A stuntman has become the first to successfully jump Snake River Canyon – 42 years after Evel Knievel almost died attempting to do so.
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“I feel like the no-name third string quarterback of a junior varsity team that just won the Super Bowl”, Braun said in statement, via the AP.
September 8, 1974: Knievel makes Twin Falls the center of the universe for a day by attempting to launch his X-2 Skycycle, designed by Robert Truax, over the Snake River Canyon. The only modification to the design of the rocket, dubbed “Evel Spirit”, was to that tricky parachute system that failed Evel during his attempt.
Braun said that even if he doesn’t succeed at first, he will keep trying to jump the canyon until he succeeds.
“Evel” Knievel soars over 13 autos in a demonstration at Lewis County Fairgrounds near Centralia, Wash.
The rocket was designed by engineer Scott Truax, whose father constructed Knievel’s rocket. My team got me there.
He was never able to get permission to attempt the jump in the Grand Canyon and instead turned his attention to Idaho’s Snake River Canyon.
The rocket reached an estimated 400 miles per hour (644 kilometers per hour) before its parachute deployed, allowing Braun and the ship to land safely in fields on the other side of the canyon.
Eddie Braun spent 3 years and around 1.6 million dollars of his own money, funding this project.
Speaking to the Idaho Statesman, he said: “What better way to pay homage to the guy who inspired me and led me to become everything that I am professionally?” “I’m simply finishing out his dream”.
Braun deployed a parachute after the jump.
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While such a stunt may be daunting to most, Braun told GQ prior to the act, that he too would be “scared to death” while doing the stunt but that it would “only be a couple of minutes and then it’s over”. “How many people get to finish the dream of their hero?” Notably, Knievel’s son Robbie visited Twin Falls in the early ’90s and again in 2010 to tout a possible jump (the second time with a camera crew following him). Although the 50,000 spectators he said would show up didn’t materialize, those who came upset locals by skinny-dipping, partying excessively and fighting. The daredevil was later accused of leaving town without paying debts to area businesses.
