Wind can't stop Wallenda, tightrope walker heads to Chicago

Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda announced he plans to walk between two of Chicago's iconic skyscrapers without a harness or net. It will be his second-highest walk ever, and will be done at a 15-degree incline.

Nik Wallenda is all about spectacle, a showman who crossed Niagara Falls and an Arizona gorge on a high wire and now has his sights on Chicago's iconic skyscrapers — partly because of the city's reputation for being windy.

Never mind that many historians believe the Windy City nickname was coined because of blowhard politicians. The chance to tread between buildings 50 stories above the city and over the Chicago River — amid glittering lights and on live television aired in 220 countries — was just the kind of encore he was looking for,Wallenda said Wednesday, one day after announcing his Nov. 2 feat that will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel.

"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, twin corncob-shaped buildings on the north side of the river, 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 will 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, with wind machines that can be cranked up to 120 mph — though 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 city officials — including an endorsement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel — though he still doesn't know if the city will waive a state law requiring a safety net. He said Chicago could benefit from the publicity.

"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."

It's also about family tradition, and pushing the limits. Wallenda's grandfather, Karl Wallenda, died after falling from a tightrope in Puerto Rico in 1978.

"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."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Wind can't stop Wallenda, tightrope walker heads to Chicago
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0917/Wind-can-t-stop-Wallenda-tightrope-walker-heads-to-Chicago
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe