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Eric Schwartzberg
Nik Wallenda will perform his latest death-defying high-wire stunt Aug. 15 at Kings Island when he will walk from the park’s entrance to the Eiffel Tower on an 801 foot high wire 264 feet above the ground.
Wallenda to say prayer and then walk above Kings Island
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By Eric Schwartzberg,
Staff Writer
Updated 2:52 PM Wednesday, July 29, 2009
MASON — When Nik Wallenda performs at Kings Island next month, he’ll be following in his family’s footsteps.
His footsteps will just happen to be more than 25 stories above the amusement park on a high wire as wide as a nickel.
The 30-year-old Sarasota, Fla., man visited Kings Island Friday afternoon, July 24, to scope out the site of his highest stunt ever. Scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 15, the stunt will find Wallenda walk from the park’s entrance to the Eiffel Tower on an 801 foot high wire 264 feet above the ground.
For Wallenda, reaching new heights – and walking across them – is in his blood. He is a seventh-generation member of the world-famous Wallenda family of daredevils that started performing in the 1780s. He also is the third member of the family to appear at the park since it opened.
“It’s exciting to be back here and standing on the shoulders of giants,” Wallenda said.
Although the death-defying feat will be a shorter total distance than the one made at Kings Island last year by Wallenda’s second cousin, Rick, it will take place at a height three times the size where wind is more of a factor.
“It’s all about raising the bar and competition,” he said. “What are they going to do next year? They’re going to have to go from a helicopter if they want to go higher than me. ”
Wallenda said he’ll be looking to his hero, family patriarch Karl Wallenda, for inspiration during the walk and a planned trip across the Grand Canyon, a more than 2,000 foot long journey at more than 2,000 feet in height.
“It’s about living up to my great-grandfather’s standards... and walking in his footsteps in every respect,” he said. “He was about being the best.”
An average walk for Wallenda is about 110-feet high and 450 to 500 feet long. The Kings Island walk will be the longest of his career, which includes two Guinness World Records.
He compared the feeling before a walk to what an average Kings Island guest might experience before riding Diamondback, being “nervous and excited at the same time.”
Wallenda brushed aside any notion he would consider safety nets or harnesses during the stunt.
“Couple of prayers before I walk and that’s about it,” he said.
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9:18 AM, 7/26/2009
Thirty years age Kings Island had Wild Animal African Safari with trans cars rail, and recall someone being hurt badly by a lion or tiger.
10:44 PM, 7/24/2009
Do tell us who/what mauled your brother at an Amusment Park.
7:18 PM, 7/24/2009
7:06 PM, 7/24/2009