ABC viewers were glued to their screens on Wednesday as Nik Wallenda made his way across the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua on a high-wire. The death-defying stunt, which took a little over 30 minutes to complete, was just one of many astounding feats that the aerialist has managed to do over his career. And now, in case you missed his act live, you can watch his stunt for yourself.
Wallenda’s walk across the Masaya Volcano marked the first time in history that a tightrope walk across a volcano had been attempted and completed. After he completed the stunt, he spoke with the special’s host, Chris Harrison, and told him that the strong winds that he experienced during his walk felt like a “hurricane.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
“The gases hit me hard, [and] eyes actually started to burn,” he went on to explain. In the end, he did manage to complete the feat and, as he said during the act, he hopes that it will help him make SportsCenter’s Top 10.
Wallenda has performed numerous feats along a high-wire throughout his career as he’s crossed the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and even Times Square. But, his recent stunt to cross the Masaya Volcano presented an entirely new set of challenges.
As Wallenda noted before his stunt in an interview with The Wrap, the aerialist had to deal with the gases emitted from the volcano.
“There’s a substance that comes out of the volcano from that lava that almost appears to be oily or greasy that could cause the wire to be slippery,” Wallenda explained. “The gases that come out actually eat wire, eat metal. We left a piece of cable in the canyon for six months and it literally dissolved because of those gases.”
“Having to train with an oxygen deprivation mask, training with an oxygen tank, extra weight on your back, that throws your equilibrium off,” Wallenda continued (during his walk, he did wear a gas mask, but he not appear to wear an oxygen tank). “It’s bulkier, so in the wind, you’re not as aerodynamic.”
Just as many viewers of the stunt could have guessed, Wallenda’s stunt definitely had risk factors associated with it.
“I mean it’s real,” he shared about the dangers associated with his high-wire walk.”I mean they’re all real, but this one is more real than anything I’ve ever done as far as the layers, again, of risk and danger.”
