[SeekAndFind]

[Telepathic Intruder]

"What I do is extremely calculated. I know that the wire is exactly the right tension, and I trained on it"

Right, as if nothing can go wrong. You're walking on a thin cable hundreds of feet in the air without a tether. But, to each his own.

[Vaquero]

I watched his grandpa die on tv between buildings in Puerto Rico.

I am not enamored with watching people die....and I was disappointed in Evel Knevel letting go of the dead man handle on his sky cycle....

[Ditter]

Sorry I won’t be watching.

[RobertClark]

They are touting it as ‘live’, but I guarantee that there will be a 10 second delay. They aren’t going to take the chance of airing a big splat with millions watching. When the show cuts to commercial during a tense moment, you know the unfortunate occurred.

[Wage Slave]

If he wore a tether there would be no risk of him leaving those 3 children fatherless.

[Uncle Chip]

That balancing pole makes all the difference.

I wonder if he or anyone would try to cross that wire without it???

[jiggyboy]

I’m tuning in. Not for the chance to see him fall to his death, but for the chance to see his success.

I think one of the Wallendas walked across the top of Veterans’ Stadium in Philadelphia back in the 1970’s. Possibly Karl mentioned in the article. That would have been almost 40 years ago, so the age could be right.

I think they called themselves The Flying Wallendas at that time too. Maybe “flying” gives the wrong idea.

[ErnBatavia]

He's not crossing the Grand Canyon; he'll traverse a segment of the Little Colorado River on Indian land near the four corners region.

As usual, the media parrots one another.

[Joy in the Journey]

My brother-in-laws company, POWER Engineers, was consulted.

So proud of him and am excited to watch tonight (through clasped hands I’m sure!).

From an internal email:

As was done last summer at Niagara Falls, Wallenda called on the POWER Engineers team to work with the contractor to design the installation of the cable at the Grand Canyon. In fact, it will be the same 2-inch steel cable. As with Niagara, no one has ever successfully walked across the Grand Canyon, however, it has been attempted.

Part of Sunday’s live show will focus on the installation of the cable, so POWER may get some air time. Peter Catchpole and Kat Bridwell of the Hailey office will be on site all week to oversee the installation, including the taming of the cable for Nik’s walk and its removal. Kat was on site two weeks ago with the snakes and scorpions to oversee the installation of the cable’s rock anchors.

About the installation:

Each of the ten anchors is set 20 feet into the rock to hold a tension of 10 tons each. The design tension for the cable is 40 tons. At Niagara Falls, Nik walked about 1,300 feet across the Falls and was 200 feet above the lower river level. At the Grand Canyon, the walk is almost the same length, but Nik will be 1,500 feet above the canyon floor – higher above the ground than the Empire State Building is tall.

And this time, there’s no tether!

http://www.powereng.com/public/

How’s that for a shameless plug for an extended family member!!!