Get a bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon

Architect Mark Johnson said the Skywalk will be built to withstand canyon winds of 100 mph and will be capable of holding a few hundred people without bending. It will have shock absorbers to keep it from wobbling up and down like a diving board and making people woozy.

“Hopefully it will give people some security,” Johnson said. “They’ve got a little meat under them.”

Construction began in April 2005.

The Grand Canyon Trust, one of the chief protectors of the canyon, has not raised any environmental or aesthetic objections to the Skywalk, which will be almost invisible from a distance because it will be mostly see-through, and will look puny against the gargantuan canyon walls.

“This is the future of the Hualapai nation,” said Allison Raskansky, a Las Vegas public relations specialist for the project. “This is a view you cannot get at the national park.”

The Hualapai are completely dependent on the 345,000 visitors who come to the reservation each year to tour the tribe’s end of the canyon by boat or helicopter. Grand Canyon National Park, by comparison, gets 4.1 million visitors a year.

In 1996, David Jin, a Las Vegas businessman originally from Shanghai, China, approached the Hualapai with a plan to build a skywalk with his own money. Jin already was operating a business that brought Chinese tourists onto the reservation.

“Our thinking is that, if a human being could walk over the canyon, if they had the opportunity, even handicapped people, it’s just really, really, you know, something,” Jin said.

Under the plan, the Hualapais will own the Skywalk, but Jin will collect up to half of the money from ticket sales for the next 25 years.

Tribal member Connie Powskey, 56, hopes the tribe raises enough money to help her children get an education and find jobs. Then maybe it will eventually be seen as a blessing.

“When you get old, they put needles in you and give you things so you can survive,” Powskey said. “Well, that’s like this now for Mother Nature. Is it worth it? I don’t know. I really don’t.”

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