'He's wearing a safety harness': Viewers dismiss daredevil Nik Wallenda's volcano high line walk for being too easy
Mr Wallenda crossed the volcano successfully during a two-hour broadcast special
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Your support makes all the difference.Daredevil Nik Wallenda followed through on his promise to tightrope walk above the caldera of an active volcano, though he has been taking heat from some fans critical of his decision to use a safety harness during the stunt.
Mr Wallenda talked a one-inch tightrope over the caldera - known as “The Mouth of Hell” - of the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua on Wednesday.
The volcano is unique in that it is one of only eight that have active lava lakes.
During the feat, Mr Wallenda wore goggles and a respirator to protect him from noxious gases, but some viewers took issue with his use of a safety harness.
“Wait, so Nik Wallenda is actually in a harness up there? What’s the real danger if he’s got on a mask, googles, and can’t fall. Still very impressive to tightrope walk, but the hype has been real for the “danger,” a Twitter user posted.
Other users complained the drama was lost due to the harness.
“Not sure what this says about me as a person, but I immediately lost interest in #VolcanoLive when I saw Nik Wallenda was using a safety harness,” another user said.
“So really @NikWallenda walk across this volcano is nothing more then a publicity stunt? If he is attached to a safety harness it’s not really that impressive,” another viewer complained.
Mr Wallenda has made other tightrope crossings, including Times Square and Niagara Falls. He generally uses a safety harness, with the only major exception being a tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon in 2013.
Despite the complaints, Mr Wallenda had his defenders as well.
“I don’t care if Nik Wallenda has a harness and a strap walking across one of the world’s most volatile volcanoes, the wind and the toxic gasses are a huge problem! If it were easy and not unthinkably dangerous then everyone would do it!” a Twitter user said.
Another pointed out that the point of the walk wasn’t about risking death, but Mr Wallenda overcoming his own fears.
“Yeah, there’s a harness, but I think y’all forget that this isn’t about the harness for Nik Wallenda. The walk & all of the others are about NIk overcoming his fears & having the strength to make it across without slipping & withstanding the heat & wind,” the user tweeted.
Mr Wallenda is a seventh generation member of the Great Wallendas family of daredevils and circus performers. Erendira Wallenda, who is married to Mr Wallenda, is an acrobat and began the show performing pirouettes on a hoop dangling over the lava lake.
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