Canyon Walk

Is anyone going to watch Nik Wallenda tightrope-walk across a section of the Grand Canyon tomorrow?




Daredevil Nik Wallenda prepares for Grand Canyon high-wire act


By Tim Gaynor

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona | Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:57pm EDT

(Reuters) - When daredevil Nik Wallenda caught sight of the taut cable stretched over the yawning chasm of the Grand Canyon for the first time on Friday, his reaction ahead of his death-defying high-wire crossing on Sunday was pure glee.

"It was funny, I couldn't get the grin off my face. My playground's there and it's almost set up. It looks incredible," Wallenda, looking relaxed in jeans and a blue T-shirt, told reporters at a news conference in Flagstaff, in northern Arizona.

"I know that I'm mentally prepared, I know that I'm physically prepared, and now I can see that wire in place and visualize where I'm going to walk and how I'm going to walk and what I'm going to see," he added.

The self-described "King of the High Wire," Wallenda plans to step out late on Sunday onto the two-inch diameter steel cable rigged across a remote section of the Grand Canyon with nothing but the Little Colorado River more than a quarter mile below.

The 1,400-foot (426.7 meter) walk will be the highest tightrope attempt ever for the 34-year-old, at a height greater than the Empire State Building. It will be carried live on the Discovery Channel, with a 10-second time delay.

A seventh-generation member of the "Flying Wallendas" family of acrobats, Wallenda made history last year by becoming the only person to walk a wire over the brink of Niagara Falls. He will be using the same cable in the attempt on Sunday.

He first dreamed of the challenge during a visit to the Grand Canyon with his parents as a teenager. He said he has been mentally preparing since a return in 2007 by imagining himself stepping onto a wire.

He's doing it! You can watch it here...

Live stream

He made it!!!!

OH MY GOODNESS!

I have a fear of heights, so this amazes and terrifies me. (The header on the vid says it's the full walk, but it's not.)

How long did he spend on the wire?

It took him just over 22 minutes.

Yikes! I bet he was pleased to get of that thing!

For some odd reason, I was shocked that he was wearing jeans.  I just assumed there would be... special tightrope-walker pants. 

Yes I thought that was funny to!

Wasn't he the one who walked across the Niagara falls? Found it interesting when he did that he walked from the USA to Canada once he was on the canadian side the Police had been there to see a passport (In a Joking Manner) but he actually has it in his back pocket 

 Yup, that was the same guy, Jacob.

Funny thing.  When he walked the Falls, the authorities made him wear a safety harness.  But he was allowed to walk the Canyon without any safety devices at all.

I watched it.  I can't believe he did that.  One slip up and his whole family would have witnessed his fall.  That was a long 22 minutes.  When they panned out with those views it was just such a sight.  We thought the jeans were a bit strange as well.  I wonder what's next????

So do I!

Well, he's an extreme kind of guy.

The thing that freaked me about his jeans was that if they'd slipped down a little, he might have caught his toe in the cuff.

I noticed his shirt flapping in the wind and wondered why he didn't have one of those fitness shirts on.   His poor wife and family!  Shame on him for putting them through that! 
  He will probably end up dying one day by just tripping on an M&M!  It wont be something as big as this!  
     I hope he retires now.  BLAH!

I didn't watch it. I watched the movie Vacation. I heard they had the camera zooming a lot. I can't watch cameras zooming. Makes me dizzy.

Ha, love "Vacation."

Yeah, the camera work could be a little bit dizzying. It was better to watch online. They had six different camera angles to choose from, and you could pick your own.

A wise guy commentator on YouTube said that Nik wore jeans because they would protect his knees in case of a fall.

Loved the fact that he wasn't afraid to pronounce his faith every step of the way.  I need to take a lesson from him and praise the Lord every step of my (boring in comparison) life.

Gin wrote:

He will probably end up dying one day by just tripping on an M&M!  It wont be something as big as this!

 Probably!  Years ago on the Tonight Show they had an "extreme eater."  This guy ate insects, lightbulbs, coins... you name it.  Johnny Carson asked him if he ever ate anything that made him sick, and he said, "I had some bad sausage once."

Then Gin wrote:

I hope he retires now.  BLAH!

Really!  This was the gold standard of tightrope walks.  I don't see how anything else could be as impressive.

Teresa wrote:

One slip up and his whole family would have witnessed his fall.

I didn't watch it 'live', but when I watched the higlights that was the only thing I didn't like, knowing that his family was there to witness this.  'Hearing about it' and witnessing it are two very different things.  Not sure I would personally be the supportive wife that he has if this were MY husband!

Rob wrote:

Ha, love "Vacation."

Me too!

Rob wrote:

Yeah, the camera work could be a little bit dizzying.  It was better to watch online.  They had six different camera angles to choose from, and you could pick your own.

That's nice---just from watching this on the news it had me pretty dizzy and I don't usually even get like that.[/quote]

Rob wrote:

A wise guy commentator on YouTube said that Nik wore jeans because they would protect his knees in case of a fall.

I never did understand the jeans.  Seems like he'd be wearing biker shorts or biker pants or something.

LIWnut wrote:

Loved the fact that he wasn't afraid to pronounce his faith every step of the way.  I need to take a lesson from him and praise the Lord every step of my (boring in comparison) life.

Well said, Marilyn.