MANILA, Philippines - This coming Monday, June 24, watch famous tightrope walker and acrobat Nik Wallenda taking on his most amazing challenge crossing the Grand Canyon on a wire. See it live on Discovery Channel’s Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda.
Wallenda comes from a family of skilled and daring acrobats. Walking across buildings and rivers on a wire — and without a net — are some of their previous challenges. Now, Nik Wallenda, who has successfully crossed Niagara Falls, takes on the grandest walk ever: Arizona’s Grand Canyon, up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep in some areas.
Wallenda shared in a phone interview the special training involved for this historic skywalk: “I trained with a cable nearly the same distance, close to the ground. So it was 1,500 feet long, but very low to the ground to simulate winds, updrafts, side drafts, and every direction you can imagine, trying to recreate crossing over the Grand Canyon.
“The Grand Canyon winds are very undetectable. It’s really hard to tell when they’re coming, the speed of the winds. And I will be unharnessed. I won’t be tethered; I won’t be hooked to the wire, whatsoever. It will just be me walking across that wire with no safety.â€
Tune in for this live daredevil act as Nik Wallenda takes on one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World on Discovery Channel’s Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda, airing Monday June 24 at 8 a.m., with an encore aty 7 p.m.