그랜드 캐니언 외줄 횡단에 도전하는 닉 왈렌다

Published : Jun 23, 2013 - 16:50 Updated : Jun 23, 2013 - 17:07

외줄타기 최고기록 보유자 닉 왈렌다가 24일 새로운 역사 쓰기에 도전한다.

작년에 나이아그라 폭포를 외줄타기로 건넜던 그는 이번에도 여러 개의 카메라와 마이크를 설치해 죽음의 도전하는 현장을 생생하게 보도 할 계획이다.

하지만, 나이아그라 폭포를 건널 당시와 다르게 이번에는 어떤 안전 장치도 없이 약 25분 동안 진행될 스턴트를 할 예정이다.

그랜드 캐니언은 나이아그라 폭포에 비해 6배 높으며 뉴욕의 엠파이어 스테이트 빌딩보다 높다.

이번 도전은 한국시간 24일 월요일 오전 10시 디스커버리 채널에서 방영될 예정이다.

왈렌다는 이번 스턴트를 위해 4년을 계획 했으며 그랜드 캐니언과 동일한 환경을 재연하기 위해 플로리다에서 1000미터 길의 줄과 시속 80km의 바람을 만드는 장치를 이용해 연습을 해왔다.

시속 73km 이상의 바람이 불거나 천둥 번개가 칠 경우에 스턴트가 지연되거나 다음 날 다시 진행될 예정이다.

그는 “나는 기독교인이며 죽으면 어디로 갈지 분명히 알고있다. 그것이 내가 하는 일에 가장 큰 영향을 미치며 죽는다 하더라도 평안함을 얻을 것이다. 죽는 것이 두렵지 않다”라고 얘기했다.

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US daredevil set for Grand Canyon tightrope walk

Record-breaking US daredevil Nik Wallenda hopes to make history again Sunday by walking across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope, 1,500 feet above ground over the world-renowned landmark.

Wallenda, who was the first person to walk across the Niagara Falls last year, will be rigged up with multiple cameras and microphones broadcasting the death-defying feat live around the world.

And unlike the Niagara Falls walk, the 34-year-old will wear no safety
harness for the stunt, likely to take him 25 minutes in searing temperatures over the famous tourist attraction.

At Niagara, Wallenda -- who first walked the wire aged 2 -- braved strong winds and heavy spray to walk on a cable suspended around 200 feet (60 meters) above North America's biggest waterfall, on the US-Canada border.

On Sunday he will step out into the void over six times higher -- a height greater than that of the Empire State Building -- with nothing but a two-inch (five-centimeter) thick steel wire between him and the rocky canyon bottom.

The walk is set to begin from around 6:00 pm Sunday (0100 GMT Monday), an hour or two before sunset over the Grand Canyon and will be broadcast live in 219 countries by the Discovery Channel, whose coverage will begin at 5:00 pm.

On Saturday, organizers described conditions at the walk site, in a remote area at the eastern end of the Canyon, as "very windy."

Wallenda has been planning the walk for about four years, homing in on a remote location at the eastern end of the mighty geological chasm, on land operated by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation.

He began final training in Florida weeks ago, boosting stamina by walking repeatedly along a 1,000-foot long rope, and using wind machines to simulate gusts of up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) an hour.

Sunday's walk across 1,200 feet of rope could potentially be delayed in the unlikely event of winds of above 45 miles per hour, or if there was a risk of lightning. A new attempt could then be made the following day.

There will be a seven- to 10-second delay on the live broadcast.

Wallenda, a seventh generation member of the Flying Wallendas circus
family, said that as he steps out he will be thinking of his great-grandfather Karl Wallenda, who died in 1978 after falling from a tightrope.

He has trained for the worst, and said that -- unlike his
great-grandfather, who had an injured collarbone and double hernia, and grabbed vainly for the wire before falling to his death -- he would be able to hold on if necessary.

"It's not like I just grab with my hands like people visualize. I wrap my legs round it, my hands round it, I hug that wire like a bear hug until help comes. I've got rescue teams that would be with me within a minute," he said.

That help would be in the form of rescue trolleys, which hang underneath the cable and could be rolled out in seconds on a winch system to Wallenda, clinging on for his life.

The Florida-based adventurer, who traveled to the Grand Canyon on Thursday for final preparations for Sunday's walk, said his Christian faith is important.

"What I get from my Christian faith is that I know where I'm going to go when I die. And that affects my business, because what I do is risky, and if I die, I have peace," he said.

"I'm not scared of dying." (AFP)