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Man walks across Niagara falls from U.S to Canada
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Man walks across Niagara falls from U.S to CanadaPosted:
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NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. The last time a man walked across the Niagara Gorge, Grover Cleveland was president. Utah had just become a state. And, that same year, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens.
Now Nik Wallenda, whose acrobatic lineage stretches back seven generations, will try late Friday night to become the first person since 1896 to walk from one side of the Niagara to the other on a wire.
Im facing Niagara Falls the wind and the mist and the dark and the peregrine falcons and Im going to stay focused on the other side, Mr. Wallenda, 33, said Thursday afternoon at a news conference where he gamely fielded questions from news organizations as far away as Japan.
Niagara Falls, in both New York and Ontario, was already buzzing with activity Thursday sidewalk vendors hawked daredevil dogs and souvenirs, as packs of children clamored for Mr. Wallendas autograph. There was much debate about the return of the 19th-century tradition of wire walking. Is Mr. Wallenda crazy? (Maybe.) Is he a tourist gold mine? (Yes.) Would he make it across? (Hopefully.)
Hes one of the last daredevils, said Paul Stein, 59, on Thursday, as he looked out from an observation deck at the haze-encircled wire strung across the falls. I dont know how hes going to do it.
Nearby, Adam Myers, 11, observed that it seems neat but, like, scary, because we just took the Maid of the Mist referring to the boat that traverses the falls and went under where hes going to tightrope, and you can barely stand on the boat.
In some ways, Mr. Wallendas walk is more audacious than those of his 19th-century predecessors. His rope has been set right above the falls, which throw off enough spray to drench those on the shoreline. By comparison, walkers like Jean Francois Gravelet, better known as the Great Blondin, walked across a tamer part of the gorge.
But the early walkers took other risks. Blondin once carried his manager across on his back. A female funambulist, Maria Spelterini, on various occasions tightrope-walked across the Niagara Gorge with peach baskets on her feet, blindfolded, or manacled.
Mr. Wallenda is a scion of the Flying Wallendas family of circus performers, started by his great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, who died in 1978 after falling from a wire in Puerto Rico. I do everything I do to pay tribute to my great-grandfather, Nik Wallenda said. And he is walking in his mothers shoes she made special moccasins with a suede and leather bottom that are supposed to keep him from slipping when the wire gets wet.
Mr. Wallenda said he had dreamed of conquering the falls since his first visit, at age 6. Im sure there will be some tears involved, he said, adding, Its coming down to the wire, no pun intended.
Karen Lane, 46, who brought her two sons to an autograph signing by Mr. Wallenda on the Canadian side of the falls, was more dubious.
I think hes absolutely crazy, Ms. Lane, visiting from Manila, said. I cant believe anybody would do anything so unbelievably insane.
Her 10-year-old son, Ethan Lane-Day, spoke with a bit more appreciation. I think that he has a lot of courage to do it, and not many people would be able to do that, he said. And yeah, I think its part crazy.
Ryan Lane-Day, 12, marveled, We just went behind the falls and its really cold and wet, and I dont know how hes going to do it.
Along the falls, there was much discussion of the safety harness that ABC, which is televising the walk Friday from 9 to 11 p.m., has insisted Mr. Wallenda wear. The Disney Corporation, which owns ABC, does not want a man to fall to his death on live television.
Gil Olsen, a 39-year-old from Colchester, Conn., said the harness would lessen the accomplishment.
I think it was good until he had to wear the safety line, Mr. Olsen said. Now its just any person I would try it if I had a safety line on.
But Mr. Olsens wife, Jenni, was more sympathetic.
Were E.M.T.s for the Fire Department, so we are pro-safety, she said, adding, We dont want him to die!
Mr. Wallenda said that he would honor his agreement with ABC and remove his safety harness only if it became a significant hindrance. Asked how he explained his job to his three children, he said: They were raised around this lifestyle, just like I was with my parents. Its really all that they know.
Then he told a story about wire walking across the Allegheny River, at a height of 300 feet.
Both of my boys were down playing their Nintendos the whole time, he said, because this is what Dad does.
Now Nik Wallenda, whose acrobatic lineage stretches back seven generations, will try late Friday night to become the first person since 1896 to walk from one side of the Niagara to the other on a wire.
Im facing Niagara Falls the wind and the mist and the dark and the peregrine falcons and Im going to stay focused on the other side, Mr. Wallenda, 33, said Thursday afternoon at a news conference where he gamely fielded questions from news organizations as far away as Japan.
Niagara Falls, in both New York and Ontario, was already buzzing with activity Thursday sidewalk vendors hawked daredevil dogs and souvenirs, as packs of children clamored for Mr. Wallendas autograph. There was much debate about the return of the 19th-century tradition of wire walking. Is Mr. Wallenda crazy? (Maybe.) Is he a tourist gold mine? (Yes.) Would he make it across? (Hopefully.)
Hes one of the last daredevils, said Paul Stein, 59, on Thursday, as he looked out from an observation deck at the haze-encircled wire strung across the falls. I dont know how hes going to do it.
Nearby, Adam Myers, 11, observed that it seems neat but, like, scary, because we just took the Maid of the Mist referring to the boat that traverses the falls and went under where hes going to tightrope, and you can barely stand on the boat.
In some ways, Mr. Wallendas walk is more audacious than those of his 19th-century predecessors. His rope has been set right above the falls, which throw off enough spray to drench those on the shoreline. By comparison, walkers like Jean Francois Gravelet, better known as the Great Blondin, walked across a tamer part of the gorge.
But the early walkers took other risks. Blondin once carried his manager across on his back. A female funambulist, Maria Spelterini, on various occasions tightrope-walked across the Niagara Gorge with peach baskets on her feet, blindfolded, or manacled.
Mr. Wallenda is a scion of the Flying Wallendas family of circus performers, started by his great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, who died in 1978 after falling from a wire in Puerto Rico. I do everything I do to pay tribute to my great-grandfather, Nik Wallenda said. And he is walking in his mothers shoes she made special moccasins with a suede and leather bottom that are supposed to keep him from slipping when the wire gets wet.
Mr. Wallenda said he had dreamed of conquering the falls since his first visit, at age 6. Im sure there will be some tears involved, he said, adding, Its coming down to the wire, no pun intended.
Karen Lane, 46, who brought her two sons to an autograph signing by Mr. Wallenda on the Canadian side of the falls, was more dubious.
I think hes absolutely crazy, Ms. Lane, visiting from Manila, said. I cant believe anybody would do anything so unbelievably insane.
Her 10-year-old son, Ethan Lane-Day, spoke with a bit more appreciation. I think that he has a lot of courage to do it, and not many people would be able to do that, he said. And yeah, I think its part crazy.
Ryan Lane-Day, 12, marveled, We just went behind the falls and its really cold and wet, and I dont know how hes going to do it.
Along the falls, there was much discussion of the safety harness that ABC, which is televising the walk Friday from 9 to 11 p.m., has insisted Mr. Wallenda wear. The Disney Corporation, which owns ABC, does not want a man to fall to his death on live television.
Gil Olsen, a 39-year-old from Colchester, Conn., said the harness would lessen the accomplishment.
I think it was good until he had to wear the safety line, Mr. Olsen said. Now its just any person I would try it if I had a safety line on.
But Mr. Olsens wife, Jenni, was more sympathetic.
Were E.M.T.s for the Fire Department, so we are pro-safety, she said, adding, We dont want him to die!
Mr. Wallenda said that he would honor his agreement with ABC and remove his safety harness only if it became a significant hindrance. Asked how he explained his job to his three children, he said: They were raised around this lifestyle, just like I was with my parents. Its really all that they know.
Then he told a story about wire walking across the Allegheny River, at a height of 300 feet.
Both of my boys were down playing their Nintendos the whole time, he said, because this is what Dad does.
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The event is over now, started at 10pm eastern.
Last edited by Nin ; edited 6 times in total
#2. Posted:
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was just about to post.
except i wasn't going to copy and paste with a fail image.
except i wasn't going to copy and paste with a fail image.
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#3. Posted:
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lol, good job, if you figured out how to copy and paste
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#4. Posted:
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He's only 33 and doing this. Wow..
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#5. Posted:
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Wow! You know how to Copy & Paste, can you teach me? :trollin:
Last edited by Send ; edited 1 time in total
Last edited by Send ; edited 1 time in total
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#6. Posted:
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#7. Posted:
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Durant wrote Wow! You know how to Copy & Paste, can you tech me? :trollin:
you spelled Teach wrong. :trollin: U Mad Bro? Just Joking with You ;)
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OrangeSn0wv6 wroteDurant wrote Wow! You know how to Copy & Paste, can you tech me? :trollin:
you spelled Teach wrong. :trollin: U Mad Bro? Just Joking with You ;)
Oh, LOL. I was typing in the dark.
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#9. Posted:
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I thought this was pretty amazing. The only thing that was kinda disappointing was the fact that this is a death defying stunt and the network made him have a safety harness. It would of been a lot more amazing if he didn't have one on and made it.
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#10. Posted:
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I watched It. MUCH RESPECT TO HIM! THAT WAS A PRETTY CRAZY STUNT. DID TAKE HIM 2 YEARS TO GET USA AND CANADA TO ALLOW HIM TI DO THIS! GREAT JOB!
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