Nik Wallenda sets twin high-wire records in Chicago -- one blindfolded

Despite a chilly breeze that tousled his hair 600 feet above downtown Chicago, professional daredevil Nik Wallenda stepped onto a tightrope and walked straight into the record books Sunday night.

Wallenda, 35, appeared as a red fleck in the night sky, dazzling thousands of onlookers below as he broke not one but two tightrope records in a pair of walks.

The drama of Wallenda’s feats, such as his recent crossing of a crevasse near the Grand Canyon, are best watched to be appreciated, although their impressiveness can be conveyed in numbers.

For example: Wallenda strode from the roof of one of Chicago’s Marina City Towers -- which are about 600 feet tall -- and traveled about 454 feet to reach the Leo Burnett building.

The most impressive part of that walk, which lasted almost eight minutes, was that Wallenda walked up a 19-degree incline -- the tightrope equivalent of a small but incredibly dangerous hill.

The Discovery Channel, which sponsored the walk, had planned to cut away from the broadcast if Wallenda fell, according to the Chicago Tribune. The program aired on a 10-second delay.

Neither a delay or nor a sudden cut was necessary.

Outfitted with a body camera that pointed at his specialized black leather shoes, which he placed one after the other on the wire as he crossed, Wallenda balanced far above the Chicago River as the crowd whooped and whistled at him.

“You guys watching think I’m crazy, but this is what I’m made for,” Wallenda said after his first few steps on the first wire, the Tribune reported.

His face was frozen in concentration as he battled winds of 10 to 15 mph, steadying himself with a 24-foot balance pole.

Wallenda completed that walk in less than eight minutes, as onlookers watched from the upper floors of the Leo Burnett building and a crowd roared from the ground. He pumped his fist in the air after completing it, and breaking the world record for the steepest tightrope walk.

Then he took an elevator to the ground level and walked across the Chicago River back to the Marina City Towers, high-fiving fans.

Once he returned to that rooftop, he put on a black blindfold, then completed a 94-foot walk between the Marina City Towers in less than two minutes.

With that feat, he broke the world record for the highest blindfolded tightrope walk.

The Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.

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