The Story Behind's video: Philippe Petit s Crazy High-Wire Walk Between The Twin Towers

The Frenchman Philippe Petit performed all his life. His biggest passion was high-wire walks. And he became famous for walking. Philippe Petit’s passion for performances started from magic tricks at the age of 6. Later, he started to perform on the streets of Paris juggling and doing tricks. And he first tried to walk on the wire there. He had been practicing only for a year when he learned about the Twin Towers. The World Trade Center in New York City was about 1,368 feet (415 meters) above the ground. And Philippe had a burning desire to walk on the wire between them. He spent the next 6 years preparing for this walk. Before going to the World Trade Center, he decided to practice on the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. And two years later, he completed a walk at the Sydney’s Harbour Bridge. Both of the walks were illegal. When Philippe came to New York, he was shocked. He found it impossible to walk between the towers. Not only because of the high altitude of the buildings, but also because of the difficulties with the preparation. How to bring all the necessary equipment secretly? He made three trips to New York to explore the towers. Philippe and his accomplice even rented a helicopter to take aerial photographs of the buildings. To come into the towers, Philippe pretended to be an architect, a journalist, and a construction worker. He even built a model of the tower. While exploring the building, Philippe met Barry Greenhouse. He worked in the south tower. Barry recognized Petit as the street performer and agreed to help him. Petit took into account the swaying of the towers. In case of strong winds, they could slightly sway - it was a part of their design. Another problem appeared three weeks before the planned walk. Philippe stepped on a nail in one of the Twin Towers… He laid up in the bed for three days and then he could walk only with the help of crutches. But, actually, it was a stroke of luck - guards helped him during his visits to the towers and didn’t ask for an ID. To bring the equipment, Petit and his team pretended to be high riggers. They said that they were hired to install an electric fence on the rooftop. The walk had to start early in the morning. Before everybody realized that they were not construction workers. To fix the wire Philippe used a bow and arrows. The walk lasted 45 minutes. Petit crossed the wire between the towers eight times. He performed tricks and even laid down on the cable. Police tried to stop him and even promised to use a helicopter to snatch the artist. When Petit finished the performance, police officers arrested him. The court decided not to punish him. Petit only had to perform a high-wire walk in Central Park for children. The Frenchman was happy to do it. Subscribe to The Story Behind https://is.gd/hixAAr Music by Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/