Nik Wallenda will walk a 2-inch cable attached to massive cranes on each side of the falls, about 1,800 feet across, and 200 feet up from the bottom of the gorge.
The renowned high-wire walker has announced he will attempt to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls between the United States and Canada on June 15, the first person to do so in more than a century.
The renowned high-wire walker has announced he will attempt to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls between the United States and Canada on June 15, the first person to do so in more than a century.
According to Niagara Falls Tourism, the first tightrope walker to cross the falls was Jean Francois Gravelet, better known as "The Great Blondin," in 1859. The last person to cross the gorge on a wire was James Hardy in 1896, but Wallenda said he will be the first to cross directly over the waterfall.
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"The other people all crossed farther down," said Wallenda.
"The other people all crossed farther down," said Wallenda.
The reason it has been so long since any daredevils have attempted the dangerous feat is because Niagara Falls Park banned tightrope walking displays after Hardy's walk, according to Niagara Falls Tourism.
Wallenda, 33, was determined to perform the death-defying stunt and lobbied politicians in the U.S. and Canada to get approval.
"I can't tell you the amount of times I was told, 'no,' 'impossible,'" he said. "I just kept on fighting."
Wallenda's first breakthrough came in September, he said, when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill giving him permission to perform the feat.
At first, Canadian authorities wouldn't allow the stunt on their end, said Wallenda, but finally gave him the go-ahead in February, specifying that they would grant permission for such spectacular acts only once every generation.
"This is something that people will talk about for generations to come," said Wallenda.
Nik Wallenda at Niagara Falls
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