- Title: USA: Daredevil Nik Wallenda prepares for Grand Canyon high-wire act in Florida
- Date: 20th June 2013
- Summary: NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE-JUNE 15, 2012) (REUTERS) LARGE CROWD GATHERED NEAR HORSESHOE FALLS, ONE OF TWO WATERFALLS THAT MAKE UP THE NIAGARA FALLS BETWEEN THE U.S. AND CANADA WALLENDA WAVING AT THE CROWD AND BLOWING THEM A KISS VARIOUS OF WALLENDA WALKING ACROSS THE FALLS NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE-JUNE 14, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIK WALLENDA, TIGHTROPE WALKER, SAYING: "I do everything I do in tribute to my great-grandfather Karl Wallenda who lost his life in Puerto Rico in 1978. Probably my biggest inspiration. So everything is done to honor him. So I'll think of him as well during that walk." RIVER THAMES, LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - NOVEMBER 21, 1976) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF 71-YEAR-OLD KARL WALLENDA (GREAT-GRANDFATHER OF NIK WALLENDA) WALKING ON A TIGHTROPE ABOVE THE RIVER THAMES IN LONDON
- Embargoed: 5th July 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Entertainment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA948WMYW0YULIS7OIOXZA8RLJE
- Story Text: Nik Wallenda completes his last day of training in Sarasota, Florida, before he attempts an untethered tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon.
Dressed casually in a T-shirt and shorts, aerialist and daredevil Nik Wallenda looks no different from many of the hundreds of spectators who turned out on Wednesday (June 19) to watch him practice for his next high-wire act at the Grand Canyon. But what Wallenda is preparing for is anything but routine.
For two weeks in his hometown of Sarasota, Florida, the holder of half a dozen world records has been practicing for what will be his biggest feat yet - a quarter-mile (400-metre) walk across the Grand Canyon on a steel cable with nothing but the Little Colorado River 1,500 feet below.
With no tethers or safety nets, the walk will be the highest tightrope attempt ever for the 34-year-old, at a height taller than the Empire State Building. It is scheduled to be shown live on June 23 on the Discovery Channel.
In Florida, Wallenda and his team are focused on creating the conditions he'll likely face at the Grand Canyon.
To ramp up wind conditions, his team one day set up air boats in the water alongside the steel cable he uses to practice on, pushing winds in updrafts to 91 mph.
"I've always trained for wind with air boats," said Wallenda. "They're all over the place when you're in Sarasota. I've got some great friends that have them, and it's the easiest way to create high, heavy, gusty winds."
But the winds that whip up and around the Grand Canyon walls pose another challenge. Wallenda recently faced heavy winds during a test run and practiced as Tropical Storm Andrea barreled onshore along the Gulf Coast.
Last June, Wallenda walked across Horseshoe Falls on a wire. The Horseshoe Falls is one of two massive waterfalls that make up the Niagara Falls between the United States and Canada.
During his walk across Niagara Falls, he was contractually obligated to wear a safety harness after signing an agreement with ABC, who aired the event live. Neither Wallenda nor any of his relatives who make up the famous Flying Wallenda family of daredevils, had ever worn a tether.
Wallenda dedicated his walk across Niagara Falls to his great-grandfather Karl Wallenda, who died at the age of 73 while attempting a high-wire walk in Puerto Rico in 1978.
"I do everything I do in tribute to my great-grandfather Karl Wallenda who lost his life in Puerto Rico in 1978," said Wallenda at a press conference last year. "Probably my biggest inspiration. So everything is done to honor him."
Wallenda is a seventh-generation member of the "Flying Wallendas" family of acrobats. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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