The wire-walking daredevil completed the first portion of his stunt in 6 minutes and 52 seconds and finished the second, blindfolded walk, in just 1 minutes and 17 seconds.
- November 3, 2014
AceShowbiz -
Nik Wallenda successfully completed his tightrope walk across the Chicago River between the Marina Towers and the Leo Burnett Building on Sunday, November 2. Discovery Channel aired the footage on a 10-second delay so producers could cut away if something bad happened to Nik.
The 35-year-old daredevil of the famed Flying Wallenda family first walked uphill on the steel cable over the Chicago River connecting the west Marina City tower to the top of the Leo Burnett building at a 19-degree angle. The wire was originally supposed to be at 15-degree angle but it was changed for an even steeper challenge. He finished the first portion of his stunt in 6 minutes and 52 seconds.
Nik then returned to the west tower of Marina City and walked with a blindfold between the west tower and the east tower. He completed the second portion of his stunt in just 1 minutes and 17 seconds.
Nik broke two Guinness world records for the highest inclined tightrope walk and the highest blindfolded walk.
Nik said after his Chicago walk, he planned to recreate a 1,200-foot-long high-wire walk made famous by his great-grandfather Karl Wallenda in 1970. "He is my inspiration behind everything that I do," Nik said of Karl, "I want to do that walk with him. I'm hoping with technology - with old film - that there is a way that I can actually walk the wire with my great grandfather. I get chills thinking about it."
