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Back to Podcast EpisodesPhilippe Petit, The Man On Wire (Part One)
On August 7, 1974, a twenty-five year old man named Philippe Petit walked across a 200 foot wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, 1,350 feet above the ground, something that even the policeman who arrested him described as a once in a lifetime event.
On the night of June 25th and the early morning of June 26th ,1971 Philippe Petit and his associates ascended the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral. Blondeau tossed a fishing line attached to a tennis ball to Petit in the other tower. A thicker rope was attached to this initial line and then pulled across the gap between the two towers, this process repeated with thicker ropes until the heavy metal cable was attached to a rope and pulled across the open space. Petit and Blondeau worked all night, securing the wire until the early morning hours of Saturday. Then, to the amazement of the ever increasing group of tourists that gathered in the plaza in front of the cathedral, Petit, dressed in his typical all black clothing walked on to the cable and for three hours, juggled balls and pins, walked rapidly back and forth and even lay on his back as the crowd applauded below.
Assisted by some local Australians he met in Nimbin, he persuaded a local wire distributor to give him the requisite cable in exchange for a performance of magic and juggling for the company’s employees. With huge padlocked doors impossible to pick or penetrate, Petit hacksawed his way in through barred gaps high above the ground and, with his newfound friends, reconnoitered both pylons at night. Eventually they were able to rig the bridge in preparation for the crossing scheduled to occur on June 3, 1973. At rush hour on the morning of June 3, Petit ascended the wire and crossed several times, pausing again to perform his trademark move of lying on his back for several minutes, supported only by the thin cable, almost three hundred feet above the ground.
Published on 3 years, 2 months ago