There's a great article on this here:
http://metronews.ca/news/canada/2565...ra-falls-feat/
Some excerpts:
“This is unique because it’s the longest unsupported or unstabilized cable that anyone’s put up in the history of wire-walking,” Wallenda says.
In the falls crossing, he will start out walking down a decline of 5 to 6 degrees, “which is manageable for a long walk like this,” says Uncle Mike. Wallenda will slowly walk downhill 275 metres to the midpoint, which will be 11 metres lower than where he started from, and then walk up an incline to the finish.
“I prefer elk skin on the soles because it roughs up easier, but that’s hard to find in Florida,” Delilah says. The roughing up makes the sole stick a little to the wire, especially if the wire is wet.
Some dangers are unique to the falls. Wallenda says his biggest nature-related worry is the wind.
If there’s a weather system in the region, there’s a higher chance of gusty winds, says Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips. And even if there isn’t, the falls’ topography can still lead to variable wind patterns.
In late March, Wallenda’s uncle/engineer Mike contacted Idaho-based engineer Peter Catchpole for help. Troffer, who had worked with cables for 40 years in the United States Navy, knew that extending a wire across the falls would be a major engineering challenge.
Catchpole, a Niagara-area native who studied at Queen’s University, got experience with cable work while helping set up hydro wires in the mountains of British Columbia. He quickly drafted a schedule one Sunday afternoon on an Excel spreadsheet. The work would begin on May 1.
Wallenda won the support of officials without committing to wearing any sort of safety harness. But he says the ABC network, which will broadcast the feat live — and pay him for the privilege — is insisting he wear a tether, which he’s never done before.
“I’ve told ABC . . . if I have to wear a harness, they’re going to have to announce that they made me; they’ve got to show it in the special.
Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda to cross Niagra Falls June 15
