Chinese acrobat to walk Niagara Falls on a tightrope

ABC News ^ | 09/05/03 | Staff Writer

[bedolido]

Chinese acrobat Adily, a five time Guinness world record holder, plans to walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls, state press reported on Friday.

The 32-year-old member of the Turkic-speaking Uighur minority said he would leave for Canada on September 13 to survey the site, the Xinhua news agency said.

"After I see around the Niagara Falls, I will decide where to walk across. If nothing unexpected happens, I will walk across the Niagara Falls next May," said Adily.

Toronto high wire walker Jay Cochrane has already succeeded in walking the falls but Adily said he would better the feat, although he did not say how.

"I don't think it's a copy to Cochrane's work.

"I will demonstrate to the world that my crossing will be a bigger hit and you will realize that I am the king of tightrope," he said.

Adily, the descendant of a family with a 430 year history in acrobatics, is credited in the Chinese media with other feats such as breaking the world record for the longest period of continuous walking on a tightrope by staying aloft for eight hours and 12 minutes.

--AFP

[theDentist]

Chinese acrobat Adily, a five time Guinness world record holder...

Good for him. Let's see if he can do it after being a five time Guinness Beer drinker.

[Texas_Dawg]

"I will demonstrate to the world that my crossing will be a bigger hit and you will realize that I am the king of tightrope," he said.

Oh, sh$#!!

The ChiComs are going to destroy us all!

We're all doomed.

[RonF]

Chinese acrobat to walk halfway across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

There. Fixed it.

[Bikers4Bush]

My thoughts exactly.

[eastsider]

I will walk across the Niagara Falls next May ...

Step by step, inch by inch ...

[Prodigal Son]

There was a guy a long time ago that walked across the Falls carrying someone else on his back. About halfway across, the performer got tired and had to make the person on his back climb down and stand on the wire while he rested. The rider wasn't a tightrope walker (btw). It was a harrowing experience for him. They made it though. I wonder what new novelty any contemporary performer could find in Niagra Falls?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The rider wasn't a tightrope walker (btw).

Interesting place to learn how to stand on a tightrope. (Must admit, I find that one somewhat hard to believe.)

[bedolido]

This last guy didn't live.

[eyespysomething]

Slowly I turned...

[Prodigal Son]

That's a great series of pictures! Thanks!

The guy who's just sitting there. I don't see a pole for balancing. Now that would be a tricky feat.

[Prodigal Son]

I believe it's true. The thing is, the tightrope walker never accounted for how tired he would become with the fellow on his back. The fellow on his back knew him to be a skilled tightrope walker so he had his confidence beforehand. Once the walker needed the rest, there was nothing that could be done for it. It doesn't take a lot of practice to stand there. You, yourself, could do it easily. That long pole makes it very easy to balance even on a wire. The tricky part would've been getting off his back. The rider had to slowly work his way down the guy's back and get his feet on the wire. The alternative was death. I can see him deciding to do it.

[bedolido]

Abbott and Costello... I miss those guys.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Wasn't saying I didn't believe your story. I just have a sneaking suspicion that the "rider" might have embellished his story and had at least some experience in balancing on a tightrope.

[general_re]

Not only is he not the first tightrope-walker to cross the river, he's not the first Chinese guy either - there's Chinese folks trying to sneak into the US by crossing the Niagara River on pretty much a weekly basis. Every once in a while, you'll hear about a couple of them getting flattened after getting the bright idea of trying to cross via one of the railroad bridges...