Yellowknife (Aug 25/03) - An American extreme kayaker has paddled over Alexandra Falls and lived to tell the tale.

Ed Lucero of Idaho ran the 34-metre-high falls just south of Enterprise on July 31.

"It was an amazing experience," says the 36-year-old.

However, he says he wouldn't do it again, explaining everything worked perfectly for him to survive without injury. Hay River RCMP say the running of the falls apparently broke no laws.

"How do you mandate common sense?" asks Cpl. Gary Asels.

Despite the planning, Lucero was thrown from his kayak and his helmet flew off by the force of the impact.

"That was the limit of my abilities," he says.

And Lucero warns anyone else from trying the stunt, noting a person could end up with a broken back on a much smaller falls.

The descent over Alexandra Falls is an unofficial world record. The highest falls that has been run that Lucero is aware of is just under 30 metres.

Lucero had not come to the NWT to run the falls.

Instead, he wanted to experience the Slave River rapids.

However, on the way to Fort Smith, he happened to stop and see Alexandra Falls, he was struck with the idea of attempting it. "It was runable."

Lucero thought about the falls during a week in Fort Smith. The highest falls he had ever run was between 15-20 metres.

Once he decided to go over the falls, Lucero says he had no more negative thoughts and planned the descent with his safety team. "From the moment I decided I was going to run it, I was 100 per cent confident I was going to make it."

Lucero explains he thought Alexandra Falls was runable because of the plume of "super aerated water" mushrooming away from the bottom of the falls. "You're in a flow of water."

Still, he knew it was going to be a big hit at the bottom. It turned out to be a considerably larger impact than he expected.

As for why he would attempt such a stunt, Lucero says he wanted to make a political statement about peace and people's potential for change. "I hope it's a huge statement."