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Grand Canyon Skywalk Moved into Place

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Published Date

March 8, 2007

Grcaskywalk1_copy_1     How do folks want to view and enjoy the Grand Canyon?
    Do they want to stand in awe on the rim and gaze into its deeply furrowed flanks? Do they wish to float along the Colorado River and soak in the immensity of this geologic wonder? Do they want to fly over it and look down? Or do they want to walk 70 feet out over the abyss on a man-made walkway that Hualapai tribal officials hope will make them rich?
    At least one of these questions will be answered in the months to come as the tribe is just about ready to open its Grand Canyon Skywalk on the canyon's West Rim to the paying public. And at $25 a pop for a walk along the glass-bottomed walkway, that question could be quickly answered.
    The walkway was secured in place yesterday, and tribe officials say they could open it to the public by month's end.
     What's disconcerting about this venture is that tribal elders consider the canyon to be sacred. Indeed, according to the AP story part of the skywalk's construction impacted land scattered with Hualapai burial sites. Should economics trump spiritual beliefs?

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Comments

Submitted by admin on March 9, 2007 - 1:36pm.
To make this Skywalk even more attractive, charge extra for free base jumping. Just a gruesome thought but who picks up the mess if don't make it...and there's the suicide jumpers to contend with...does the NPS pick the tab on this one? Being cynical of course, but the Skyrink is pure junk and bad medicine for the tribe.

Submitted by admin on March 9, 2007 - 6:57pm.
The Hualapai built the tourist trap on their own PRIVATE land. They are not legally bound to the 1916 Organic Act like the NPS. If you're not familiar, that establishing act requires that the NPS leave parks UNIMPAIRED for future generations, and I'd say that all that Disneyesque development at the Grand Canyon is a major impairment. Don't think it's Disneyesque? Here's another fact for you: there are more hotel rooms in the Grand Canyon than there are at Disneyland! The price is about the same for both, too.

Submitted by admin on March 10, 2007 - 7:06am.
Like the government doesn't put environmental restrictions on private land. This tourist trap is akin to the proposed casino close to Gettysburg or the proposed Disney Americana theme park close to Manassas. Both, thank goodness, were voted down. They would have been on private land but would have degraded the area around a National Park.

Submitted by admin on March 11, 2007 - 11:50am.
I may have misspoken. Technically, isn't the Haulapai a sovereign nation? So that isn't really the same thing as private land. I think. Could be wrong. If so, the US has no business telling other sovereign nations what to do, but clearly, that matters little to Americans who allowed the government to invade a sovereign nation four years ago. Your analogy is a little off. Unlike the tiny parks of Gettysburg and Manassas, the Haulapai land is far, far from the main visitor areas of the Grand Canyon. The skywalk can't be seen from there, and I doubt it is very visible from the remote western part of GRCA. It's doesn't appear to be over the main canyon. It appears to be suspended over a side canyon not far from Lake Mead, one of the most serious environmental disasters in American history. Check out the location by navigating to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_Skywalk Take the coordinates for the skywalk and copy them into Google Earth or Google Maps.

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