Daredevil completes walk 1500ft above gorge
A TIGHTROPE daredevil has completed a walk that took him quarter of a mile over the Little Colorado River Gorge in north-eastern Arizona.
Nik Wallenda performed the stunt on a 2in-thick steel cable, 1500ft above the river near the Grand Canyon. He took just over 22 minutes, pausing and crouching twice as winds whipped around him so he could get “the rhythm out of the rope”.
“Thank you Lord. Thank you for calming that cable, God,” he said about 13 minutes into the walk.
Mr Wallenda did not wear a harness and stepped slowly and steadily throughout, murmuring prayers to Jesus almost constantly along the way, until he jogged and hopped the last few steps.
The event was broadcast live on the Discovery Channel.
Winds blowing across the gorge were about 30mph. Mr Wallenda said after the walk the winds were “unpredictable” and dust built up on his contact lenses.
“It was way more windy and it took every bit of me to stay focused the entire time,” he said.
The 3 4 - year- ol d is a seventh-generation highwire artist and is part of the famous Flying Wallendas circus family.
His great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, fell during a performance in Puerto Rico and died aged 73. Other relatives, including a cousin and an uncle, have also died while performing wire-walking stunts.
Mr Wallenda, from Florida, dreamed of crossing the Grand Canyon since he was a teenager.
The stunt came a year after he traversed Niagara Falls, earning a seventh Guinness world record.
Mr Wallenda’s leather shoes with an elk-skin sole helped him maintain grip.