Nik Wallenda's death-defying walk across a gorge in the Grand Canyon was—thankfully!—a success.
But the daredevil's risky venture, which was aired live Sunday on Discovery's Skywire Live, wasn't quite as seamless as Wallenda, 34, had hoped it would be.
"I wasn't prepared for the movement of that cable,'' he said on Today Monday. "The tension dropped down. We knew it was going to vary a little bit by temperatures throughout the day (that) would change the tension on the cable, but it dropped down to about 62,000 pounds. We wanted it at 65. Because of that, it was moving pretty wildly under my feet."
Wallenda wore no harness or safety net as he carefully made his way across the 1,400-foot wire that was suspended 1,500 feet above the ground. It took 22 minutes and 54 seconds for him to successfully cross the gorge. Thanks to a microphone, viewers could listen as he talked with his own father and said prayers aloud. "Thank you, Jesus…You are my rock," he said at one point. "You are my salvation. Sorcerer. King of Kings. Lord, you're my everything."
When Wallenda reached the other side of the canyon, he kissed the ground, before rejoicing with his wife and children. "There was no point where I thought I was going to fall for sure, but there were points where I was thinking, 'Man, I wish I could just relax,'" he said afterward. "I was working for every single foot to get across that wire."
And while Wallenda's feat looked pretty terrifying to most of us, he clearly wasn't too rattled. In fact, he's on to planning his next death-defying feat, telling Today, "I'm already two or three ahead of this one!"
Wow. Well, we wish him all the best!
(E! News and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)