SARASOTA, Fla. -- Nik Wallenda has is about to take his daredevil status up a notch, and you better believe he's already started training.
The world-renowned Sarasota native and king of the high wire will follow up his walk across the Grand Canyon with an attempt to break yet another world record -- this time in the windy city.
"I wanted to do something in a big city for a huge crowd, so I decided Chicago was a great place,” Wallenda says. “I love the title the Windy City. That's one of the things that lured me there. Of course, that's going to create more of a challenge for Nik Wallenda."
A challenge he's planning to work hard to take on. Wallenda is no stranger to rough conditions-- from his walk across Niagara Falls to the Grand Canyon walk -- but frigid November weather in chicago, stronger wind speeds, and dealing with a 15 degree incline as he walks a wire strung more than 50 stories high and about 600 feet from one skyscraper to another are all elements he needs to prepare for.
"Uphill the entire way. Very very strenuous. And that's really a major part of my training here at Benderson,” Wallenda says. “Training for those heavy winds and training for that incline and the endurance it will take to make it up there."
The Guinness world record holder will satisfy loyal fans by once again holding public training sessions at Nathan Benderson Park starting Oct. 8th and running for three weeks. Along with incline training, Wallenda will will also test his endurance against high wind speeds.
"We bring our airboats out,” he says. “They create wind speeds of up to 120 miles per hour."
Friday, Wallenda hit the gym and posted a photo to Facebook with the caption, " Endurance training on the incline treadmill... they wouldn't let me bring the balancing pole in for some reason?!?! #nevergiveup”
Wallenda’s Chicago walk is scheduled for Nov. 2.
