Don't look down
August 31, 2009
Professional tightrope artist Freddy Nock on Sunday walked across 995 meters (3,264 feet) of cable, which is otherwise used to pull the aerial tram up the Zugspitze mountain, located in southern Germany near the Austrian border.
"I made it, I'm happy, wow!" said the 44-year-old after it was all over.
Nock's challenge was not just horizontal, but vertical as well. With the cable strung at a 56 percent incline, he increased his altitude by 348 meters over the 50-minute journey. His final destination at the mountain tram station was located at an altitude of 2,943 meters, setting a world record for the highest tightrope walk.
During the walk, Nock was suspended at up to 130 meters above ground. As he used no safety gear, the endeavor could have ended quite differently for Nock.
Some 1,800 spectators turned out to watch the tightrope act - Nock's second, after a first attempt on Saturday was interrupted due to bad weather conditions.
Through the event, over 13,000 euros in donations were raised for the charity "Menschen fuer Menschen," which runs rural development projects in Ethiopia.
kjb/AP/dpa
Editor: Sean Sinico