Niagara Falls tightrope walker, Nik Wallenda, is a successful Flying Wallendas
The Niagara Falls tightrope walker made it all the way in 25 minutes, crossing 1,800 feet. Nik Wallenda made his childhood dream into reality at the age of 33.
The Niagara Falls tightrope walker said he did not have a proper focal point throughout the walk. Wallenda said, “If I looked down at the cable there was water moving everywhere. And if I looked up there was heavy mist blowing in front of my face. So it was a very unique, a weird sensation.”
ABC televised the event. After ABC urged the Niagara Falls tightrope walker to wear a tether, Wallenda did not argue because all he wanted was to live his dream. He wanted to perform the act as he comes from a family of circus acrobats that never attempted the feat.
It took Wallenda over a year to win approval from Canada and the United States, so he would do whatever it took to become the Niagara Falls tightrope walker. This was an unusual feat for someone to take on, but ABC simplified it by donating $1.3 million worth of sponsorship, according to The Week. While stunts like this have been banned in Canada for the last 128 years, Wallenda was the exception.
Wallenda started on Goat Island in America, 200 feet above the river, and on a two-inch wide wire.
The Flying Wallendas have performed various audacious acts, some of which ended fatally. The group was most known for a chair pyramid act they did in the 1940s, where each Wallenda held another up on a pole. And in 1944, a fire broke out during a circus performance, where the performers slid down poles to escape, but 168 casualties occurred from the fire.
But, more similar to the Niagara Falls tightrope walker, was Karl Wallenda who tried to walk a cable from one hotel tower to another in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1978, falling to his death.
The Niagara Falls tightrope walker already has his next quest in line. Wallenda plans to walk across the Grand Canyon and has already begun vying for permission.
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