Aerialist Nik Wallenda completed a tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon on Sunday, according to CBS News. The walk was a quarter mile in length and went over the Little Colorado River Gorge in northeastern Arizona.
Wallenda performed the aerial stunt on a two-inch thick steel cable 1,500 feet above the river on the grounds of the Navajo Nation. He completed the walk in a little over 22 minutes, during which he had to pause and crouch twice as winds came up and the cable swayed.
"Thank you Lord," he said about 13 minutes into the walk. "Thank you for calming that cable, God."
Wallenda completed the walk with no harness and took slow, steady steps, saying prayers as he went. He then jogged the last few steps before kissing the ground.
Winds of up to 30 mph were expected during the walk. Wallenda said that they were sometimes "unpredictable" and had blown dust onto his contact lenses.
"It was way more windy, and it took every bit of me to stay focused the entire time," he said.
During the stunt, Wallenda wore a microphone and two cameras. One camera looked down on the dry riverbed and one that faced straight ahead. He wore leather shoes with an elk-skin sole that helped him keep his grip on the steel cable. There were about 600 spectators cheering him on as he moved towards them.
A Navajo Nation ranger, a paramedic and two members of a film crew were stationed on the canyon floor.
Wallenda, 34, is a resident of Sarasota, Florida, and is a seventh generation high-wire artist, part of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family. His great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, fell doing a stunt in Puerto Rico and died at age 73. Several other family members, including a cousin and uncle, have also died performing high-wire stunts.
Previously, Wallenda has crossed Niagara Falls, which earned him a seventh Guinness World Record.
The stunt was broadcast live on the Discovery Channel.
Footage of Wallenda completing the stunt.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
