Successful Journey Over Niagara Falls
Trotter always sought to make a floating death-defying journey over Niagara Falls. He planned for several months and decided upon the month of August to perform his stunt. Upon arriving in Niagara, he pinpointed the next day, August 16, 1985, as the day for the roll. In the morning, upon readying himself to get in the water with the barrel, he was stopped when police showed up, timely foiling his first attempt. He was escorted by Canadian authorities with his barrel back to the US border and released.
On August 18, 1985, Trotter began his solo journey from a location just upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. A short time later, Trotter went over the crest of the falls, falling to the water below. Steven Trotter survived the plunge uninjured. He became the youngest person to ever survive this stunt (age 22) and the first American in 25 years to go over the Falls in a barrel. He used two pickle barrels placed end-to-end. The exterior was reinforced with layers of fiberglass, balsa wood for flotation, and covered with truck tire inner tubes for shock absorption. Trotter was strapped into an automotive racing harness, and equipped with flashlights, lifejacket, two-way radio, and oxygen tanks. The ends of the barrel were sealed with submarine-style twist caps.
At 8:30AM, Trotter's 11-man crew launched his barrel into the Niagara River rapids, a quarter-mile from the brink of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Trotter went over the Falls and survived with minor scrapes. Trotter said the stunt was "like the best roller-coaster ride you had as a 10-year-old." He was fined $500 by the Niagara Parks Police for "illegally stunting in a park."
Trotter appeared on Good Morning America and the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Trotter's photo was published in Time magazine, he made the front-page of USA Today, and numerous other publications worldwide. He was selected by Mademoiselle as "One of the 10 Sexiest Men in the World."
Read more about this topic: Steve Trotter, 1985
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