It’s 10-feet wide and extends 70-feet from where it’s anchored to the rock. It has a deck made of tempered glass. That’s a description of a new $30 million structure being built in the Grand Canyon that’s expected to draw thousands.
It’s the Hualapai Indian Tribe’s “Glass Walkway,” a structure that will be suspended over the edge of the canyon some 4,000 feet above the Colorado River.
It will be higher than any of the world’s tallest free-standing skyscrapers. The walk way is horseshoe shaped, and its glass bottom will allow you to look straight down between to the canyon floor. Nothing like it has ever been attempted before.
The man-made structure will be attached to a rock face. It will take tourists to a place that so far only the birds have been able to go.
“People want to get close to the rim. But they’re scared, and it’s intimidating,” said Grand Canyon tour guide Scott Schneider.
Which is why, he said, they still come by the bus load: For the thrill of peaking over the edge, to the Colorado River running below.
“Yeah! You look over here and it seems a little nerve wracking to go the edge. It makes you little bit wobbly,” says Liuis Joseph, a tourist from Buffalo, New York.
Schneider said many of the hundreds of people who come to the Grand Canyon every day, never even look over the edge. “4,000 feet down is something that even the people who come here to see, don’t get to see because it is a little intimidating and scary to look down,” he said.
The new Skywalk will provide a perspective previously not possible. But it too is not for the faint of heart. The horseshoe shaped structure will extend out more than half the length of a football field. The floor of the walkway will be made of thick, high strength glass.
Walking on it will give the sensation of being suspended in the nothingness of the Canyon’s pristine air. Everyone who works the Canyon’s concessions– wants to try it.
“I can’t wait to get on that. But I guess I will have to wait. I hope to see it by the end of this year,” said river guide Steve Zhou.
Engineers say it will hold the weight of 71 – 747′s, and withstand winds in excess of 100 mph. There’s a million pounds of steel in the frame, most of which has already arrived at the site. Work is underway on support buildings, all of it owned and operated by the Canyon’s Hualapai tribe.
“It’s just something that you probably only dream of. To be able to look right straight down and see right below your feet. It’s like walking in the air,” said Chief Don.
The Hualapai expect the Skywalk to bring in thousands of new tourists. Las Vegas is only about two-and-a-half hours away, and all those potentially new tourists could bring in potentially millions of new dollars for the tribe.
It could be a new economic engine for one of the oldest societies in America.
That would give a great view. Photographer’s paradise!
Hi, Adam – You’re right! It would be a great opportunity for photographers – professional or amateur. However, the Hualapai tribe does not allow cameras on the Skywalk, citing their effort to eliminate the possibility of a camera dropping and scratching the glass. Naysayers argue that the tribe probably wants to preserve a revenue opportunity and sell photos themselves. What do you think?
On the Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour with Landing from Vegas, you’ll pass by historical landmarks such as the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, the Black Canyon