according to wallenda, "there's a lot of updrafts and downdrafts, and the winds are hard to predict [in the canyon]". the air temperature during the walk was expected to exceed , with the steel cable hitting . to prepare, wallenda walked a wire twice daily along the banks of a sarasota river with fans watching. he practiced with wind machines to simulate wind gusts up to . during tropical storm andrea he practiced among wind gusts and heavy rain. wallenda said it was "hard to prepare for [the updrafts] ... when it comes down to mother nature, we’re not in control." his highwire shoes, which are custom made by his mother, had elk-skin bottoms to counteract the heat.