Reznet

Leap of Faith

By AP story

Associated Press story by Chris Kahn

HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. — Walking gingerly across the translucent surface, visitors hear the glass layers creak. Far below, directly underfoot, they see the Colorado River as a pea-green ribbon.

"It felt wonderful; not exactly like floating on air," said former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who once traipsed the surface of the moon and on Tuesday became one of the first to stroll onto the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a massive glass-bottom observation deck perched 4,000 feet above the canyon's floor. Aldrin declared it a "magnificent first walk."

RELATED LINKS Reznet story: "Clear Complaints" Grand Canyon Skywalk Web site Grand Canyon West Web site Hualapai tribal information Grand Canyon National Park Web site

The Hualapai Indian tribe invited Aldrin, fellow former astronaut John Herrington and others to the unveiling of the horseshoe-shaped deck Tuesday in advance of a public opening planned for March 28.

"This culminates a long history with Native American people," tribal chairman Charles Vaughn said after he and dozen other guests gingerly walked the deck for the first time—and after quipping, "I can hear the glass cracking!"

"For hundreds of years, we've had empty promises, gestures made to Indian people across America," Vaughn said. "We became dependent on the federal government. And this monument marks our effort to become self-determined."

The massive deck is anchored deep into a limestone cliff. As people walk across it, the glass layers creak and the deck wobbles almost imperceptibly. When the wind blows, only the most daring visitors resist grabbing the steel rail to steady their knees.

To one side, the Colorado River is visible; to the other, people can see a triangular dip in the canyon's ridge, known as "Eagle Point" because it looks amazingly like an eagle with outstretched wings.

Tour Packages

Tour packages with deck access will range in price from $49.95 to $199. The deck, which juts 70 feet beyond the canyon's edge, will accommodate up to 120 guests at a time and offer a bone-chilling vantage point more than twice as high as the world's tallest buildings.

Architect Mark Johnson said the Skywalk can support the weight of a few hundred people and will withstand wind up to 100 mph. The observation deck has a 3-inch-thick glass bottom and has been equipped with shock absorbers to keep it from bouncing like a diving board as people walk on it.

Tribal leaders are betting people will flock here, braving the rugged terrain — including a twisty ride through unpaved roads — to walk its transparent surface. The tribe expects Skywalk to become the centerpiece of a budding tourism industry that includes helicopter tours, river rafting, a cowboy town and a museum of Native American replica homes.

Robert Bravo Jr., operations manager of the Hualapai tourist attractions called Grand Canyon West, said he hopes the Skywalk will double tourist traffic to the reservation to about 600,000 visitors this year and 1 million tourists later.

"It's a great feeling today. Once everybody sees this, and it's televised, they're going to know to come here," Bravo said.

Construction crews spent two years building the walkway. They drilled steel anchors 46 feet into the limestone rim to hold the deck in place. Earlier this month, they welded the Skywalk to the anchors after pushing it past the edge using four tractor trailers and an elaborate system of pulleys.

The Hualapai (pronounced WALL-uh-pie) allowed Las Vegas developer David Jin to build the Skywalk. Jin fronted the money to build the $30 million structure and will give it to the Hualapai in exchange for a share of the profits, the tribe said.

"The terms are confidential, but David will profit for the next 25 years from the Skywalk," said Steve Beattie, chief financial officer of the Grand Canyon Resort Corp., which oversees the tribe's tourist businesses.

Debate Over Skywalk

The Skywalk has sparked debate on and off the reservation. Many Hualapai worry about disturbing nearby burial sites, and environmentalists have blamed the tribe for transforming the majestic canyon into a tourist trap.

Hualapai leaders say they weighed those concerns for years before agreeing to build the Skywalk. With a third of the tribe's 2,200 members living in poverty, the tribal government decided it needs the tourism dollars.

"To me, I believe this is going to help us. We don't get any help from the outside, so, why not?" said Dallas Quasula Sr., 74, a tribal elder. "This is going to be our bread and butter."

Dolores Honga, 71, a Hualapai tribal elder, watched with interest Tuesday as invited guests and media flooded the rim, many of them carrying buffet plates loaded with shrimp and chicken kabobs.

Honga said she used to ride horses around this remote patch of grassland near the rim. Her grandparents once herded cattle out here.

"I still don't agree with what's going on here," she said. "There's so many memories here. This was my playground."

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