Florida
aerialist Nik Wallenda completed a tightrope walk that took him a
quarter mile over the Little Colorado River Gorge in northeasternArizona on Sunday.
Wallenda
performed the stunt on a 2-inch-thick steel cable, 1,500 feet above
the river on the Navajo Nation near the Grand Canyon. He took just
more than 22 minutes, pausing and crouching twice as winds whipped
around him so that he could get "the rhythm out of the rope."
"Thank
you Lord. Thank you for calming that cable, God," he said about
13 minutes into the walk.
Wallenda didn't wear a harness and stepped slowly and steady throughout,
murmuring prayers to Jesus almost constantly along the way. He jogged
and hopped the last few steps.
The
event was broadcast live on the Discovery Channel.
Winds
blowing across the gorge were expected to be around 30 mph. Wallenda
told Discovery after the walk that the winds were at times
"unpredictable" and that dust had accumulated on and around
his contact lenses.
"It
was way more windy and it took every bit of me to stay focused the
entire time," he said.
The
34-year-old Wallenda is a seventh-generation high-wire artist and is
part of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family -- a
clan that is no stranger to death-defying feats.
His
great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, fell during a performance in Puerto
Rico and died at the age of 73. Several other family members,
including a cousin and an uncle, have perished while performing wire
walking stunts.
NikWallenda grew up performing with his family and has dreamed of
crossing the Grand Canyon since he was a teenager.
Sunday's
stunt comes a year after he traversed Niagara Falls earning a seventh
Guinness world record.
Wallenda
wore a microphone and two cameras, one that looked down on the dry
Little Colorado River bed and one that faced straight ahead. His
leather shoes with an elk-skin sole helped him keep a grip on the
steel cable as he moved across.
About
600 spectators watching on a large video screen on site cheered him
on as he walked toward them.
Before
the walk, a group of Navajos, Hopis and other Native Americans stood
along a nearby highway with signs protesting the event.
The
stunt was touted as a walk across the Grand Canyon, an area held
sacred by many American Indian tribes. Some local residents believe
Wallenda hasn't accurately pinpointed the location and also said that
the Navajo Nation shouldn't be promoting the gambling of one man's
life for the benefit of tourism.
"Mr.
Wallenda needs to buy a GPS or somebody give this guy a map,"
said Milton Tso, president of the Cameron community on the Navajo
Nation. "He's not walking across the Grand Canyon. He's walking
across the Little Colorado River Gorge on the Navajo Nation. It's
misleading and false advertising."
Discovery's
2-hour broadcast showcased the Navajo landscape that includes
Monument Valley, Four Corners, Canyon de Chelly and the tribal
capital of Window Rock.
"When
people watch this, our main thing is we want the world to know who
Navajo people are, our culture, traditions and language are still
very much alive," Geri Hongeva, spokeswoman for the tribe's
Division of Natural Resources, said before the walk.
Source:
ctvnews
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