Engineers made final adjustments to the 457 metres of wire that daredevil Nik Wallenda will balance upon as he walks above Niagara Falls on Friday evening.
Wallenda spoke to reporters briefly Thursday, telling them that everything is ready to make his lifelong dream of crossing the Falls on a tightrope come true.
“I feel great. I feel really good,” Wallenda said. “I’m excited to get across that cable. I wish I was up there right now.”
He does have some concerns, however, about the safety harness he must wear.
Though Wallenda originally planned to do the walk without a safety harness, U.S. broadcaster ABC said it wouldn’t air the walk unless he wore one.
“I practiced with it today, and it is definitely a challenge,” Wallenda said. “It’s very unique. It’s something I’m not used to, and I’m very uncomfortable with, but it is what it is.”
Wallenda said he is concerned that the harness is heavy and it affects his ability to move.
“It’s the weight and its kind of dragging me down a little bit,” he said. “I don’t have the freedom that I’m used to having.”
He said that he has the capability to remove the harness in an emergency situation.
The harness, additional camera gear, microphones and his balance pole will add an extra 78 pounds, Wallenda said.
While Wallenda is expressing excitement, businesses in Niagara Falls are also looking at the opportunities the event will bring, as an expected 120,000 spectators gather to watch the spectacle.
It is great exposure for the city, which would like to attract similar events in the future, said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati.
“This is the kind of caliber that we’re looking for,” said Diodati. “Things that capture people’s interest, something that captures people’s emotion, nothing can beat and even like this.”
Businesses are taking advantage. James Taylor, a candy cook at a local fudge shop, said the store is looking to do three or four times its normal business on Friday.
Some hotels in the city have also responded, raising their room prices from $99, up to $300 a night.
There are still vacancies in some Niagara Falls hotels, but viewers who can’t be there in person will still be able to take in the feat on CTV, with the Megastunts television special starting at 8 p.m. ET and Wallenda’s walk airing live, starting at 9 ET.
Behind the scenes, 17 cameras will cover every angle of the walk.
“I have 105 guys working for me on this job, just to make this happen,” said ABC technical manager Josh Hayden.
Viewers can also follow along via a flycam, which is mounted on a wire beside Wallenda and can move at almost 50 kilometres per hour.
Tiny cameras mounted on Wallenda’s balancing pole will allow television viewers to get a feel for what it’s like to balance on a tightrope.
“We’ll be able to see his feet, and the precise movements of what he’s doing in relation to the wire, and the depth of the Falls below him will be quite a dramatic shot,” said ABC director Jeff Winn.
Two other cameras, embedded in a blimp and a helicopter, will take in the high-level view over Horseshore Falls.
Wallenda’s walk is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET, but he won’t be walking in the dark; lights mounted on 150-foot hydraulic booms will illuminate the way and fill the gorge with light.
With files from CTV Toronto’s Zuraidah Alman and Colin D’Mello
