Perched on an impossibly narrow steel cable some 60 metres in the air, this scion of one of America’s first families of acrobats is aiming to do something untried in more than a century: crossing the treacherous Niagara Falls on a highwire.u00a0If he succeeds, the achievement will add to the lore and legend of the renowned Wallenda family, famous over the decades for jaw-dropping stunts executed from dizzying heights.u00a0Wallenda says this coming challenge will be his greatest feat yet.

Thin line to fame: Nik Wallenda practices his tightrope walking a day before he attempts to be the first man to tightrope walk across the Niagara Falls. Pic/AFP