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(Above) Professional daredevil Nik Wallenda walks a high wire 1,500 feet over the Little Colorado River Gorge near the Grand Canyon in Arizona on June 23, 2013. The vertical wire at right is helping to keep the main wire from swaying. Wallenda spoke with his crew by radio and prayed throughout the 23-minute walk. On the other side, he said, “My dream for my next stunt is to walk between two skyscrapers.” (Click on images to view larger versions.) Wallenda wire will hang over river for three days 20-Sep-14 – Before the spectacle of a man walking a 341-foot-long high wire 589 feet above the Chicago River, there will be the spectacle of the high wire being lifted into place and staying there for three days before the stunt. Nik Wallenda, who has wire walked farther and higher, will step off the 61st floor observation deck of Marina City’s west tower on Sunday, November 2, at about 7 p.m. Central Time. The plan is to walk on the wire to the roof of Leo Burnett Building directly across the river, walk on the street back to the west tower, and walk another high wire to Marina City’s east tower.
Preparation for the live television broadcast to 220 nations on The Discovery Channel will begin three days out, on Thursday, October 30. The wire will go up between 9 p.m. on Thursday and 6 a.m. on Friday. A rope will cross the river first and be used to lift a steel cable that has a diameter about the size of a quarter. After that come the support wires, anchored in concrete, which will keep the main wire from swaying.
(Above) How the high wire was anchored at the far end of the Arizona stunt. Wallenda is at left, kissing the ground. The same process will be used to install the wire between Marina City’s west and east towers. On Friday night, there will be a lighting rehearsal, as The Discovery Channel makes sure the wires can be seen during a stunt that will happen more than an hour after sunset. There will be a production rehearsal on Saturday night. The broadcast will start at 6 p.m. on Sunday, with Wallenda starting his walk at about 7 p.m. It should take him 30 to 45 minutes to complete both parts of the stunt. During this time, the river will be closed to boat traffic. The State Street and Dearborn Street bridges will be closed, as will Wacker Drive between State and Dearborn.
City officials do not know how many people to expect in the area, watching the stunt in person. While there are no plans to charge admission, the city is considering options to establish a viewing area and manage the crowd. After the show, the wire will start to be taken down Sunday night. Moskal says all remnants of the broadcast, including production trucks on Wacker and Dearborn, will be gone by Tuesday. Only lightning or “extraordinary high winds” would stop Wallenda, in which case the stunt would be rescheduled to Monday at 7 p.m. All expenses related to the stunt, Wallenda and The Discovery Channel will pay, including city services and payments to the buildings involved, but Moskal had no estimate of how much money is involved. Moskal says he has met with Wallenda many times. “It’s not an adrenaline rush for him, it’s real serious business. He brings nothing but confidence to the situation. We’re pleased that he does that because this is serious business for us, too.” 1963 law requiring a net still an issue Moskal is still working with the Illinois Department of Labor to see what can be done about the Aerial Exhibitors Safety Act, a state law enacted in 1963 that prohibits aerial performances higher than 20 feet without a safety net. The intent of the law, according to Moskal, is “to protect acrobats and performers so that circus organizers…wouldn’t insist that they walk without a net just because it would draw more attention and sell more tickets.” With Wallenda wanting to walk without a net, the city is hoping to get around the law and Moskal says there is no interest in trying to string a net over the river. “But it has raised some awkward questions about the state law and how do we work with it.”
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