U.S: crowd builds to watch tightrope walk across Niagara Falls
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Nik Wallenda is scheduled to make a 1,800ft (550m) walk from the US to Canada on a 2-inch (61mm) wire at 10:15 EST
Crowds have already begun forming at Goat Island, where he will begin his walk.
Mr Wallenda is the seventh generation of the famed Flying Wallendas.
The family has performed for more than 200 years, including the signature act that gave the group their name, where two pairs of performers walk the wire, each supporting another aerialist on a pole.
Those two aerialists, in turn, carry a pole upon which the seventh member of the troupe balances in a chair.
The family has suffered two deaths from falls while performing, including Mr Wallenda’s grandfather in 1978.
Passport required
Mr Wallenda will be wearing a safety harness attaching him to the wire, a precaution insisted on by ABC, the US broadcaster which is sponsoring the live broadcast of his walk.
Nik Wallendra
While he has not performed with a harness before, he says that it will not take away from the event.
“Now, it doesn’t keep me on the wire in any way, it keeps me safe from dying,” he told AFP. “I still have to balance. I still have to stay on top of that wire.”
The 33-year-old estimates the total cost of the walk will be around $1.3m (£830,000), including creating and installing the steel wire, as well as permits and security on both sides of the border.
Legal liability prevents ABC from funding all of Mr Walenda’s costs and materials, so he has taken to online site IndieGoGo to raise further funds.
As of Friday afternoon, he was 45% of the way towards his goal of $50,000.
The walk is expected to take 40 minutes, and when he arrives, Mr Wallenda will reportedly be asked to hand over his US passport to officially enter Canada.
“I’m keeping it in a Ziploc bag, in my front left pocket, so it can’t get ruined as I walk,” he told Canadian CTV News.
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