Daredevil Tightrope Walk Across Niagara Falls

Nik Wallenda

The famed aerialist and seventh generation circus performer, Nik Wallenda, tightrope walks across the most famous waterfalls in the world, Niagara Falls on June 15. Wallenda will make the five hundred and fifty metre crossing above the world renowned Horseshoe Falls between Ontario, Canada and New York State, USA.

Wallenda obtained approval from both US and Canadian officials to attempt his feat which is expected to attract over a hundred and twenty thousand tourists to The Niagara Park in Canada and the Niagara Falls State Park in New York. The event will take place at 9pm with an international television broadcast live to millions of global viewers.

In announcing the walk, Wallenda stated, "This has been a dream of mine ever since I saw Niagara Falls for the first time when I was six years old.  I fully expect this to be only the beginning of my life long relationship with Niagara Falls."

Nik Wallenda

The tightrope walk is expected to take between thirty and forty minutes above the falls where 3.24 billion gallons of water pass the crest each day at thirty two kilometres an hour dropping down to the river fifty three metres below. 

Nik Wallenda is no stranger to dare devil stunts. He set a Guinness World Record in 2008 for the longest distance and greatest height ever traveled by bicycle on a high wire after walking one hundred and fifty metres out on a high wire twenty stories above street level without a safety net and then cycled back for the record.