[Angela]

Visitors to the Grand Canyon are to get stunning views from a raised glass platform. Rising 4,000ft (1,220m) from the canyon's floor and 70ft (20m) beyond its rim, the Skywalk is being described as an engineering first.

Construction of the Skywalk began in March 2004 - and will open to the public on 28 March with 120 people allowed on the platform at any one time.

The bridge will be able to sustain winds in excess of 100mph (161km/h), as well as an 8.0-magnitude earthquake within 50 miles (80.5km).

So would you be brave enough to stand 4,000ft up in the air on a piece of glass!!??

[Trashcan]

As long as nobody is carrying any large stones...

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by Angela

So would you be brave enough to stand 4,000ft up in the air on a piece of glass!!??

Hell yeah!!!... I bet you'd be able to get some amazing shots from it

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by Angela

So would you be brave enough to stand 4,000ft up in the air on a piece of glass!!??

No, definitely NOT, negative, nein, nah - forget it!

[JMitchell]

Originally Posted by Angela

So would you be brave enough to stand 4,000ft up in the air on a piece of glass!!??

Yeah I think I could manage it....dunno about trusting them americans though
If you could get good shots however (I imagine they'd be close to phenominal!), then yeah..!

[Steve]

It seem to already be surrounded in controversy from all sides…

“The $30 million 1 million pound Skywalk at the canyon's remote western edge is designed to withstand 100 mile-per-hour winds and has shock absorbers to keep it from wobbling as people walk through. It extends 75 feet above the rim and four-thousand feet over the canyon's floor.

The Hualapai tribe which allowed a private developer to build the structure will charge $25 per-person plus entry fees for the walk.

Some tribal elders have questioned the wisdom of the project in what is considered sacred ground.”



The next section is from ecanadanew.com

“A massive glass-bottomed skywalk that can take tourists out over the incredible terrain of the Grand Canyon has sparked a grand controversy, with native Americans saying it violates sacred ground and environmentalists charging that it demeans the area’s natural beauty.

The criticism gained renewed emphasis after engineers cautiously rolled out the 453-metric-ton platform over the plunging canyon this week. Fastened to the rock by a complicated system of metal cantilevers, the structure juts out 20 metres from the red rock walls of the canyon and seems to hang in the air over 1,200 metres above the canyon floor.

The skywalk will open to visitors at the end of the March, with tickets costing some 25 dollars.

The 30-million-dollar project was built by a Las Vegas tour operator in conjunction with the impoverished Native American Hualapai tribe, whose reservation rims the remote western edge of the canyon.

Since reservations can administer their own laws, the controversial structure was built without the usually strict oversight that accompanies other building proposals. But according to the Arizona Republic Thursday, the structure was pushed through a tribal committee against the wishes of many in the tribe.

“Our ancestors roamed this land before us,” tribeswoman Leatrice Walema was quoted as saying. “This is holy ground. Most of our elders disapprove of this, but the council members approved it before the community voted on it. It was hidden (from us). This should never have been done.”

Environmentalists are also up in arms about the horseshoe-shaped structure.
“I think it’s a real travesty,” said Robert Arnberger, who was superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park from 1994 to 2000. “I understand the need for the tribe to consider the economics of the tribe, but … it desecrates the very place the Hualapai hold so dear.”

Most Indian tribes rely on casinos to survive, but the Hualapai casino venture failed ten years ago because the area is so remote. Tribal elder Emmett Bender told the Washington Post that the skywalk was now their best option.

“Like the car and buses. The white man made it, and it came out strong,” the 84-year-old tribal elder was quoted as saying. “We’ve got to give it a chance.”

Others pointed out that the structure could add to the majesty of the Grand Canyon by pulling customers away from the noisy helicopter and small plane rides that are the only other method of getting an eagle eye’s view of one of the natural wonders of the world.
“We’re not building a power plant. This isn’t a ride and nobody’s swinging around,” said Sheri Yellowhawk, head of the tribe’s business enterprises. “We’re building a natural way to view the canyon.”



and for a real sense of scale…

[Charlotte]

Originally Posted by Angela

... So would you be brave enough to stand 4,000ft up in the air on a piece of glass!!??

Er, no. I get vertigo on a two-rung step ladder

Originally Posted by Steve

... it violates sacred ground and environmentalists charging that it demeans the area’s natural beauty.

Whilst I might think differently if I had the opportunity to utilise this kewl (on the surface) idea of a structure, + would certainly be awe-struck by the view, I have to sympathise with these two considerations

[Howard]

I'm moving out to Las Vegas later in the year. If I get a chance to go down that way I will definitely get some photos from out on it.

[Matt F]

It looks like an amazing structure but it also looks – to me – as though it doesn’t belong there.

It would be a bit like building another Blackpool tower in the middle of the Lake District – yes you would get amazing views from the top but that doesn’t mean we should build one there as the structure itself would look as out of place as a pork pie in a kosher deli.

I guess I would be tempted to take a walk around it but it would make me feel uneasy – I’ve been up the CN Tower in Toronto (1/2km high!) and there is a perspex panel in the floor at the top where you can stand with nothing but that below you and I didn’t get on it.

Matt.

[Soupdragon]

Hmmmm! sounds like the makings of a Sly Stallone disaster movie!

[Sparhawk]

This construction {IMO} is one of the worst things I have ever seen. The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders on our planet and to dispoil it with such a construction {to me} should NEVER been allowed.
I am not normally one to voice an opinion on any building but I am afraid that with this the designers and builders should be thrown off it followed by the whole thing being dropped on what is left of their mangled bodies
OK Rant Over
Regards
Sparhawk

[Charlotte]

Don't hold back Sparhawk

[chickadee]

must admit fantastic views ............... there is NOOOOOOOOO way i would be on it !!!!!! but good luck and well done to those that can ,i will just enjoy the photos

[Dave]

I never thought I had a fear of heights until I went to the top of the Temple of the Sagrada Familia, built by Gaudi. You can step out on small balconies, which I did & it freaked me right out ......back down the steps hugging the wall

[Dave]

Re should the structure be allowed or not, is there not 277 miles of the Canyon that will be left unspoilt ?