tightrope

10 Stories

Guy Crushes High Wire From Eiffel Tower Across the Seine

Nathan Paulin walked nearly 2,000 feet on slackline more than 225 feet above the ground

(Newser) - When Nathan Paulin was a kid, he had a fear of heights. He's apparently gotten over that, since he spent part of the weekend traversing a high wire from the Eiffel Tower across the Seine. Reuters reports that the 27-year-old acrobat practiced for four years to make the nearly...

Daredevil Readies 2 Tightrope Walks in Chicago, Without Net

Nik Wallenda will be blindfolded for one of them on Sunday

(Newser) - Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda declared today that he's ready to attempt two back-to-back skyscraper crossings in Chicago, one of them blindfolded. For Sunday's televised walks, the 35-year-old daredevil promised to uphold the "Flying Wallendas" family tradition of working without a net or harness. City officials said they'...

Daredevil Plans Grand Canyon Tightrope Walk

Nik Wallenda says he won't be using a safety harness

(Newser) - In a stunt daring even by the standards of the Flying Wallendas, seventh-generation daredevil Nik Wallenda is planning to cross the Grand Canyon on a tightrope—without using a safety harness or net. Wallenda—who made it across Niagara Falls on a tightrope last year—says the death-defying walk 1,...

US Town Wants Daredevil to Pay Up

Tightrope-walker Nik Wallenda calls it 'disgusting and sad'

(Newser) - When daredevil Nik Wallenda walked across a wire spanning Niagara Falls, history was made. But the stunt cost tens of thousands of dollars in overtime for policeman and firemen for two towns, one in the US and one in Canada. Wallenda paid for half the bill in both towns, and...

Blindfolded Acrobat Survives 650-Foot Fall

6th-generation acrobat, Aisikaier was going for world record

(Newser) - A blindfolded Chinese acrobat attempting to walk backward on a tightrope for 2,300 feet across a 650-feet-deep gorge with no safety harness fell just short of his goal—and survived with just minor injuries, reports the Telegraph . The tightrope walker, Aisikaier, tumbled with just 130 feet to go, but...

Daredevil Makes It Across Niagara Falls on Tightrope

Nik Wallenda completes his stunt

(Newser) - Daredevil Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk on a tightrope across the Niagara Falls tonight, taking steady, measured steps for 1,800 feet across the roaring falls separating the US and Canada. Afterward, he said he accomplished the feat through "a lot of praying, that's for...

Tonight: Niagara Falls Tightrope Walk

Nik Wallenda would be first to cross since 1896

(Newser) - It's a once-in-a-century occasion in Niagara Falls, New York: Tonight, for the first time since 1896, a man is set to walk across the falls on a tightrope. "I'm facing Niagara Falls—the wind and the mist and the dark and the peregrine falcons—and I’m...

Tightrope Walk Over Niagara Falls Will Be on TV

One of the Wallendas will try next month

(Newser) - ABC is turning an attempted tightrope walk over Niagara Falls into a prime-time television event next month. The network said today that it will devote its entire prime-time schedule to a three-hour special on June 15 with Nik Wallenda's attempt. Part of the show will be an examination of...

Tightrope Walker Gets OK to Cross Niagara Falls

Nik Wallenda will walk from US to Canada on the high wire

(Newser) - It's official: Nik Wallenda will walk a tightrope from the United States to Canada … over Niagara Falls. The stunt was finally approved by the Ontario Parks Commission after commissioners initially denied the request over concerns about cost, safety, and the beauty of the falls, WIVB reports. "To...

Tightrope Walker's Plan: Cross Niagara Falls

Nik Wallenda's attempt would be the first since 1859

(Newser) - A bill allowing a member of the daredevil Wallenda family to attempt a tightrope walk across Niagara Falls is making its way through the New York Legislature. The measure was passed last week by the Senate and was expected to come before the Assembly as early as today. Supporters say...

10 Stories
Most Read on Newser