TORONTO – Nik Wallenda, the high-flying tightrope walker from the Flying Wallenda’s, successfully made his way across Niagara Falls on a tightrope walk Friday night.
“The mist was so thick, so challenging, those winds hit me from every which direction, was definitely more than I expected for sure,” Wallenda said moments after reaching the Canadian side of the falls.
The 33-year-old daredevil started his trek across the falls at 10:15pm from the American side to the Canadian side on a 500-metre wire suspended 60 metres above the water.
Tethered to the tightrope which was required by television network ABC, Wallenda landed safely at 10:42pm, making him the first person to walk across the gorge in over a century.
“Oh my gosh, it’s an unbelieveable view,” he told ABC, which was broadcasting the spectacle live.”
“I’m so blessed to be in the position I am, to be the first person to be right here and to be the first person in the world who will ever be right here, this is truly breathtaking,” said Wallenda who was wearing a microphone.
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It is estimated the walk cost up to $1.3 million to set up – this included the fabrication and installation of the custom-made steel wire, permits and security on both sides of the border as well as travel and marketing.
Some of Wallenda’s costs are being recouped by a deal with ABC to air his walk on television in the United States.
During a media press conference, Wallenda said the toughest portion of the walk was the middle.
“I was very focused, the wind is something you cannot train for,” Wallenda said. “I made it through it. The mist was powerful… it was in my eye.”
The walk drew approximately 120,000 people to the Ontario side of Niagara Falls.
Wallenda said his next challenge will be an even longer tightrope walk.
“I have permits to walk across the Grand Canyon,” he said. “We’ll focus on that and in the next 3 to 5 years or sooner, I’ll accomplish that as well.”
Earlier in the day, people had begun camping out and setting up lawn chairs near the falls to get a great position for watching the event.
Muriel Marsh, 81, came from Paris, Ont., about 120 kilometres away, Thursday night and snagged her spot on a hill at 7 a.m. Friday.
“To see this fellow walk across on the wire, I think that’s fantastic and very brave and very clever,” she said. “You’ll never have a chance again.”
Wallenda is a seventh-generation member of the famous daredevil family the Great Wallendas. His great-grandfather, Karl, fell to his death in a tightrope walk in Puerto Rico at age 78.
“I’ve been dreaming of today nearly all my life,” Wallenda tweeted on Friday.
Daredevils routinely used to make tightrope walks over the Niagara River gorge, downstream of the falls, until the practice was banned.
Wallenda has been practising on five-centimetre cable at the casino in front of crowds of onlookers since May 12.
-With files from The Canadian Press.
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