Wednesday night, Nik Wallenda became the first to traverse an active volcano on a high-wire with his 1,800-foot walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. The walk took 31 minutes and required an air filter and protective goggles.
ABC televised the 41-year-old aerialist’s antics live in a two-hour special.
The wire walk was Wallenda’s longest and highest to date.
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At some points during the walk, he vanished from cameras into the volcanic clouds, his progress monitored on a split-screen thermal camera.
Masaya’s churning lava lake didn’t deter him from removing his goggles halfway through to peek into the mouth of one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
"I absolutely will look down," Wallenda told ABC prior to the walk. "It's more about this beautiful piece of nature."
Wallenda’s wife, Erendira, performed the opening act with aerial stunts using her hoop, right over the “mouth of hell.” During the performance, she took off her mask to hang by her teeth.
A half hour later, the couple was reunited on the other side of the volcano's mouth in a sweaty hug. Wallenda said he was "relieved" to be across the wire, after unpredictable wind gusts in the middle of crossing, according to CBS.
Many fans took offense about Wallenda’s use of a safety harness. “I thought this was supposed to be risky and suspenseful,” one tweeted.
“Yeah, there’s a harness, but I think y’all forget that this isn’t about the harness for Nik Wallenda,” commented another. “The walk & all of the others are about Nik overcoming his fears & having the strength to make it across without slipping & withstanding the heat & wind.”
According to a New York Post article, ABC required he use safety gear for the live televised event. Wallenda also wore a harness in his televised 2019 Times Square wirewalk stunt.
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