[twopass]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/06/15/wallenda-setup-friday.html

I remember (sorta' ) the Shrine Circus as an eight year old. AWE.
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DUCKBILLS FOREVER!

"Always remember, a cat looks down on man, a dog looks up to man, but a pig will look man right in the eye and see his equal."

[bergbryce]

is this the tight rope walker thing that's on in the background??
yawn. haven't people been doing this since the 1800s?

Want to see something cool? watch the nose on el cap sunday morning around 6 am when Hans Florene and Alex Hanhold are going to climb it in probably 2 hours and 30 minutes, maybe less.

[twopass]

Rock climbing?

The only thing remotely circus like about rock climbing is TGR.
_________________
DUCKBILLS FOREVER!

"Always remember, a cat looks down on man, a dog looks up to man, but a pig will look man right in the eye and see his equal."

[SilverSnurfer]

[SilverSnurfer]

[robrox]

Sssmokin!
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"Moderate is not the new Low" - Chris Joosen, USFS Lead Snow Ranger (Tuckerman Ravine, White Mountains National Forest)

[Grant]

Kinda neat, but isn't the whole point of wire walking to have some danger? With a net or tether, it's not that dangerous.
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Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for.
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[aqua_toque]

Who are you? And what have you done with sensible Grant?

[ThePiper]

Anybody that's dissing Nik Wallenda for using a safety tether? All I can say is, I'd like to see YOU do it with or without one, wise ass!
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"Expect nothing, be ready for Anything" - Samurai Maxim

[NoOneInParticular]

[Grant]

I realize it was the TV station that required the tether, but my point is that high wire walking is all about doing it 'without a net'. Isn't that how the phrase came to be!

Obviously there is still a TON of skill involved in walking that distance, in those circumstances, on a wire. However it's not why folks generally are interested in watching a tight rope walker.
_________________
Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for.
-Marco Rubio

[NoOneInParticular]

[robrox]

I'll bet his gear was all in good order and that teather would probably save him if he fell and failed to grasp the cable....

On the other hand, teather falls hurt and falls are embarassing! Getting back on the line after a teathered fall seems like it would be a major chore.

It counts in my book....besides he wanted to go teatherless in the first place. Then, he had to not let the teather inhibit his work. Good enough!
_________________
"Moderate is not the new Low" - Chris Joosen, USFS Lead Snow Ranger (Tuckerman Ravine, White Mountains National Forest)

[bergbryce]

Damn' the internet and it's ability to share information!!

3. Blondin (Jean Francois Gravelet) was a French tight-rope walker who shimmied his way across the Falls in 1859. At 160 feet above the water (some reports say 190 feet), Gravelet walked 1100 feet from one side to the other. It took him 17 and a half minutes. And he wasn’t content to do it just once – he did it blindfold, he did it on stilts, he did it carrying his manager on his back, he did it at night with locomotive lights shining the way and he did it carrying a table and chairs. The plan was to sit down and enjoy a piece of cake and some champagne, but when he lost the chair, he sat on the cable instead and had his snack before finishing the journey. The American people loved him and he was known as the hero of the falls, but there was at least one person who was unimpressed: Mark Twain. He referred to Blondin as “That adventurous ass.” He died of complications relating to diabetes at the age of 72.

Not to be outdone....

Maria Spelterini proved that women can do anything men can do by repeating Blondin’s tightrope stunts in 1876. To date, she is the only woman to ever do so. Like Blondin, she crossed several times after the first time, with each trip getting more and more complicated. The second time she crossed with a peach basket strapped to each foot, the third time she was blindfolded, and the fourth time she crossed with her ankles and wrists handcuffed.

Sorry but this does make that dudes feat seem kinda chicken $hit with the tether and sophisticated and rig and such. Not saying I can do it for sure, but that woman did it with her wrists and ankles handcuffed!

Link

[ThePiper]