Something new at the Grand Canyon, The Skywalk Options

[Grandpa Grizz]

Coming soon to a Grand Canyon near you!

[Grandpa Grizz]

Members of the media get a view from the Skywalk after dedication ceremonies at the Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Indian Reservation in Arizona yesterday. When visitors step out on the new U-shaped observation platform, they will be standing on all-glass flooring suspended more than 1,200 metres above the Colorado River.

Unique vista of Grand Canyon

Indian tribe opens glass-bottom deck 1,219 metres up
CHRIS KAHN, AP
Published: Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Indian leaders and a former astronaut stepped gingerly beyond the Grand Canyon's rim yesterday, staring through the glass floor and into the 1,219-metre chasm below during the opening ceremony for a new observation deck.

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin declared it a "magnificent first walk."

The Hualapai Indian tribe, whose reservation is about 145 kilometres west of Grand Canyon National Park, allowed Las Vegas developer David Jin to build the $30-million horseshoe-shaped Skywalk in hopes of creating a unique attraction on their side of the canyon.

For $25 plus other fees, up to 120 people at a time will be able to look down to the canyon floor 1,219 metres below - a vantage point more than twice as high as the world's tallest buildings.

The Skywalk is scheduled to open to the public March 28.

To reach the transparent deck, tourists must drive on twisty, unpaved roads through rugged terrain. But the tribe hopes it becomes the centrepiece of a budding tourism industry that includes helicopter tours, river rafting, a cowboy town and a museum of Indian replica homes.

Architect Mark Johnson said the Skywalk can support the weight of a few hundred people and will withstand wind up to 160 km/h. The observation deck has a 76-millimetre-thick glass bottom and has been equipped with shock absorbers to keep it from bouncing like a diving board as people walk on it.

On the Net: www.grandcanyonskywalk.com

Montreal Gazette

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Click on the astronaut for video of the first skywalk.