HIGH-YA: Nik Wallenda, who will walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope — without a harness or safety net — has spent a lot of time surveying his walk (inset). (
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This is the definition of “working without a net.”
Discovery cameras will be at the Grand Canyon this Sunday when Nik Wallenda walks across a tightrope — without a net below him or a harness — 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River.
“Skywire Live With Nik Wallenda” is airing live at 8 p.m., with one caveat — a 10-second delay.
But Discovery executive producer Howard Swartz says the delay is standard operating procedure and isn’t because of what you’re probably thinking — like what if Wallenda doesn’t make it to the other side?
“We always have a standard delay on live events for whatever reason, so this is pretty common,” says Swartz. “And we have contingency plans for any eventuality.”
Like what?
“All the safety precautions that pertain to Nik on the wire is his own team,” Swartz says. “As a production entity we have a lot of safety precautions in place.
“But there won’t be a net and Nik won’t have a harness,” Swartz says. “That was his decision and the way his family has done it for generations — without a net, without a tether.”
Wallenda, whose walk across Niagara Falls last June on a tightrope aired on ABC, “wasn’t happy” that he had to wear a tether during that walk, Swartz says. But what if, God forbid, something does go horribly awry this Sunday?
“We wouldn’t show anything distasteful or disrespectful,” Swartz says. “In the worst-case scenario the feed would be cut.
“Everybody wants to ask that question, but it’s not in Nik’s vocabulary.”
Swartz says Wallenda will walk 1,400 feet — “over four football fields long” — on his tightrope at a height equal to the top of the Empire State Building. The walk will likely take him anywhere from 25 to 35 minutes, depending on the conditions.
Wallenda, a member of the famous tightrope-walking family — his grandfather, Karl, was killed in 1978 when he fell while walking a tightrope in Puerto Rico — is known to ply his trade in any kind of weather.
But he does have one exception.
“If there’s any lightning within a 15-mile radius he will postpone the walk,” Swartz says.
Discovery will have 15 to 18 cameras covering Wallenda’s walk — and Wallenda himself will be wearing two cameras.
“We’ll have cameras on the bottom of the canyon looking straight up and we’ll have one camera strung across the canyon, away from Nik but parallel to him, to track him as he goes,” Swartz says.
“Nik will be wearing two cameras — one to see his view looking straight down, to get his point of view, and one for what he sees directly in front of him.”
The walk will take place on land owned by the Navajo Nation.
People from the local community will be able to watch Wallenda’s walk from a few miles away — and via a large-screen TV.