Daredevil Nik Wallenda has set up shop in Niagara Falls in preparation for his June 15 tightrope walk across the gorge. Wallenda, of Flying Wallenda fame, will be at the Seneca Niagara Casino where his crews have erected a 1,200-foot practice wire outside. Wallenda says he'll begin twice daily practices on it. The public can watch for free.
Wallenda is fresh off a 300-foot walk high above Baltimore's Inner Harbor — where he lost his footing but didn't fall.
He expects it will take up to 45 minutes to walk an 1,800-foot tightrope over Niagara Falls, something that's never been done. Previous daredevils going back more than 150 years walked tightropes farther downstream.
UPDATE MAY 17TH: Wallenda said the walk will begin at 9 p.m., allowing for maxium viewing on both the east and west coasts, and in Japan, where it will be morning. He doesn’t think the darkness will post any special complications, since the area will of course be brightly lit.
UPDATE MAY 7TH: Nik Wallenda has yet to announce the official time, however rumour has it that the Niagara Parks will be scheduling fireworks to go off at the end of the walk. For now all we know is that Nik has mentioned 7-8pm, but we don’t know for sure until its announced!
UPDATE: The news is out, and the date is set. Mark your calendars, book your rooms and find you way to Niagara Falls Canada for June 15th the official date of the Nik Wallenda walk over the Falls!
In 2011 Nik approached the Niagara Parks Commission in an effort to seek permission to walk across the Niagara Falls gorge on an 1,800 foot-long-tightrope, in an effort to fullfil a life long dream. Undaunted Nik continued his efforts to set at ease and to answer all objections involved with the Niagara Falls Walk Event. Soon Nik’s persistence paid off as the Niagara Park’s Commission changed their minds and decided to allow the event. Now everyone sits and waits for the big date, when will it be! Stay tuned to this site as we keep you posted on the ultimate tightrope walk of 2012.
HISTORY
Nikolas Wallenda, known as Nik Wallenda born January 24, 1979 is an American high wire artist, acrobat, and Guinness Book of Records world record-holder. A direct descendant of Karl Wallenda (The Flying Wallendas), Nik is known for performing death-defying stunts on highwire without a safety net.
Nik Wallenda, born in Sarasota, Florida, began performing with his family at an early age. As the seventh generation of the Wallenda Family, he first began walking the wire at age 4 and had his first professional wire performance at 13. In 1998, while 19 years old, he participated in the re-creation of Karl Wallenda’s seven-person pyramid on the highwire in Detroit, Michigan by his father Terry and mother Delilah and decided to make a career of it.
In 1999, Wallenda proposed to his future wife Erendira, on bended knee on a wire 30 feet high during a performance in Montreal, Canada before a packed house of 18,000 people. Wallenda and his wife own and operate Wallendas Inc., a premier entertainment company that produces thrill shows around the world. They also have three children – Yanni, Amadaos and Evita.
