Inside Scoop From a Stilt-Walker
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2026 3:09 pm
I asked my barber the other day IIIRC if he used to walk on stilts in parades. He went into the background and grabbed a couple of old photos-he did it locally from 1976 to 1986 when a kid knocked him off his stilts and a stilt broke and he broke his arm-that ended his career.
I had never thought of this before, but he said that you are only 3 feet up in the air-so instead of being a 6-footer you come across as a 9-footer. Which seems giant to kids and, even to adults it looks pretty high as there aren't any 9-footers walking around.
That was interesting. Now maybe there are some very specialized stilt people that walk higher than that-but your standard ones are probably only 3 extra feet off the ground.
I had never thought of this before, but he said that you are only 3 feet up in the air-so instead of being a 6-footer you come across as a 9-footer. Which seems giant to kids and, even to adults it looks pretty high as there aren't any 9-footers walking around.
That was interesting. Now maybe there are some very specialized stilt people that walk higher than that-but your standard ones are probably only 3 extra feet off the ground.