Daredevil does it for Jesus

US daredevil Nik Wallenda became the first man to cross a Grand Canyon gorge on a tightrope, completing his latest record-breaking feat in under 23 minutes - and without a harness.

The 34-year-old, who walked across the Niagara Falls last year, prayed constantly as he crossed a tributary gorge of the US landmark on a 400m-long high wire some 457m above the Little Colorado River.

Wind gusts were higher than expected, and he twice crouched down on the wire.

"Those winds [were] so unpredictable. Just out of the blue there would be a [56km/h] gust," he said.

"My arms are aching like you couldn't believe," he added, while hugging his wife and children.

Wallenda's feat made it into the top 10 global topics on Twitter, with organisers saying there were about 700000 tweets during the walk alone.

There was some debate over whether the walk was over the Grand Canyon itself - as technically it was a tributary gorge in the Navajo Nation, east of the main part of the world-renowned landmark. But organisers insisted he had walked across the Grand Canyon, and many who watched the death-defying stunt were willing to forgive any over-zealous marketing hype.

Wallenda has been planning the walk for about four years, homing in on a remote location at the eastern end of the mighty geological chasm, on land operated by Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation.

He had hoped to be able to take questions from journalists live while on the high wire, but it became clear within a few minutes of the start that he needed all his concentration for the walk.

"Thank you Jesus for this beautiful view," he said.

"Winds are way worse than I expected," he added at one point, in comments broadcast live by the Discovery Channel in more than 200 countries around the world.

His father was in constant live radio contact with him, though for the first five minutes Wallenda mostly asked God to help him and to calm the winds.

Wallenda, who has talked about Egypt's pyramids and the Eiffel Tower in Paris as possible venues for a future stunt, said after Sunday's walk he will probably stay closer to home.

"My dream for my next stunt is to walk between two skyscrapers in New York City," said the daredevil, who also paid tribute to his great-grandfather Karl, who died in 1978 after falling from a wire between two buildings in Puerto Rico.