Skywalk draws thousands
Stephanie Paterik
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 28, 2007 03:05 PM
Thousands of people gathered at the West Rim of the Grand Canyon today to be some of the first to experience the much-awaited Grand Canyon Skywalk
The glass-bottom bridge, jutting out over the Canyon, opened to the public for the first time at 10 a.m. and by noon, 700 people had ventured onto Arizona's newest tourist destination.
Most described it as an "experience of a lifetime."
"I'm still shaking," said Pamela Wamser, 59, the Skywalk's first paying customer. "I have goose bumps. I have never been this close to the Canyon before,"
Wamser and her husband Jim traveled from Wisconsin in their R.V., spent last night camped near the Hualapai Indian Tribe's reservation and were in line by 7 a.m.
The Skywalk is a $40 million joint venture between the Hualapai Tribe and Las Vegas businessman David Jin.
Staff-members scrambled to accommodate tourists who poured in on helicopters, tour buses, airplanes and in their own vehicles.
Work crews were still painting walls, running wires and setting out trinkets in the Skywalk visitors center moments before the doors opened.
Not everyone appreciated the experience, though.
Bob Simpson, 65, from Melbourne, Australia, said the Canyon doesn't need the Skywalk.
"This is natural country. You should see it in its natural beauty," he said "It's like putting a fifth leg on a horse."