Nik Wallenda makes history by completing 'Masaya' volcano tightrope walk in 30 minutes
Nik Wallenda did it! The stuntman and acrobat nailed his incredible walk across the active Masaya Volcano in a matter of approximately 30 minutes, making history. Never before such a walk has been attempted by anyone in history, let alone finish it with no problems at all.
Dressed in a red tee and black pants, Wallenda, armed with his gas mask and goggles to protect himself from the poisonous fumes emanating from the lava-filled crater below him, walked the line without any issues at all. The wind gust and the gases did get to him during the end of the walk but Wallenda was seen walking the wire looking calm and collected throughout. He even said a prayer now and then and praised God for enabling him to live his dream.
His anxious family watched from the sidelines, especially his sister Lijana Wallenda, who in a tragic accident broke almost all the bones in her face during a fall while practicing a pyramid earlier. She told hosts, Chris Harrison, and Sage Steele, that she wished she could walk it for him - it would make her less anxious. His family's reasons were absolutely valid for stressing out.
Masaya puts out over 330,000 tons of carbon dioxide in a year and is among the world's most active volcanoes—erupting 13 times in 30 years. Well known for causing deaths and mayhem, the volcano spews out hot rocks and lava out up to a mile around it. While Wallenda walked the rope, he also looked down and called it "amazing".
Ahead of his legendry walk, Wallenda's training methods were explained. He practiced the walk with the help of a smoke machine and the gas mask - and used a fan to recreate some of the environment he would have to come in contact with. Of course, there was always the unpredictability of the real thing. "My biggest concern are these deadly gases that I'll have to avoid breathing in," he had said worried about the lack of oxygen, "Being dizzy on a wire, 1800 feat above a volcano is not a good thing to be."
At the end of the lines, as he walked beaming to his family, he shouted, "There is light on the end at the end of the tunnel. There is hope for the hopeless." He took off his mask and goggles and held wife Erendira tight and the two looked very emotional.