Nik Wallenda prepares for stunt of a lifetime
Note: This is the BEST article I’ve read about the walk so far. It shares some nice details of how he will rig up the wire as well as other details of the performance.
From the Sarasota Florida Herald-Tribune:
To understand the enormity of Nik Wallenda’s planned high-wire walk across Niagara Falls this summer, it helps to look at another skywalking display the Sarasota native put on in his hometown two years ago.
On that crisp, clear winter morning, the seventh-generation aerialist walked softly across 600 feet of steel cable from the Watergate condos to the Ritz-Carlton hotel. For 12 minutes, he wowed spectators 200 feet below and dared a national television audience to switch channels.
But the trek over Horseshoe Falls — part of the Niagara River’s Ice Age formation separating the U.S. from Canada — will make that feat look like a piker’s errand.
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Daredevil’s wire-walk destiny set June 15
From the Buffalo News:
American tourism officials had hoped for a later date — possibly in September — for Nik Wallenda to perform his tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.
But they’re more than happy with the date government officials on both sides of the international border and the daredevil artist have agreed upon — June 15.
Officials on the U.S. side had hoped for a date after Labor Day because they wanted more time to plan, and because the 2,000 downtown hotel rooms are typically booked through the summer tourist season without such a big event.
Canadian officials preferred a June date because it would kick off their already-bustling summer tourist season. Roughly 16,000 hotel rooms will be available in Niagara Falls, Ont., with 10,000 located directly around the falls.
With the date now set, the ultimate goal is to draw visitors to the two cities and send them home with a desire to return, tourism officials on both sides said.
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- Wire-walk seen of more benefit to Falls, Ont. From the Buffalo News: When Nik Wallenda walks a tightrope...
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Wondering about Wallenda costs
From the Niagara Gazette:
They’re close but not quite there yet.
Officials from the state office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation continued talks Wednesday with representatives from Nik Wallenda’s team on a formal deal to cover security, maintenance and other expenses related to his upcoming tightrope walk across Niagara Falls.
A state parks official said Wednesday evening no such deal had been signed. The talks also did not produce a formal announcement on an official date for the event, which has been widely speculated as June 15.
“We haven’t signed anything yet,” state parks spokesperson Angela Berti said.
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- Wallenda needs Canadian approval or Falls walk proposal is dead: New York State Parks So as the details of the Nik Wallenda/Michael Chan meeting...
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Falls tourists unaware of Wallenda’s plan
From the Niagara Gazette:
A number of visitors to the Niagara Falls State Park — some living within a day’s drive — were surprised to learn about Nik Wallenda’s plans to walk on a tightrope above the falls.
Virtually none had even heard that Wallenda, 33, has been given permission from the parks commission on both sides of the border to make the walk this year, possibly in late spring or early fall. Wallenda’s team and the event organizers have yet to decide on the date.
It suggests a local task force and Wallenda’s management team has a lot of work to do before the walk, scheduled for sometime later this summer.
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- Wallenda outlines plan for N Falls walk From WIVB Channel 4 in Buffalo (including a video): Nik...
- Wallenda making pitch to Canada for tightrope walk From the Niagara Gazette: Nik Wallenda’s lifelong dream may be...
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Wire-walk seen of more benefit to Falls, Ont.
From the Buffalo News:
When Nik Wallenda walks a tightrope above Niagara Falls this summer, an unprecedented stream of spectators is expected to flock to the mighty cataracts.
Many of them should carry a passport. Niagara Falls State Park may have a clear viewing area for only 20,000 visitors, according to initial estimates, while Canadian officials could welcome more than 100,000 people to their prime seat at the Horseshoe Falls.
While state officials Monday pledged a “spectacular” show on the American side, others believe the estimates confirm that, for a number of reasons, Ontario stands to benefit most from the stunt.
“It’s a good problem to have: too many people,” said Jim Diodati, the mayor of Niagara Falls, Ont. “It’s a problem we had before 9/11. We’re happy to have it again.”
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- Wallenda makes high-wire walk case before Canada’s Niagara Parks panel From the Buffalo News: After a lifetime of staring down...
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Natural wonder or carnival sideshow?
From the Buffalo News:
Nik Wallenda’s tightrope walk over Niagara Falls this summer has been pitched as a once-in-a-generation event, a tribute to stunting history that legally can take place only every two decades.
Now three more daredevils want to join the party — promising they will seek to conquer the falls in a barrel. All have achieved the feat in the past.
This attention to stunting revives a centuries-old debate: Should the waterfalls exist as a natural wonder or as the centerpiece of a man-made circus?
“A little carnival is good,” said Mark DiFrancesco, owner of the Niagara Daredevil Museum on the American side of the falls. “A little bright lights and attention for the area is good. It’ll bring people into the area, and hopefully they’ll come back.”
But others think that government officials, by approving Wallenda’s stunt, have opened the door to these other attempts by renewing interest in stunting.
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Meet the seventh-generation tightrope walker who’s taking on Niagara Falls
From the Globe and Mail:
He has hung by his jaw from a helicopter without a safety net. He holds a Guinness World Record for the longest bicycle ride on a tightrope. And this summer, he plans to make history by walking on a tightrope across the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ont.
“It’s a lifestyle, and if you don’t understand it …” Nik Wallenda says, trailing off. You can almost see the daredevil’s head shake slightly in chagrin over the wire – the telephone kind – from Sarasota, Fla., where he lives in the Circus Capital of the World.
This is a very good article. I highly recommend you read it.
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Wallenda expected to practice in Falls
From WIVB Channel 4 in Buffalo (including a video):
Aerialist Nik Wallenda is expected to begin practicing in Niagara Falls, for his 1,800-foot journey across the Niagara gorge, around May 13th.
On Internet radio, Wallenda mentioned that practice could be held at the Seneca Niagara Casino.
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Still No Timetable for Nik Wallenda’s Walk Over Niagara Falls
From WGRZ Channel 2 in Buffalo (including video):
There’s still No Timetable for Daredevil Nik Wallenda’s Walk over Niagara Falls.
It is scheduled for sometime this summer. State Senator George Maziarz ( R-Newfane) explained that negotiations with TV networks that want to televise the event are what’s holding up the announcement of a date.
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Blondin to get street name recognition
From Niagara This Week:
Niagara Falls’ first funambulist is getting his due.
Immortalized in miniature crossing Victoria Avenue on a highwire, Blondin will now be recognized with his very own street after city politicians approved the naming of a small north section of Falls Avenue running between John and Bender Streets. Council unanimously endorsed the renaming at its March 27 meeting.
“The avenue’s proximity to the gorge makes it appropriate to name the road after Charles Blondin,” a staff report from the Clerk’s Department said.
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