Walking on air
Posted Monday, June 11, 2007, 5:33 PM by Lonely Planet
Say you owned a million acres of world-class real estate with to-die-for views. But access - such a headache! And the tourists you craved were already happy going to another, less out-of-the-way, vista point. What to do?
The Hualapai tribe in Arizona found themselves in this exact conundrum. Their land, part of the Grand Canyon (you may have heard of it), couldn't attract enough diehards willing to navigate its scenic yet butt-busting unpaved road. So they came up with a novel idea. Let people walk over the canyon!
A highly controversial yet fascinating case of 'if you build it, they will come', the Grand Canyon Skywalk is a slender and see-through glass horseshoe bridge jutting out from solid ground and levitating over a 4000-foot chasm. To prevent scuffing of the 5-layer glass floor, everyone must wear surgical overshoes. There's canyon ahead, behind and unspeakably far below. The terror-stricken prefer shuffling along near the handrail, though a fair number plonk down their sizeable admission, sashay up, peer down and decide to call it a day. Studying the abyss, one's mortality feels fragile, and the Skywalk's shadow appears like a partial halo. 
Brashly commercial desecration or brazenly cool creation? Your call.
Beth Kohn, having dealt with flying saucers and walking on air, is now heading to Las Vegas for another sort of high. Beth is mucking about in the Southwest States researching the USA guidebook.
Labels: The Americas
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1 Comments:
I'm prepared to have a bet each way on this one. The canyon is huge, so can wear it in one section - and it is quite cool, really, to look down and see the Canyon span out below. My vote is - it works for me and if I head back I will check it out. I did the skywalk at the Sydney Centrepoint Tower and that was 100 percent gimmick. I think Sydney Harbour Bridgeclimb was way better.
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