RECAP: Nik Wallenda walks across Grand Canyon; is NYC next?
On Skywire Live, Nik Wallenda amazed viewers Sunday, June 23 with his death-defying walk across the Grand Canyon. Broadcast live on the Discovery Channel, the tightrope walk featured several tense moments where the whipping winds at the top of the canyon seemed to test Wallenda’s balance. There was more than one occasion when he needed to crouch down, apparently waiting for the wire to steady itself.
Read our interview with Wallenda here.
Wearing a blue Discovery Channel T-shirt and jeans, Wallenda continually thanked Jesus as he kept in radio contact with his father. Joel Osteen, a Christian preacher, was nearby with a hand covering his mouth.
Wallenda’s steps were slow and measured, but fear seemed to be nonexistent. This was not a daredevil stunt, as he told the audience earlier in the two-hour special. It felt more like a trained expert in a perfectly comfortable setting. The reality, of course, was probably much more nerve-wracking and intensive. Holding an elongated bar for that long and clenching so many muscles for more than 22 minutes seems impossible to the average person — especially at a height so high that a mistake could mean death.
The walk happened at a height of approximately 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River, according to a Discovery Channel press release. That’s a height taller than the Empire State Building in New York City. The same press release stated that Wallenda is planning his next high-wire act, which “may include stringing a wire between the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.”
If the skyscrapers of New York City are Wallenda’s next obstacle, he’ll be in good company in the history books. Philippe Petit, subject of the documentary Man on Wire, famously and infamously walked between the towers of the World Trade Center.
Wallenda has death-defying skills running in his veins. He comes from a long line of circus performers (the Flying Wallenda family). His great-grandfather, who Wallenda was honoring with the Grand Canyon walk, died in the late 1970s after falling to his death on a similar challenge in Puerto Rico.
According to the Discovery Channel press release, the Grand Canyon skywalk represents Wallenda’s eighth world record.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
