'm actually not aware of any team that tries to do any sort of rescue that involves them entering the water. The best chance for rescue comes from a tourist attraction that has specially designed boats for the rapids, but they don't even try to go in the water. As soon as u go down stream past the power authority its its calm water.
You might try calling it something other than "the most dangerous white water rapids in the world". In my opinion there are way worse spots on this earth to find yourself about to put in!
It seems to be just a matter of opinion. What looked unrunnable many years ago is often run on a regular basis these days as equipment and skills have improved dramatically. This is just my opinion.
I can find nothing about this section of white water that would cause it to be rated a 6. Possibly you are including the legal costs of getting caught running it or the cost of rescue or removal by the numerous agencies that have powerboats for the purpose of rescue in this area.
@whaleshrimp111These rapids far different then other rapids because of the amount of water going through such narrow areas. When people fall into the lower rapids depending on the area, but there lucky to stay afloat for 10 seconds. Even with life jackets on these rapids are deadly.
I reviewed the international river rating system, watched people run the rapid with almost no trouble at all, including the First Legal Descent of the Niagara Gorge. There are road and walkways accessing the river and medical facilities and airports very nearby.
@whaleshrimp111 Volume of water. In really big water, like this or the Lachine Rapids near Montreal, the volume of water counts for a lot, as does the difficulty of a rescue should things go wrong.
@whaleshrimp111 those big haystack waves are so big that if you were seen in this video you'd look like an ant in comparison, just because they dont look that big in a video doesnt mean they arent, those waves are officially classed at 6. class 6 is "unraftable" not "unrunable", yes some people have run it, just as some people have run every class 6 rapid in the world.
@tpstrat14 this water is actually reeeally deep. the rapids are created mostly by mass amount of water being thrown down a narrow river not so much boulders although there are alot of boulders as well
SOMEONE has run it And his name is Joel Kowalski he coaches me kayaking and he has a video of hem and his friends rinning it so its true someone has run it!
I would not recommend this force 5+ stretch or water on the Lake Oroville Spillway in Northern California.
I would recommend a plenty of WaterRipper Flatwater Kayak Tag or Fetch with this new water absorbing waterbag. It is just good clean fun. Skips like a rock catch it like a bag.
Well....I say this you either do it or YOU don't. As they day sink or swim, but at the end they will ask , " what part of paddle HARD did you not understand". LOL LOL LOL.
theres a teaser on youtube.... I paddle along side these guys occationally when they show up on the ottawa river. They are WORLD CLASS... look them up. Nick Troutman, Joel Kowalski, Eric Jackson
Yeah the vid is deceptive. Those wave trains are gigantic. what people don't realize is that in classifying a particular rapid is not only how rough and powerfull a rapid is but it's about access too. You can have what looks like a class 5 rapid but it's class 6 because rescue is impossible or extremely dificult at best.
You get pinned out there, nobody is coming to your rescue period
Chuck Norris once rescued a baby from these rapids. Once he pulled the baby safely ashore he roundhouse kicked the baby back into he water cause the baby had a mets jersey on.
@RedShadow1917 There are 6 classes, I to VI. Class I would be the lowest you could call "rapids". Class III has rocks you would need to specifically maneuver around or risk capsize, and can feature drops of up to 5 feet. If you tried to find a casual rafting trip in most areas, they'd probably steer you to class 2-3.
Class V is about the hardest any person should reasonably do no matter how experienced, and can be deadly with many chances to toss, drop, crush, trap, or sweep someone.
this is pretty crazy, I was in China this summer and Tiger Leaping Gorge has to be the most dangerous rapids in the world...search Tiger Leaping Gorge Rapids
@killer575886 HAHAH oh just you wait till they release the water from the dam!! Every day the water in the gorge is low enough, that you can walk down the rocks to fish. Then they release the flood gates...
Think about it man.. Lake Erie is giving Lake Ontario everything she can give, and its all going through this one river..
I want nothing more that to go rafting in New Zealand. I know the drop you're talking about. Tallest commercially-run drop in the world I think. It looks fuckn badass. I'm glad there's no shortage of whitewater where I'm from.
my bro is a raft guide and was doing some guiding in costa rica, and there was a stretch of class 6, so he told the passengers to walk around it, because he had to run the boat through because there wasnt a path yet, and he and a few other guides tried to raft it, hit a huge piece of sharp fallen tree, and my bro got sent 10 feet in the air and landed on his face on a rock lol. hes good now, but he says he will never try to run a class 6 again
There have been rapids in the Himalayan rivers that were run a dozen years ago that received a grade 7 rating. I can't pretend to know what that would entail. I have been on 5+ and anything more is just roulette. The head kayaker was named Andy Embick. He was from Alaska. He is suspected to have committed suicide about 5 years ago.
Class 5, definitely not Class 6. The waves are big, and there is a giant whirlpool at the end, but I don't see any super sticky holes, or extreme turbulence that would make staying upright or rolling impossible. Secondly, people have descended these rapids, and successfully. Big standing waves are not that dangerous compared to overpors, undercuts, etc.
I know niagara is powerful and all...and I'm aware of the whirlpool. But that about these? Why are people saying stuff like 20 and 25 foot high waves. I'm looking at the boulders in the background and also trees and landscape...this looks like these are maybe 4-5 foot tall waves at most. What gives? Forgive my ignorance if i'm missing something...I do not raft or kayak at all. How is it 20 feet "tall"? That would be waves up around the tops of the trees, which would spill onto the land.
@tremayne6489 Grade VI Rapids as defined by Wikipedia on the International Scale of River Difficulty - Formerly classified as unrunable by any craft. This classification has now been redefined as unraftable due to people having recently kayaked multiple Class VI around the world.
Listen up: these rapids are not impossible. I'm not saying they're easy, but if you're a V+ paddler you can do it. Even hardcore whitewater swimmers have made it down just fine. Lots of people run it at night in order to avoid being arrested.
We ran this once at night to avoid the dickhead cops, we were passing through on our way to W. Virginny. It's total hairball but all in all it's just large waves, you don't even have to dodge undercuts or sieves. There weren't any real dangerous places that we could see. If you have to swim, just hold on. You'll get dunked a few times but the current is so swift you'll wash out pretty fast.
this is beyond difficult. it's hard to tell from the angle. i'm not sure if anyone has lived trying to run this. i only ever hear about the people who die trying. i've paddled class 5+, and walked this section of river hundreds of times. it's sick. google whirpool rapids, niagara falls and see where you have to start. it's a hole that would suck a 747 down and no one would ever see it again. still, more power to you if you could run it and live. i'd put your poster on my wall!!
well then i hope you have enough wall space, because you can go and get posters of Steve Fisher, Rusty Sage, EJ, Joel Kowalski, Nick Troutman, and the originals, Chris Spelius and Co. and plaster those puppies up on your wall
(i.e. they all lived.. watch the videos that they made and edited after the fact, the run) : )
@tylerledger type in "first legal decent of niagara gorge" in the youtube search engine. it's been done. barely by anyone, & most have died trying, but it's been done. most recently steve fisher did it & it's in one of his movies, not sure which one.
@tylerledger Definitely been run before. 1st known decent was in 1976 by Chris Spelius and Ken Lagergren. Highly illegal and highly dangerous. Also Woody Calloway (owner of Liquidlogic kayaks) ran it in a squirt boat in 1987 with some other folks.
@tylerledger Definitely been run before. 1st known decent was in 1976 by Chris Spelius and Ken Lagergren. Highly illegal and highly dangerous. Also Woody Calloway (owner of Liquidlogic kayaks) ran it in a squirt boat in 1987 with some other folks.
@tylerledger do you no if the video *first legal descent of the niagara gorge" this bit? ( watch?v=89dDpHpMhYQ&feature=related ) cuz it loooks bloody mental
@tylerledger ""i'm not sure if anyone has lived trying to run this. i only ever hear about the people who die trying. i've paddled class 5+, and walked this section of river hundreds of times. "
If you really knew what you were talking about then you would know that EJ ran this a few years ago. The video is even here on youtube
Type this in your YTube search, "First Legal Descent of the Niagara Gorge". The Niagara River flows 3 times the voulume of water that the Colorado R. flows The 20ft. waves of Niagara's Himalayas are the largest of any river in the Western Hemisphere. Niagar's rapids are equal to or more severe than the Lava Rapids of the Colorado.
Chris Spelius and Ken Lagergren ran this several times in the late 70s and early 80s with equipment far inferior to what's available today... so definitely not a class 6.
Don't get me wrong, it is difficult and dangerous and will totally fuck you up if you make a mistake, and is NOT suitable for commercial rafting... but not class 6.
They put up signs saying it is because they don't want people doing it, getting in trouble, and needing rescue.
Heck this isn't a Class VI, it's barely a IV+. Yeah it's big water, but that doesn't mean it's a VI. Looks eminently runnable to me (I was a guide for a looooong time).
Well, V or VI, I have to say, I wouldn't run it even with a guide. I can imagine the vidie footage doesn't do it justice but I think I peed myself a little just imagining running this thing by watching the swells in this shot. Impressive to say the least.
Difficult and dangerous, yes, and running commercial raft trips on this would be somewhere between stupid and insane... but not class 6. Look at some of the stuff on the white nile for reference.
Class VI means "unrunnable"...the sheer fact that this was being run until the fatal accident that claimed lives gives it a Class V (albeit a dangerous Class V) rating. Many of us in the industry vary the ratings on our own (with +/-). Few VIs stay VIs after they have been run once or twice but the run was successful by sheer luck. These rapids look very difficult and dangerous but they do look runnable (and have repeatedly been run successfully). They are not Class VI.
Even though I would most likely die, this looks really fun to run. Hopefully (by sheer luck) I could just pass through unscratched. The most I have ever done was a 5 and I broke my arm.
just got back from Niagra Falls yesterday and if you say that it is not a class 6 you haven't been there. There are signs everywhere declaring it a class 6. And I've been through class 4 before myself and I wouldn't go near this. The video does not show the full fury of the water. The river above the falls drops 50ft in the last 1/4 mile all before the actual falls. Very very nasty.
I also visited, but I took the cable car that goes over the whirlpool and I agree those are definitely level 6 rapids. You have to see the water in person it is powerful, a force to reckon with.
the whirl pool is not 500 feet deep but 250. the salmon run is on their now one of the best rivers around for beauty and fishing. and those are class 6 rapids i took the jet boat up the class 5's it was amazing
wrong. learn how to classify rapids. once something thought to be a 6 is run successfully it becomes a 5.x rating of 0 or 1 or 2. 5.1 means that its run quite regularly 5.2 means its only been run once or maybe a handful of times by a select person or group. this would be a 5.2 its been run successfully. not regularly. and a drop of 50 feet over a mile distance is a joke. it gets its class because of the volume and the impossibility of rescue. not its vertical drop.
Chuck Norris swims up the gorge for his morning workout.
F14ace 1 month ago
Not even near class 6.
dirt16 2 months ago
I saw this in real life, its bigger and badder than what you got taped here. Try springtime instead.
rkb100100 2 months ago
Its been run before, its not class 6.
avsbmn7 3 months ago 5
@avsbmn7 That doesn't take away from it being classified as class 6...
Demarini71691 2 months ago
@Demarini71691 classified by whom? It's illegal to run now, as far as I know, but when it was run it was run as class 5. Just being big volume doesn't make it a class 6
ennot 1 week ago
thats probly class 4/5 no way 6.
imagine kayaking that bad boy!
callmemarcer 5 months ago
@callmemarcer you've obviously never been in whitewater then
kyledrum15 4 months ago
@kyledrum15 it really isn't class 6, it's just a big volume river. and yes, I have been a lot in whitewater... wondering if you have been in real white water, class 4 and 5 ??
Energiserr 2 months ago
@Energiserr I've been a whitewater canoeist with the three rivers paddling club for a little over two years, the first class V I've done being the upper yough. I'm from the niagara area, and have had relatives run the gorge in the mid-80's when permits were given out. What would classify it as VI would not just be the waves that collapse on themselves, but more about the whirlpools and the penalties for not rolling up
kyledrum15 2 months ago
Class VI? Doesn't look more that IV to me.
stzzo1 6 months ago
@stzzo1 Looks can be deceiving.
BriscoCountyJr23 6 months ago
Looks like fun!!!
257fatman 6 months ago
class 1 - calm, easy to ride
class 2 - slightly harder, may need slight navigation
class 3 - rocks, hydraulics, and drops, lots of navigation
class 4 - waterfalls, intense hydraulics, and alot of experience
class 5 - extreme hydraulics, waterfalls, and also requires lots of experience
class 6 - aw hell - no
RCT3rox 6 months ago 2
i saw that when i wuz in canada its amazing
FaLLenxINSANITY 6 months ago
I also believe when running rivers away from the usual places everyone should check in with the local Search and Rescue folks or jet boat operators in that area if there are any, both before and after making that run. If you let these folks know where and when, they just might be able to show up in time to pull your skinny ass out if things don't go well.
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
@whaleshrimp111 well where he is shooting is a class V at lower flows. it can get to class VI. there was a 19 foot boat that was pushed straight up and sucked to the bottom.
pilot4life15 7 months ago
By giving my honest opinion about the rapids in this video being just big haystack waves, I am trying to lesson the attraction created by this video. I think HKelch was thinking about the amount of views it would get, not the danger misrepresenting these rapids could cause when he wrote it. Maybe he will add his comments.
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
pilot4life Having been on a river trip or two and done a bit of river rescue myself. I have found ways to avoid river deaths before anyone gets on the river. The rivers on earth have mostly been run already. Tough young folks looking to make a name for themselves might read “the most dangerous rapids in the world” and decide to have a go at this stretch of rapids. I think you will agree with me that swimming below these rapids in Whirlpool is very dangerous.
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
There are some places far away from the safety of nearby help where the rivers run big and bad. Type this into your search youtube box and have a look "Devil's Canyon of the Susitna, Alaska"
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
pilot4life15 I am only addressing the rapid in the video not the whirlpool below. Possibly you are involved in river search and rescue on that stretch of river? If not you might well know other who are who would like to comment. I recently received a comment from a paddler who mentioned seeing a pack of hungry lawyers on the American side. This added danger should be considered when planning a float trip here.
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
@whaleshrimp111 I am, but we don't attempt rescues in the rapids because of the danger. I'm actually not aware of any team that tries to do any sort of rescue that involves them entering the water. The best chance for rescue comes from a tourist attraction that has specially designed boats for the rapids, but they don't even try to go in the water. As soon as u go down stream past the power authority its its calm water.
pilot4life15 7 months ago
those rapids are the most dangerous in the world
iixxChopperxxii 7 months ago
@iixxChopperxxii there are a lot worse, grade 6 is now classes as runable, grade U is unrunable now as grade 6 has been paddled all over the world
TheLazyKayaker 7 months ago
It would be worse going over the falls than in those rapids
jnm144 7 months ago
You might try calling it something other than "the most dangerous white water rapids in the world". In my opinion there are way worse spots on this earth to find yourself about to put in!
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
It seems to be just a matter of opinion. What looked unrunnable many years ago is often run on a regular basis these days as equipment and skills have improved dramatically. This is just my opinion.
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
I can find nothing about this section of white water that would cause it to be rated a 6. Possibly you are including the legal costs of getting caught running it or the cost of rescue or removal by the numerous agencies that have powerboats for the purpose of rescue in this area.
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
@whaleshrimp111These rapids far different then other rapids because of the amount of water going through such narrow areas. When people fall into the lower rapids depending on the area, but there lucky to stay afloat for 10 seconds. Even with life jackets on these rapids are deadly.
pilot4life15 7 months ago
I reviewed the international river rating system, watched people run the rapid with almost no trouble at all, including the First Legal Descent of the Niagara Gorge. There are road and walkways accessing the river and medical facilities and airports very nearby.
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
Possibly you are using the Lester Jones 1-10 rating system?
whaleshrimp111 7 months ago
Looks a lot more like a solid #4. What is so dangerous about big haystack waves?
whaleshrimp111 8 months ago
@whaleshrimp111 Volume of water. In really big water, like this or the Lachine Rapids near Montreal, the volume of water counts for a lot, as does the difficulty of a rescue should things go wrong.
MrPortreekid 7 months ago
@whaleshrimp111 those big haystack waves are so big that if you were seen in this video you'd look like an ant in comparison, just because they dont look that big in a video doesnt mean they arent, those waves are officially classed at 6. class 6 is "unraftable" not "unrunable", yes some people have run it, just as some people have run every class 6 rapid in the world.
PhilDesigns 7 months ago
i swam it upstream too, without my legs & arms, stroking with my ears only! :-))
831NicaKoOL 8 months ago
This isn't class 6.. several people have actually run it, and more people would it just happens to be illegal.
gw2insider 8 months ago
I went skindiving there once
rhinohippo 8 months ago
nice waves, but they don't look like class 6.
Nothing hard...
ComaPictures 9 months ago
@ComaPictures you serious? this type of water will suck you right under and drown you.
Demarini71691 9 months ago
@ComaPictures the scale of these waves cant be depicted in this video, if you threw a human in there he'd look like an ant
PhilDesigns 8 months ago
chuck norris is pissing up stream
BAMITsJACOB 9 months ago
The falls are a class 6, this isn't.
invertmini17 9 months ago
imagine if you had some kind of super weighted boots and then you could walk upstream in this
tpstrat14 10 months ago
@tpstrat14 this water is actually reeeally deep. the rapids are created mostly by mass amount of water being thrown down a narrow river not so much boulders although there are alot of boulders as well
PhilDesigns 9 months ago
@PhilDesigns super weighted, super tall platform boots. It could be done!
tpstrat14 9 months ago
THANK YOU FOR NOT PUTTING MUSIC TO THIS!!!!!! :)
tpstrat14 10 months ago 24
SOMEONE has run it And his name is Joel Kowalski he coaches me kayaking and he has a video of hem and his friends rinning it so its true someone has run it!
AWSMcrew 10 months ago
I would not recommend this force 5+ stretch or water on the Lake Oroville Spillway in Northern California.
I would recommend a plenty of WaterRipper Flatwater Kayak Tag or Fetch with this new water absorbing waterbag. It is just good clean fun. Skips like a rock catch it like a bag.
thewaterripper 10 months ago
Whats with all the hype? Ive done it many a time....
mic0s0ftsam 1 year ago
Well....I say this you either do it or YOU don't. As they day sink or swim, but at the end they will ask , " what part of paddle HARD did you not understand". LOL LOL LOL.
TheAussie2000 1 year ago
i know how u made this video u did the jet boat that goes down there i went on that in september we did the closed boat fuckin crazy
ImsoUT1 1 year ago
look up the video "niagara here and now"
theres a teaser on youtube.... I paddle along side these guys occationally when they show up on the ottawa river. They are WORLD CLASS... look them up. Nick Troutman, Joel Kowalski, Eric Jackson
chris082681 1 year ago
The hell with that. I would love to see someone do it tho
XFoolXProofX 1 year ago
Yeah the vid is deceptive. Those wave trains are gigantic. what people don't realize is that in classifying a particular rapid is not only how rough and powerfull a rapid is but it's about access too. You can have what looks like a class 5 rapid but it's class 6 because rescue is impossible or extremely dificult at best.
You get pinned out there, nobody is coming to your rescue period
Gonwyld 1 year ago
@Gonwyld so true, i live in the falls and go down the gorge as often as possible just to watch the rapids and chill with ppl
PhilDesigns 11 months ago
A few people can go down the niagara falls in a barrel. Chuck Norris is the only person who can go up it in a cardboard box
potatoroller 1 year ago
Chuck Norris once rescued a baby from these rapids. Once he pulled the baby safely ashore he roundhouse kicked the baby back into he water cause the baby had a mets jersey on.
potatoroller 1 year ago
chuck norris kayaked this...upstream...twice
Kennyaj123 1 year ago
its just like the lazy river at your local water park!
massman110 1 year ago
What are the "classes" of rapids and their intensities?
Just curious.
RedShadow1917 1 year ago
@RedShadow1917 There are 6 classes, I to VI. Class I would be the lowest you could call "rapids". Class III has rocks you would need to specifically maneuver around or risk capsize, and can feature drops of up to 5 feet. If you tried to find a casual rafting trip in most areas, they'd probably steer you to class 2-3.
Class V is about the hardest any person should reasonably do no matter how experienced, and can be deadly with many chances to toss, drop, crush, trap, or sweep someone.
notme222 1 year ago
@notme222 Thanks.
RedShadow1917 1 year ago
@notme222 Wuss. Class 5 is fine, just gotta make sure you have safety.
look up "tao berman hits"... class 4?? REALLY??
chris082681 1 year ago
That is a Hell of alot of Water
UTubeVideoBuzz 1 year ago
i would if i could get up there and have the chance to do it
killer575886 1 year ago
this is pretty crazy, I was in China this summer and Tiger Leaping Gorge has to be the most dangerous rapids in the world...search Tiger Leaping Gorge Rapids
ian4197 1 year ago
thats totaly not class 6 i was on class 3 and it was rougher then that!
killer575886 1 year ago
@killer575886 HAHAH oh just you wait till they release the water from the dam!! Every day the water in the gorge is low enough, that you can walk down the rocks to fish. Then they release the flood gates...
Think about it man.. Lake Erie is giving Lake Ontario everything she can give, and its all going through this one river..
canmoore 1 year ago
@killer575886 lol.. those rapids are 10ft +, dont let the video fool you.
PhilDesigns 1 year ago
you think thats good i swam upstream to...with no arms
bozu2002 1 year ago 30
@bozu2002 you think thats good, i stayed home and drank some beer.
cantbuyrespect 9 months ago
@bozu2002 i dont need to swim, water just wants to be around me
tmg996 8 months ago
it will just push you through..zambezi is worse!!!
elshizznut 1 year ago
The Zambezie's got more insane shit than this.
dininelbourne 1 year ago
@dininelbourne
No. New Zealand. FTW!
i went down a 7 metre drop! :D
it was a class 7 track and basically impossible! xD
BKsMassive 1 year ago
@BKsMassive
I want nothing more that to go rafting in New Zealand. I know the drop you're talking about. Tallest commercially-run drop in the world I think. It looks fuckn badass. I'm glad there's no shortage of whitewater where I'm from.
dininelbourne 1 year ago
@dininelbourne
it is FUCKING SiickK!
Save up and go! do this high and i swear there is no better experience!
BKsMassive 1 year ago
Comment removed
dininelbourne 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@BKsMassive
I will go one of these days. I'll pass on the being high though. That is just completely unnecessary for an activity like that.
dininelbourne 1 year ago
Comment removed
dininelbourne 1 year ago
my bro is a raft guide and was doing some guiding in costa rica, and there was a stretch of class 6, so he told the passengers to walk around it, because he had to run the boat through because there wasnt a path yet, and he and a few other guides tried to raft it, hit a huge piece of sharp fallen tree, and my bro got sent 10 feet in the air and landed on his face on a rock lol. hes good now, but he says he will never try to run a class 6 again
kotaysoon 1 year ago
the only thing i have seen that is close to class 6 is That zambezi river
Chiken1012 1 year ago
wimps
hc2525 1 year ago
makes me scared just looking at it
MAORIBOY1983 1 year ago
There have been rapids in the Himalayan rivers that were run a dozen years ago that received a grade 7 rating. I can't pretend to know what that would entail. I have been on 5+ and anything more is just roulette. The head kayaker was named Andy Embick. He was from Alaska. He is suspected to have committed suicide about 5 years ago.
Kelebrinlith 1 year ago
@ samburger077 - thanks for the info!!!!
tylerledger 1 year ago
Class 5, definitely not Class 6. The waves are big, and there is a giant whirlpool at the end, but I don't see any super sticky holes, or extreme turbulence that would make staying upright or rolling impossible. Secondly, people have descended these rapids, and successfully. Big standing waves are not that dangerous compared to overpors, undercuts, etc.
vladimir2277 1 year ago
I know niagara is powerful and all...and I'm aware of the whirlpool. But that about these? Why are people saying stuff like 20 and 25 foot high waves. I'm looking at the boulders in the background and also trees and landscape...this looks like these are maybe 4-5 foot tall waves at most. What gives? Forgive my ignorance if i'm missing something...I do not raft or kayak at all. How is it 20 feet "tall"? That would be waves up around the tops of the trees, which would spill onto the land.
jmr1068204 1 year ago
look up other videos an you can see people kayaking these rapids that makes them a class 5
tremayne6489 1 year ago
@tremayne6489 Grade VI Rapids as defined by Wikipedia on the International Scale of River Difficulty - Formerly classified as unrunable by any craft. This classification has now been redefined as unraftable due to people having recently kayaked multiple Class VI around the world.
samburger077 1 year ago
niagara river has the "highest standing waves in the hemisphere"
skatezero1260 1 year ago
looks like it'd be awesome fun.. a little like silverback (though maybe there's a terminal hole waiting downriver that makes it 6?)
olliemath 1 year ago
I don't see anyone rafting in this video ;)
AlpineRafting 1 year ago
no you havn't niagara river has some of the fastest, highest creek waves (up to 20 feet) in the world.
dylanknetsch 1 year ago
Yeah, not 6... That may be a large volume of water but not class 6 consequences... I've seen some 4's that would kick this rapids ars.
CoriAlison 2 years ago
@CoriAlison sure it was probably put up by a tourist not a kayaker
davyman13 1 year ago
I swam it. Upstream!
kestral12345 2 years ago 63
@kestral12345 only chuck norris can do that
pdk135 1 year ago
@kestral12345 i saw you swiming...i was walking ontop...i shall teach you my ways hahaha
Killawolf95 10 months ago
@kestral12345 YOU'RE A SALMON LOL!
Killinemdead1 7 months ago
ProbaWould definately be at the top of the ratings but not impossible. Looks sweet
nailhead1960 2 years ago
They dont go up to 5 its 6 but 6 is classed as extreme / widely considered un runnable :)
SuperSickline 2 years ago
Class 6? The highest rating of rapids is 5 These rapids Have been rated "un-navigable".
tomnshanna 2 years ago
throw a cat in and see if it can swim
surfkayakerxray 2 years ago
hmm, not so sure on grade 6, 4/5 maybe.
Smashed1t 2 years ago
class 6?...oh no my frienD!
djuid 2 years ago
Its fast, its powerfull, its fun.. its not class 6. it looks a clss3/4 maybe but its a big so maybe a class 4/5. deffinatly not a 6 tho!!
RabiouxPaul 2 years ago
This is some huge water! It looks to be definitely a 5 to me. This is coming from someone who's run rapid #9 on the Zambezi.
presatito 2 years ago
Wow. That's stout!
MCpaddler11 2 years ago
doesn't look worse that mccoys
timrhodes1 2 years ago
those are the tallest standing waves in the western hemisphere. 20 feet. they're called Himalaya.
DrFrankLives 2 years ago
Just a little big-boogie water! Definitely not class 6 though!
fishman027 2 years ago
it doesnt look that bad... need somethin in comparison 2 actually show wat its like
leejj09 2 years ago
jump in
pete6754 2 years ago 2
The rapids are crazy
arinarocks 2 years ago
the water looks so beautifeul
Sk4tersLife1 2 years ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
check out my video. " Jake Boggs 'Yaking Video"
jakeboggs27 2 years ago
those are class 5 rapids not class 6
charlesfisher757 2 years ago 3
Listen up: these rapids are not impossible. I'm not saying they're easy, but if you're a V+ paddler you can do it. Even hardcore whitewater swimmers have made it down just fine. Lots of people run it at night in order to avoid being arrested.
ibuprofenPill 2 years ago
yeah no if you swim you die. these have been run before, though. my dad's coach ran it in the 80's.
ss4362 2 years ago
We ran this once at night to avoid the dickhead cops, we were passing through on our way to W. Virginny. It's total hairball but all in all it's just large waves, you don't even have to dodge undercuts or sieves. There weren't any real dangerous places that we could see. If you have to swim, just hold on. You'll get dunked a few times but the current is so swift you'll wash out pretty fast.
ibuprofenPill 2 years ago
Tyler Bradt paddled over 186 ft. tall Palouse Falls
KanzlerM 2 years ago
I bet I could do it standing on a tube.
manzilla86 2 years ago 3
i just got the licence to make kayak on that rapids for the 5th august ! :) wouhuu
maselt0ff 2 years ago
that is scary! i saw that when i went to niagara falls it was so awesome
rasberrydoodlecake 2 years ago
a bunch o people have run this, its in burning time 2 steve fisher and rusty sage run it, its class V+ without a doubt though at the flow shown
fubarjew 2 years ago
some say it is not class 6, you would still need a medal if you ran it though
richodion 3 years ago
huge but i donr think it would be that difficult or at least from the angle shown becuase although massive its just a bunch of wave trains
veginater 3 years ago
this is beyond difficult. it's hard to tell from the angle. i'm not sure if anyone has lived trying to run this. i only ever hear about the people who die trying. i've paddled class 5+, and walked this section of river hundreds of times. it's sick. google whirpool rapids, niagara falls and see where you have to start. it's a hole that would suck a 747 down and no one would ever see it again. still, more power to you if you could run it and live. i'd put your poster on my wall!!
tylerledger 2 years ago 20
well then i hope you have enough wall space, because you can go and get posters of Steve Fisher, Rusty Sage, EJ, Joel Kowalski, Nick Troutman, and the originals, Chris Spelius and Co. and plaster those puppies up on your wall
(i.e. they all lived.. watch the videos that they made and edited after the fact, the run) : )
awahlrus 2 years ago 2
@tylerledger type in "first legal decent of niagara gorge" in the youtube search engine. it's been done. barely by anyone, & most have died trying, but it's been done. most recently steve fisher did it & it's in one of his movies, not sure which one.
samburger077 1 year ago
@tylerledger Definitely been run before. 1st known decent was in 1976 by Chris Spelius and Ken Lagergren. Highly illegal and highly dangerous. Also Woody Calloway (owner of Liquidlogic kayaks) ran it in a squirt boat in 1987 with some other folks.
stickthatboof 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@tylerledger Definitely been run before. 1st known decent was in 1976 by Chris Spelius and Ken Lagergren. Highly illegal and highly dangerous. Also Woody Calloway (owner of Liquidlogic kayaks) ran it in a squirt boat in 1987 with some other folks.
stickthatboof 1 year ago
@tylerledger
Tyler, I would love to be the poster on your wall. We have a deal sir.
constellationex 1 year ago
@tylerledger
Tyler, I would love to be the poster you put on your wall. We have a deal sir.
constellationex 1 year ago
@tylerledger do you no if the video *first legal descent of the niagara gorge" this bit? ( watch?v=89dDpHpMhYQ&feature=related ) cuz it loooks bloody mental
thelethalmoo 1 year ago
@thelethalmoo Eric Jackson also did it in 2007
chris082681 1 year ago
@chris082681 awesome
thelethalmoo 1 year ago
@tylerledger I did it on a surfboard.
tpstrat14 10 months ago
@tylerledger Eric Jackson did it.
chris082681 10 months ago
@tylerledger canoes have ran it.
theGnarlz 10 months ago
@tylerledger ""i'm not sure if anyone has lived trying to run this. i only ever hear about the people who die trying. i've paddled class 5+, and walked this section of river hundreds of times. "
If you really knew what you were talking about then you would know that EJ ran this a few years ago. The video is even here on youtube
AlSwearengen15 10 months ago
man ive been to oregon and went on the level 2 rapids. pretty easy.but niagra falls is a hell of a rapid :)
thejoeymama 3 years ago
where in oregon did you go? i live in oregon and go rafting on the deschuttes and it goes up to class 4 1/2.
chriscrack1713 3 years ago
If that doesn't make you want to take a wiz. Nothing could.
Marcusthegladiator 3 years ago 2
Eric Jackson ran that in a playboat
shut up....
FoolyCoolyOo 3 years ago
dude, i swam through that when i was nine.
lakersfan16 3 years ago
definately big volume section but no where near class 6
teraana 3 years ago
Type this in your YTube search, "First Legal Descent of the Niagara Gorge". The Niagara River flows 3 times the voulume of water that the Colorado R. flows The 20ft. waves of Niagara's Himalayas are the largest of any river in the Western Hemisphere. Niagar's rapids are equal to or more severe than the Lava Rapids of the Colorado.
christof139 3 years ago
Chris Spelius and Ken Lagergren ran this several times in the late 70s and early 80s with equipment far inferior to what's available today... so definitely not a class 6.
Don't get me wrong, it is difficult and dangerous and will totally fuck you up if you make a mistake, and is NOT suitable for commercial rafting... but not class 6.
They put up signs saying it is because they don't want people doing it, getting in trouble, and needing rescue.
iSagada42 3 years ago
been there ran that
rustdog6298 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Lol you nigger.
2012MUSTANG 3 years ago
Heck this isn't a Class VI, it's barely a IV+. Yeah it's big water, but that doesn't mean it's a VI. Looks eminently runnable to me (I was a guide for a looooong time).
utubemarcus 3 years ago
ive been wanting to white river raft! it looks like fun. where would i go though?
taylorswiftgal1 3 years ago
Where do you live? You can find a river used for rafting near you if you search the net.
8270361507 3 years ago
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA its just quite big waves its big yeah but not difficult or grade 6
Allenboy269 3 years ago
ha iv paddled bigger rapids in my sink!!
onjonjonj 3 years ago
big volume nice and no were near grade 6
paddles5 3 years ago
You are foolish. All of you. I've shot these rapids. Piece of cake.
chrisdjonestube 3 years ago
Well, V or VI, I have to say, I wouldn't run it even with a guide. I can imagine the vidie footage doesn't do it justice but I think I peed myself a little just imagining running this thing by watching the swells in this shot. Impressive to say the least.
abrown2980 3 years ago
Hey we didn't classify it. We are just stating that it is a class 6.
sugnasty2000 3 years ago
Difficult and dangerous, yes, and running commercial raft trips on this would be somewhere between stupid and insane... but not class 6. Look at some of the stuff on the white nile for reference.
iSagada42 3 years ago
Class VI means "unrunnable"...the sheer fact that this was being run until the fatal accident that claimed lives gives it a Class V (albeit a dangerous Class V) rating. Many of us in the industry vary the ratings on our own (with +/-). Few VIs stay VIs after they have been run once or twice but the run was successful by sheer luck. These rapids look very difficult and dangerous but they do look runnable (and have repeatedly been run successfully). They are not Class VI.
icedh20 3 years ago
Even though I would most likely die, this looks really fun to run. Hopefully (by sheer luck) I could just pass through unscratched. The most I have ever done was a 5 and I broke my arm.
muttonhead688 3 years ago
just got back from Niagra Falls yesterday and if you say that it is not a class 6 you haven't been there. There are signs everywhere declaring it a class 6. And I've been through class 4 before myself and I wouldn't go near this. The video does not show the full fury of the water. The river above the falls drops 50ft in the last 1/4 mile all before the actual falls. Very very nasty.
sugnasty2000 3 years ago
its been run. check "first legal descent of niagara gorge"
milkymike375 3 years ago
I also visited, but I took the cable car that goes over the whirlpool and I agree those are definitely level 6 rapids. You have to see the water in person it is powerful, a force to reckon with.
FuLuShouXi 3 years ago
the whirl pool is not 500 feet deep but 250. the salmon run is on their now one of the best rivers around for beauty and fishing. and those are class 6 rapids i took the jet boat up the class 5's it was amazing
babyjaedyn 3 years ago
most dangerous in the world? i've seen worse on the Moisie. how is that a 6 anyway?
mbrunnme 3 years ago
Comment removed
jvidell 3 years ago
wrong. learn how to classify rapids. once something thought to be a 6 is run successfully it becomes a 5.x rating of 0 or 1 or 2. 5.1 means that its run quite regularly 5.2 means its only been run once or maybe a handful of times by a select person or group. this would be a 5.2 its been run successfully. not regularly. and a drop of 50 feet over a mile distance is a joke. it gets its class because of the volume and the impossibility of rescue. not its vertical drop.
eastcoastsurfer06 3 years ago
woaaa they some powerful waves!
donoghue1987 3 years ago