He Did It!!!

photo: rueters

Nik Wallend has walked about 500 metres across the Horseshoe Falls on a wire that is only six centimetres thick.

In front of a crowd of more than 100,000 and millions more on television, Nik was raised up to the wire with a power lift and then slowly put the elk-skin soled shoes made by his mother on the wire.

As he made it to the lip of the Falls he answered some questions saying the view is "breathtaking" and that he was enjoying himself on the wire.

He then hit the dip where water was visibly dripping from the wire and a misty wind was swirling around his head.

"What an amazing opportunity, what a blessing," he said just after passing the middle.

"That mist was thick...It was definitely quite a challenge," he said shortly before the end. "Fighting that wind wasn't easy and my hands are going numb."

As he got close the more than one hundred thousand people waiting on the Canadian side to greet him started cheering. Nik took his right hand off the pole and did a fist pump and then kneeled down.

As he took his final steps the smile on his face got bigger and bigger. He ran the last few steps, putting a playful end to the historic stunt after only 26 minutes.

In case you are wondering, he did bring his passport to get into the country and he showed it to customs officials. He said he was not bringing anything over and the purpose of his trip was to "Inspire people around the world."

The last time someone tightrope walked across the Falls was in 1896, but others who have crossed the Falls walked across a tamer part of the river. Nik Wallenda is the first to walk directly over the Falls about 60 metres up.

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