Nik Wallenda made a successful tightrope walk above Sarasota

WPTV Nik Wallenda tightrope

Daredevil Nik Wallenda will walk across a skinny, steel wire Tuesday morning 180 feet above a Sarasota, Florida, highway.
Photographer: John Harrelson
Copyright Getty Images

advertisement

Posted: 01/29/2013

UPDATE:

SARASOTA - Famed tightrope walker Nik Wallenda pulled off another nail biting stunt in Sarasota Tuesday morning. 

He successfully walked 600 feet across a wire that was draped 200 feet over U.S. 41 without a safety harness.

He performed the stunt as thousands looked on from the ground.

Just before making it safely to the other side, he knelt down on the wire and gave a fist pump as the crowd cheered.

The Sarasota City Commission allowed him to do the stunt without a tether.  Wallenda wore a tether for the first time last summer when he walked across Niagara Falls, because the television network that was paying for the performance insisted on it.

Wallenda started the stunt at Sarasota Skywalk at Bayfront Park and ended at the Marina Tower Condominium.

-Reported by wfts.com/AP

EARLIER STORY:

(CNN) -- Daredevil Nik Wallenda will not need a passport for this trip.

But just like his historic walk from United States to Canada, across the Niagara Falls, his life will be on the line. Or should we say on the wire.

Wallenda will walk across a skinny, steel wire Tuesday morning 180 feet above a Sarasota, Florida, highway.

Unlike that famous jaunt some 200 feet above the Niagara Falls last year, Tuesday's stunt will be without a safety tether.

"What I do is dangerous," Wallenda told CNN affiliate WFLA. "Whether I am performing at the circus or performing the walk across the Niagara Falls."

Thousands are expected to watch the walk, and businesses in downtown Sarasota are hoping to cash in. Police will halt traffic during the stunt.

The Artisan Cheese Company has renamed its grilled cheese sandwich to Wallenda grilled cheese for the day, CNN affiliate WWSB reported.

Wallenda is the first person in recent history to cross over the actual falls.

He hails from multiple generations of high-flying daredevils.

His great-grandfather Karl Wallenda died at 73, attempting to walk between two buildings in Puerto Rico in 1978.

Last June, Wallenda captured the nation's attention during his 25-minute agonizing amble above the roaring rapids of the Niagara.

Wallenda, a U.S. passport tucked in his pocket, pumped his fist in the air and sprinted the last few steps on the two-inch-wide wire.

Not only were family members there to greet him with hugs when he finished the feat, Canadian custom agents were also waiting.

What is the purpose of your trip sir, an agent asked?

"To inspire people around the world to follow their dreams and never give up," Wallenda said, pulling his passport out of a waterproof bag.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE LIVE STREAM OF NIK WALLENDA'S TIGHTROPE WALK AT 11AM.  BOOKMARK THIS LINK.

™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

  • Comments

Featured Stories


  1. Latest mugshots: Palm Beach County

    Latest mugshots: Palm Beach County

    Click here to see the latest mugshots in Palm Beach County

    • Latest mugshots: St. Lucie County

      Latest mugshots: St. Lucie County

      Click here to see the latest mugshots in St. Lucie County.

      • PHOTOS: Celebrities who died too young

        PHOTOS: Celebrities who died too young

        Celebrities who died too young include Whitney, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Tupac, and Phil Hartman.

        Advertisement
        • What's Trending Now...
         

        Latest News Stories


        1. Up to 60 injured at Parade in Virginia

          Up to 60 injured at Parade in Virginia

          About 50 to 60 people were injured Saturday when a driver described by witnesses as an elderly man drove his car into a group of hikers marching in a parade in a small Virginia mountain town.

          • Attacks in Iraq: 16 killed, 8 kidnapped

            • TX residents return home after tornado

              • WPB Police Chief VS Commissioner

              • Smell-O-Vision for your phone

                • Fort Pierce man shot early Saturday

                  • Stay Connected