Daredevil Nik Wallenda is ready and feeling confident ahead of his historic Niagara Falls tightrope wire crossing on Friday evening.
In an interview with CTV's Canada AM on Friday, Wallenda told host Beverly Thomson he feels like "a kid on Christmas morning," and that crossing the Falls has been a childhood dream of his.
If successful, Wallenda will cross the 457-metre wire and walk right into the world's history books.
The crossing, the first attempt of its kind, is scheduled for 10:20 p.m. on Friday and will be broadcast live by CTV.
Wallenda's crossing starts on the U.S. side of the Falls and ends on the Canadian side. Connecting the two sides is a five-centimetre wire that has been mounted and secured at just the right tension, ready for Wallenda to scale.
If successful, Wallenda will be the first person in history to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
In the past other tightrope walkers have crossed the water, but only over the gorge located downstream of the Falls.
Wallenda comes from a storied family of circus and stunt performers known as "The Flying Wallendas."
Although the Wallendas perform a number of different acts, they are most famous for their highwire acts which they perform without a safety net. Wallenda is a 7th generation tightrope walker.
New concerns surrounding the walk arose on Thursday evening.
The latest concern was with the safety harness the U.S. broadcaster airing the event insisted Wallenda wear during the event.
Wallenda never uses a harness in his walks and has said he was uncomfortable with the additional weight the harness adds.
Despite rumours that he might cast off the harness mid-walk, Wallenda told Canada AM he will keep the harness on, unless it interferes with his safety.
"I'm a man of integrity," he said. "I respect the fact that ABC and CTV have told their viewers that Nik Wallenda cannot lose his life live on national television."
The event is estimated to bring in close to 120,000 spectators to the Canadian side of the Falls alone.
Despite the unprecedented crowds, Wallenda said pressure of walking in front of such a large audience doesn't make him nervous.
"I've been on stage in front of a live audience since I was two years old," he said. "I live for that."
Wallenda said the support of fans motivates him to perform these high risk events.
"These are the people who help make my dream come true and these are the people who support me. There's no better feeling than seeing 150,000 people watching you perform a walk like this," he said.
One of the people who will be at the Falls supporting Wallenda is his father Terry Troffer.
Troffer will be in a control room alongside producers and directors, managing the live television coverage of the event.
Troffer will also have a direct line of communication to his son. Through an earpiece, he will be able to guide his son through the wet and windy conditions that are likely to arise.
"I would just be there as a calming voice in the event that he were to feel overwhelmed with several different things coming at him all at once,"' said Troffer.
"Just fatherly advice that any father would give to their son who walks across Niagara Falls," he added.
When Wallenda completes the historic walk he will be greeted by Niagara Parks officials and Canadian customs agents. It is reported that he will be asked to hand over his U.S. passport.
"I'm keeping it in a Ziploc bag, in my front left pocket, so it can't get ruined as I walk" he said.
With files from the Canadian Press
