Butterflies ahead of historic tightrope walk

AP

FILE- In this June 4, 2011 file photo, high-wire acrobats Delilah Wallenda, right, lowers her head as her son Nik Wallenda, left, crosses over her during their high-wire act where the two simultaneously walked across a 300-foot-long wire suspended 100 feet in the air between two towers of the Conrad Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They were honoring Nik's great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, who tried to perform the same feat in 1978 but fell to his death at age 73. On Friday, June 15, 2012, Karls great grandson, Nick Wallenda, will attempt a high wire walk over Niagara Falls on live television, hoping to write his famous family's name into the 153-year-old legend of daredevils who've "conquered" the natural wonder. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File)

Niagra Falls - Nik Wallenda, a member of the famed “Flying Wallendas” family of aerialists, admits to being nervous ahead of Friday night's historic attempt to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

“It's more anticipation and eagerness, but it's all coming down to the wire, no pun intended,” Wallenda, 33, told a news conference on Thursday.

Wallenda is set to walk from the U.S. side of the falls to the Canadian side, and said he will carry his passport. Television sponsors have insisted he wear a safety tether, a first for him, that will connect him to the cable should he fall.

Wallenda intends to walk a two-inch (5 cm) cable strung 1,800 feet (550 meters) through the mist over Niagara Falls Gorge, a feat never before attempted. The walk is 150 feet (46 meters) above the falls, he said.

More than a century ago, an aerialist known as the Great Blondin walked a high wire strung farther down the gorge, but a trek over the brink of the falls has never been attempted.

Wallenda is due to take his first measured steps on the wire just after 10 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT), to be shown on ABC television with a five-second delay. Wallenda predicted that up to a billion people internationally would see his 45-minute stunt.

“Hopefully it will be very peaceful and relaxing,” he said. “I'm often very relaxed when I'm on the wire.”

He added, “There may be some tears because this is a dream of mine.”

Since the Great Blondin took his high-wire walk, a ban has been in place on similar stunts over the famed falls. Wallenda waged a two-year crusade to convince U.S. and Canadian officials to let him try the feat.

Thousands of visitors are expected to watch in person on both the U.S. side and Canadian side of the falls. A private helicopter rescue team is part of the $1.3 million that Wallenda said he has spent on the walk.

Wallenda's great grandfather Karl Wallenda died in 1978 during a walk between two buildings in Puerto Rico at age 73. Wallenda repeated that walk last year with his mother.

Wallenda said he has obtained permits for a future walk over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, which would be the first ever attempted and roughly three times longer than the walk over Niagara Falls. - Reuters