Nik Wallenda Masters Chicago Skyline With new JEANRICHARDNik Wallenda is a showman who crossed Niagara Falls and an Arizona gorge on a high wire. Now he now has his sights on Chicago's iconic skyscrapers — partly because of the city's reputation for being windy.
The chance to walk between buildings 50 stories above the Windy City and over the Chicago River was just what he was looking for, Wallenda said Wednesday. He will attempt his Chicago walk Nov. 2. It will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel and shown in more than 200 countries.
"I enjoy taking it up a notch," Wallenda, 35, a member of "The Flying Wallendas" family, told The Associated Press. "Chicago is home of the world's first skyscraper and my family is often referred to as the first family of the high wire. Then there's the Windy City ... which just sounds cool: Nik Wallenda is going to walk in the Windy City."
He plans to traverse between one of the city's Marina Towers to the 635-foot-tall Leo Burnett Building, without a harness or net. It will be the second-highest walk of his career, after the Little Colorado River Gorge, near the Grand Canyon. And will be done at a 15-degree incline, steeper than any previous walk. Wallenda then will cross the river at ground level and make a second tightrope walk between Marina Towers.
Wallenda said weather always is his biggest challenge. So he'll practice at his training camp in Sarasota, Florida. There he uses wind machines that can be cranked up to 120 mph. He said he won't attempt the actual feat if winds are over 50 mph.
On the day of his walk, "it just becomes nothing but a mental game," he said. "I know I can walk the distance, I know I can walk on the cable ... I know I can walk uphill, but then there's the mental challenge and my mind wants to wander, like: What if it's cold? And what if it's wet and icy?"
Wallenda said he's had the full cooperation of Chicago officials. He'd like to make the walk without a safety net. Although the nets are a state law, he hopes officials will allow him not to use one.
"It's art to me," he said "I'm painting a picture, hopefully an inspirational picture (for people) that no matter what their dreams are that they can fulfill them ... as long as they work hard enough at it."
"I just follow my heart and what I feel will be fascinating," said Wallenda. "I do what I feel will inspire and impress people. That's my job as an entertainer.