Jun 24, 2013 01:05 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Aerialist Nik Wallenda spent just under 23 minutes on a tightrope 1,500 feet off the ground Sunday evening in front of a live television audience and, after reaching the other side, he hopped down and kissed the ground.

The Discovery Channel broadcasted Wallenda's most daring stunt live on Sunday night. He walked a quarter of a mile over the Little Colorado River Gorge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona on a two-inch wide tightrope with no safety harness.

He dealt with high winds reaching approximately 30 mph and had to stop and kneel on the wire at times to let the winds calm.

He told Discovery that the winds were unpredictable and that dust had gotten caught in his contact lenses.

"It was way more windy, and it took every bit of me to stay focused the entire time," he said.

Wallenda is part of a large family of performers and is the seventh generation of high-wire artists the "Flying Wallendas." His grandfather, cousin, uncle and other family members have perished while performing dangerous acts.

Nik Wallenda said it was his dream to cross the Grand Canyon since he was a teenager. He fulfilled that dream Sunday, a year since crossing Niagara Falls and entering the Guinness Book of World Records for the seventh time.

About 600 people were on site to watch the death-defying feat and a paramedic, a Navajo Nation ranger and two film crewmembers watched from the canyon floor.

The ranger, Elmer Phillips said he became nervous when Wallenda stopped for the first time, but also said he looked like anyone walking down a sidewalk.

"Other than that, a pretty amazing feat. I know I wouldn't even attempt something like that," Phillips said. "Very nicely done."

Wallenda told reporters he would give up tightrope walking if his family asked him to. Until then, he said his next stunt will be walking from the Empire State Building to the Chrysler Building in New York City.

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