"This walk, 5 football fields long, it doesn't make since in you mind. I look at this, that's 1500 feet high but there's no cars over there, there's no people over there, nothing to kinda relate to so you cant grasp the magnitude of it.....Definitely the first couple steps are the hardest, the anticipation, the hard part of doing live TV is waiting for the director to say go!..... Once I get on that wire I get very peaceful, as long as that cable is engineered properly, I hear crowds, I hear people in the audience and I really focus on that" ~ Nik Wallenda
Right as the clock struck 8 o'clock a 34 year old 193 pound man named Nik Walenda stepped out on to a 1 quarter mile long taut cable all sitting above a 1,500 foot deep section of the mighty Grand Canyon. 40 pound balancing pole in hand, everyday jeans covering his legs and with a bright blue air wicking shirt emblazoned with the Discovery Channel logo he captivated the minds of a nation as five different cameras watched his labored steps and cringed as their stomachs churned and they ears registered Nik's anxious pleading for Jesus to "calm the winds and keep the wire steady."
Nevertheless, once the sickening shots of Nik's middle aged body rampant against a gray sky and a jagged background of brown and orange cliff walls were finally pulled from the air, morphing into images of Wallenda running the last few feet of the walk, jumping from the cable and kissing the ground as he passionately hugged his gathered family and friends you could finally stop holding your breath long enough to ask: who is this man?
Born a 7th generation member of the "Flying Wallendas", Nik resides in Sarasota Florida and has been tightrope walking at age 13 as he had already joined his family in multiple high wire pyramids before making his wire walking solo debut in the early 2000's. According to Wallenda, in the years leading up to the commencement of his career, he would train with his family as his dad would pelt him with dodge-balls and him mom would occasionally shoot him with BB guns to help him learn how to deal with distractions.
Nevertheless, after 34 years, his family has given him countless gifts far more useful than the bruises and welts from BB rounds colliding with his skin. They have given him the knowledge of history, the pure legacy of the greatest group of dare devils in recorded history. For over 200 years now the most trademark aspect of a Wallenda stunt, has been the sheer fact that for the pro-former of the stunt the only thing preventing them from falling to their death is the 2 inch wire on which their feet trek.
"Safety nets offer a false sense of security, the only sure fire way to stay safe on a wire is to stay on the wire."
Nevertheless while that quote to live by may work most of the time, it is not flawless and in 1978, that sometimes flawed belief was showcased in a terrible way. On that day, a 73 year old, Karl Wallenda the great grandfather of Nik was caught stuck in the middle of a wobbly wire. Attempting to sit down, Karl's ageing body slipped, falling 121 feet to his inevitable death.
"He is my number one role model in life; he is the greatest wire walker to ever walk the earth." Nik has said time and time again yet last night, the spotlight was not on the memory of Karl, last night the weight of the earth's eyes was on Nik as for 22 minutes he walked the hardest quarter mile a human could walk.
Nik Wallenda is an athlete, a son, a wife, a figure of bravery and now the only man on earth to wire walk across the Grand Canyon.
