By Zach Johnson
Nik Wallenda is on a mission to do the impossible.
Tonight on ABC, Wallenda will return to the highwire for a daring 1,800-foot-long walk over the active Masaya Volcano in Masaya, Nicaragua. Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda will air as a live two-hour special, starting at 8|7c. “This was a dream of mine,” he says. “I’ve talked about it for six or seven years. It’s towards the top of my list. It’s the longest walk I’ve ever attempted. It’s the highest walk I’ve ever attempted. In fact, One World Trade Center—which is the tallest building in New York City—would fit underneath me.”
Part of the famed Pacific Ring of Fire, Masaya encompasses multiple craters and is one of very few volcanoes to possess a lava lake. It will be undoubtedly riskier than his last televised walk, ABC’s Highwire Live in Times Square with Nik Wallenda, in June 2019—but this daredevil is always trying to top himself. “It’s tough, for sure, but I have dreams in the middle of the night that are crazier than most people,” Wallenda says. “And generally, it’s walking in some unique location nobody would ever dream of attempting.”
In tonight’s special, Wallenda and his family will walk viewers through the rigging, planning, and execution of the walk. Volcanologists and other professionals will be on-site to lend their expertise. “After spending years scouting and researching volcanoes, I fully realize why no one has ever attempted this feat: Mother Nature is extremely unpredictable. It is by far the most dangerous walk I have ever attempted, and that alone makes it very intimidating,” he says. “I am pushing myself beyond my comfort zone by the feat itself, but I know that I am up to the challenge. I must admit, it is scary.”
Ironically, viewers often feel more stressed than Wallenda does. “Look, that’s part of the thrill,” he says, shrugging. “Some people watch because of that, and they’re on that wire with me. It’s about that anticipation, that excitement, that nervousness, that fear. And that’s the idea: to bring the viewer on the wire with me to these amazing locations. I can tell you this is probably going to be the most dangerous stunt anyone’s ever attempted.”
With millions tuning in, Wallenda must tune the cameras out and focus on the task at hand. “Once I get on that wire, I’m in my own world. It’s about me and that wire and the relationship we’ve had literally my whole life—through seven generations,” he says. “It’s about me and that wire, and that’s it. It’s life or death, generally, when I do these things.”