Nik Wallenda completes Chicago skyscraper wire walks The Associated PressCARLA K. JOHNSONNov 2nd 2014 9:48PM CHICAGO (AP) - Daredevil Nik Wallenda wowed Chicago and the world Sunday with two hair-raising skyscraper crossings on high wires without a safety net or a harness. Thousands of cheering fans packed the streets around the citys Marina City towers to watch the 35-year-old heir to the Flying Wallendas family business complete the back-to-back walks, including one wearing a blindfold. As he stepped from the wire after completing the second leg, he tore off his blindfold and waved to the crowd below that erupted in cheers. The spectacle was telecast almost-live on the Discovery Channel so producers could cut away if Wallenda fell. Wearing a bright red jacket, Wallenda tested the tension of the wire around 6 p.m. It took him about six and a half minutes to walk the first leg - at a 19-degree incline - from the Marina City west tower to the top of a building on the other side of a river. I love Chicago and Chicago definitely loves me, said Wallenda as he walked the wire, with the crowd of thousands screaming in support. What an amazing roar! The next stage of Wallendas high-wire event he undertook blindfolded - a walk between the two Marina City towers, Chicago landmarks with Hollywood credits. At a fast clip, he made the stretch in little more than a minute. The Discovery Channel used a 10-second delay for the broadcast, which would have allowed producers to cut away if anything went wrong. At around 6:40 p.m., just minutes before the anticipated start of his high-wire feat, Wallenda, who lives in Florida, said the chilly conditions in Chicago would not stall him. Yes theres some wind, yes its cool, but its not unbearable, he said. Months of preparations have meant helicopters lifting cable to the rooftops, road closures and clearances from the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Coast Guard. Residents of Marina City have been asked not to use laser pointers, camera flashes or drones that could interfere. Even grilling has been prohibited. Chicago city officials ignored a state law requiring safety nets for aerial acts higher than 20 feet, saying the law wasnt intended for elite performers like him. Two of his previous televised tightrope walks - over the brink of Niagara Falls in 2012 and across the Little Colorado River Gorge in 2013 - drew about 13 million viewers each. The Marina City towers have been on screens - Steve McQueen chased a fugitive around the west towers corkscrew parking ramp in The Hunter - and graced the album cover of Wilcos 2002 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Cynthia Garner traveled 90 miles from Belvidere, Illinois, with her husband Johnny. Im scared of heights, Garner said looking up at the wire. The feeling I feel when I look up there is scared for his life, she said. Im scared for his life. Journalists covering Sundays event signed waivers relinquishing their right to claim emotional distress if they witness a catastrophe. A year before Wallenda was born, his great-grandfather fell to his death during a tightrope stunt in Puerto Rico. He was 73. Whats next? Wallenda has said he next wants to recreate a 1,200-foot-long high-wire walk made famous by his great-grandfather. Karl Wallendas stunt at Tallulah Falls Gorge in Georgia included two headstands on the high wire. He is my inspiration behind everything that I do, Wallenda told reporters on Friday. I want to do that walk with him. Im hoping with technology - it was all filmed - that theres a way I can actually walk the wire with my great-grandfather. I get chills thinking about it.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:47:02 +0000
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