Silver State Wire Rope & Rigging: Wire rope is used for many things but one of the most unusual ways it’s used is in high-wire walking. They generally use galvanized 7 x 19 inner wire rope core. They use galvanized cables because they have very little lubrication and won’t rust.
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Why do people do this!? Honestly, I need to ask how do they do it as well. The balance to do this, especially being high above any ground surface, must be incredible. What makes this so incredible is the exclusiveness that each individual has maintaining a tremendous amount of balance and focus and having just a strong state of mind being able to focus on their walking thousands of feet into the air. It is interesting to hear that tight rope walkers use the same time of wire we use in theater! I am glad to hear that because it is something I can trust and I know this type of wire rope won't let them down. This article explains how at times, you just pull up the rope to get it on two sides of a building but that still seems very difficult when 300 feet of rope can add up to 260 pounds. I would like to see a set up of the tight rope done in person and then maybe it will make me feel more relaxed and at ease when watching high-wire walking.
Until I saw this article today, I can not say I had every wondered how high wires were setup. When I opened the article, I found it to be a little short and that it didn't quite explain as much as I wanted it to, so down the youtube rabbit hole I went. The company that wrote the article is a really cool and fun company to work with. I was lucky to spend a little bit of time with them in Vegas while working with Ka. What is interesting about their company, is that the bulk of what they do is actually for the mining industry. It was fun to get the learn about terminating cables with a diameter of five plus inches. These types and sizes of cables are often used for lifts and elevators on mines, as they are needed for lifting thousands of pounds at a time.
Tightrope rigging certainly raises some eyebrows. Can you imagine if one of the few things you could control (the size & strength of the rope) failed during a performance or demo? This also starts to delve into the realm of areal rigging, and currently many performers tend to do their own setup. This can make sense, since at least they are in control over their own apparatus, but could you imagine an actor setting up their own performer flying rig or even rigging a scenic piece they interact with? Ultimately, I'm curious to see where our rigging standards and certification process will go when it comes to these more nuanced forms of performance.
Back to the article, it makes sense to use wire rope for a variety of reasons. The strength is good for its size, it can easily be stored and transported due to its flexibility and weight, and is reasonably stiff over long distances. We really need the strength due to the incredibly shallow angle this wire rope will be working with. That shallow angle leads to an severe amount of internal stress in the wire, so we need to make sure it has sufficient strength. It doesn't surprise me that AC is the way to go.
I’ve discovered in my few years around circus people that the higher the wire is, the thicker it is (not saying it’s much easier by any means.) High wires pose an interesting rigging challenge because they need to be as taught as possible, and the long it is, the harder it is to keep it taught. Another problem is that as the length increases, the weight increases as well leading to sag. Most wire-walking rigs are portable (as opposed to being permanently installed) which adds another level of moving parts and complications. Most circus shows are portable, either in it’s own tent and always set up in the same way or in a different arena or outdoor venue every few weeks. My boss has a few different rigging setups. The one I’ve used and that he used when he was on Jay Leno’s show is about 6 feet tall and it has its own freestanding structure that is pulled apart with winches and has platforms at either end.
I have always been amazed and incredibly interested in high-wire and tight-rope walking. I have tried slack-lining before but the amount of necessary balance is not something I have in me at this point. However, my inability only emphasizes the wonder of seeing the true act accomplished. I also have a major fear of heights, which makes watching performers up on a high rope utterly terrifying and completely thrilling. It may be sadistic, but humans love to watch others tackle the fears they cannot yet confront themselves. This article was not exactly what I wished it to be, mostly because I was drawn in by the mention of high rope and missed the main point the article title was making. I was not very interested in how a high wire is set up, as I know there is very little possibility that I will ever have to interact with a high wire in any way, but overall it was not dreadfully boring and I certainly learned some ideas about high rope that I had not known previously. - Claire Duncan
This is all so wild. I was a competitive gymnast until I was fifteen, so the act of balancing on a thin surface is not a foreign concept. However, a wire rope? Over concrete? Hundreds of feet in the air? With an abundance of witnesses? No thank you. I will say that I have always wanted to try this, but instead of doing it hundreds of feet in the air in between two buildings in a busy city, I would do it maybe three feet above the ground with mats. I am just now remembering that I have done this before at a ropes course that was suspended in trees. I walked on thin wire, except there was another wire running parallel above me, and I was attached to that in a harness. I slipped one time, but I only dangled about two feet below the wire I was walking on because my harness caught me. Still, I could barely even watch the guy go over the Grand Canyon back in 2013. Speaking of that event, I never really considered the logistics of rigging these wires. What is the most efficient way of stretching that wire across two tall points. The article kind of explained it for buildings, but what about the famous Grand Canyon walk?
I’ve always been amazed by high rope walkers. I’ve tried high rope walking on a couple of occasions, particularly on high ropes courses and such. They are not nearly as easy as the professionals make it look. That being said, I have always been curious as how they rig and install the high wire ropes, particularly between buildings and across canyons. I read a story on how they got a wire across Niagara Falls, and as it turns out, they used a kite! It was interesting to learn about what exact type of wire rope they use. I never really though much of it but obviously it makes a world of difference. I do wonder how they determined which type of wire rope is best for high wiring, as I can’t imagine how they would simulate the stresses of high wiring on a wire rope. That being said, I am sure an adequate test was determined, because the last thing I can imagine that anyone would want is a failed high wire rope.
In theatre, we work a lot within specified tolerances. In the extreme sports industry, there is no room for tolerances. High wire rope walking is an incredible test of focus and balance where an individual walks across a wire rope that is usually incredibly high in the air. Personally, I have never thought about the rigging that would go into a stunt such as this. While this article left some things unsaid, it is reasonable to understand that each individual would prefer a different kind of rope. The strength of the steel cable would be able to support the weight of an individual with a small diameter of the rope, but I would assume that many tightrope walkers would prefer a larger diameter to establish better footing. Additionally, tensioning the wire rope must be highly considered. While it may not seem true, wire rope has a certain amount of stretch that could affect the performance of the athlete. This is particularly important if the stunt is happening outside where the wind could cause the wire to sway or bounce with the athlete on the wire rope.
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