In 1974, Frenchman Philippe Petit achieved world fame by walking the distance between the two Twin Towers, in New York, on a wire rope 466 meters above the ground.
This Thursday, at the age of 73, he climbed to heights again, more specifically 15 meters high, at the National Building Museum in Washington, while a gala dinner was taking place. And as usual no safety net or body protection.
Petit says he has plans for possible locations for new stunts — “extraordinary places… canyons, icebergs, and amazing buildings” — and they are stored in a box in his upstate New York home, where he has lived for decades.
From childhood, “I didn’t start following the example of authority,” he said, describing how he climbed everything from kitchen chairs to trees. “And then, one fine day, I quite naturally put a rope between two trees.”
The movie “The Walk,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire” tell the historic story of his crossing of the Twin Towers in 1974.
But Petit says he’s tired of being reduced to those few minutes, preferring to highlight other moments of his “life of passion.” “No two presentations are ever the same… each one is an adventure where I learn, where I discover,” said the Frenchman before his presentation this week. “With my 50-55 years of experience, I have more control,” he says.
Source: DN
