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Nik Wallenda Biography & Facts

Nikolas Wallenda (born January 24, 1979) is an American acrobat, aerialist, daredevil, high wire artist, and author. He is known for his high-wire performances without a safety net. He holds 11 Guinness World Records for various acrobatic feats, and is best known as the first person to walk a tightrope stretched directly over Niagara Falls. Wallenda walked 1,800 feet (550 m) on a steel cable over Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua, his longest walk, on March 4, 2020. Wallenda is a 7th-generation member of The Flying Wallendas family, and he participated in various circus acts as a child. He made his professional tightrope walking debut at the age of 13, and he chose high-wire walking as his career in 1998 after joining family members in a seven-person pyramid on the wire. In 2001, he was part of the world's first eight-person high-wire pyramid. He performed with his family at various venues from 2002 to 2005, forming his own troupe in 2005. He performed with Bello Nock in 2007 and 2008 in a double version of the Wheel of Steel that he helped invent. In 2009, he set new personal bests for highest and longest tightrope walks, completing a total of 15 walks above 100 feet (30 m) in the air that year. In 2008, while performing with Ringling Bros., Wallenda set Guinness World Records for longest and highest bicycle ride on a high-wire 250-foot-long (76 m) at 135 feet (41 m) above the ground in New Jersey. He nearly doubled the height record in 2010 to 260 feet (79 m). On the same day in 2010, he upped his personal best by tightrope walking over 2,000 feet (610 m) in a single performance. He set a world record in 2011 by performing on the Wheel of Death atop the 23 story Tropicana Casino and Resort. Later that year, he and his mother tightrope walked between the two towers of Condado Plaza Hotel in Puerto Rico. The feat was a re-creation of the one that killed Karl Wallenda, Nik's great-grandfather and primary source of inspiration. On June 10, 2011, Wallenda hung from a helicopter 250 feet (76 m) off the ground using only his toes to hold on. Some time after that, he walked on top of a turning Ferris wheel at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in California. Wallenda crossed Niagara Falls on June 15, 2012 on a live ABC special, following a two-year legal battle involving both sides of the Canada–United States border to gain approval. He was required to wear a safety harness for the first time in his life. A reality show aired on the Science Channel which followed his feats. In 2013, he released a memoir entitled Balance. He became the first person to high-wire walk across the Grand Canyon on June 23, 2013. The feat aired live on the Discovery Channel breaking rating records for the network. He followed that up with Skyscraper Live, a live Discovery special that aired on November 2, 2014, in which he completed two tightrope walks and set two new Guinness World Records: one for walking the steepest tightrope incline over 600 feet (180 m) up between two skyscrapers, and the other for the highest tightrope walk while blindfolded. Wallenda is married with three children, and considers his Christian faith to be a central aspect of his life. Background Wallenda is a seventh-generation member of The Flying Wallendas family of aerialists. His ancestors were primarily of German descent and have been circus performers since the 1700s; they have been doing balancing acts without nets since Karl Wallenda made the family famous for the feat in the 1920s. Nik Wallenda is a great-grandson of Karl, whom he calls his role model and his "biggest hero in life". Several members of the family have died while training or performing. In 1962, the troupe's famous seven-person pyramid collapsed, killing two family members and paralyzing Wallenda's uncle Mario. In 1978, his great-grandfather Karl Wallenda died after falling from a tight rope at age 73 in Puerto Rico. Early life Wallenda was born in Sarasota, Florida on January 24, 1979 to Delilah Wallenda and Terry Troffer. His parents bought him a swing set when he was two. Before Troffer had even finished assembling it, Wallenda climbed up to the crossbar and did a somersault. Around the same time, he began performing with his family in their circus act. His first public performance was at SeaWorld San Diego in 1981. He began to play on the wire at age two, walking back and forth while holding his mother's hand. At age four, he started walking the wire on his own, learning primarily from his father. He would play on his parents' practice wire with his older sister Lijana, two feet off the ground. His parents would throw objects at him as he practiced, and even shot him with a BB gun to train him to deal with distractions. At age six, he first visited Niagara Falls and immediately decided that one day he wanted to walk a tightrope across it. He spent most of his youth on the road, living in a mobile home as his parents performed across America. Wallenda transitioned from being a clown, to juggling, to a dog act. He made his professional tightrope walking debut at age 13. When he graduated from high school, his parents encouraged him to go to college and explore his options. With live circus losing popularity, becoming a performer did not seem like a viable career path. Wallenda briefly considered becoming a doctor, and was accepted into college. However, his plans changed in 1998 when he participated in a re-creation of Karl Wallenda's seven-person pyramid on the high-wire in Detroit, alongside his father, mother, and other family members. Career Nik Wallenda has produced a variety of large-scale productions for amusement parks and similar venues in several countries. The acts often feature him alongside family members, especially his wife Erendira. Wallenda's children are sometimes part of the act. His youngest child, Evita, has been performing balancing feats since she would balance in the palm of her father's hand at six months old. Wallenda's shows have incorporated water and diving feats, the Wheel of Death, incline motorcycles, aerial silk and aerial hoop, the globe of death, and tightrope walking. "We've performed nearly every circus or daredevil skill there is", claims Wallenda. "I like to mix it up", he says. "It keeps [our family] on our toes and gives the public something new to see every year." Wallenda's father, Terry Troffer, serves as his safety coordinator, having retired from acrobatics after 36 years in the business. Troffer's brother Mike serves as chief engineer. Wallenda has never had a serious accident, describing the worst injury of his life as a broken toe while playing football. Wallenda performs without a safety net or harness. "My great-grandfather taught that safety nets offer a false sense of security", he explains. He notes that a safety net is no guarantee – an uncle was killed while performing despite falling into a safety net. However, he says he does not have a "death wish in any way. I plan on living and dying.... Discover the Nik Wallenda popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Nik Wallenda books.