

- #DID EVEL KNIEVEL MAKE THE JUMP IN TWIN FALLS IDAHO CRACKED#
- #DID EVEL KNIEVEL MAKE THE JUMP IN TWIN FALLS IDAHO FULL#
He's got the best in the business working with him today."Īs Braun almost disappeared from sight, the first drogue 'chute popped out to the cheers of the crowd, followed by the larger 'chute deploying right on time.

"Stunt men prepare, and plan, and lock it down, because they don't wanna die. Eddie's a stunt man," I was assured by Deirdre, the partner of one of Braun's lead stunt co-ordinators. Meanwhile, as the Evel Spirit left the launch ramp and rocketed into the sky, spraying anyone within a 130-foot radius with a cooling shower of water, the rocket started to spin –a terrifying sight as Eddie spiraled upward to some 2200 feet above the launch site, not counting the deep drop into the canyon below.īut this wasn't an Evel Knievel production. If Braun was to black out from the high-G acceleration, there were stunt co-ordinators both at the jump site and the landing area ready to remotely trigger the drogue 'chutes and main ballistic parachutes to bring him down safely – "that main 'chute will bring him down so soft," said Aussie stunt co-ordinator Mick Van Morson, "that he could land on his head without a helmet and be absolutely fine. The ensuing release of steam launched Braun up that ramp so fast it was almost hard to follow, with some 6 Gs worth of acceleration over a 3-4 second blast. TWIN FALLS, Idaho Forty-six years ago on Tuesday, Evel Knievel attempted to make the 1,600-foot jump across the Snake River Canyon outside of Twin Falls, which put the city in the public spotlight as the country watched the death-defying stunt. Although you can drive to the end of the pavement, park in the dirt lot, and walk the rest of. Dont try this without a high-clearance vehicle. I drove to it at the end of Hankins Rd N (road N 3200 E). Definitely worth a trip if youre visiting Twin Falls.

#DID EVEL KNIEVEL MAKE THE JUMP IN TWIN FALLS IDAHO FULL#
Rocket engineer Scott Truax gave a countdown from five, Eddie thumbed his launch button, and the rocket did its fearsome thing.Ī cutter sheared through the dog food can lids that were holding in 6,000 pounds per square inch of steam pressure, generated by a huge tank full of water superheated to over 450 degrees celsius. 9 reviews of Evel Kneviel Jump Site 'This is a weirdly desolate, beautiful, and touching location. There was little fanfare and no messing about.
#DID EVEL KNIEVEL MAKE THE JUMP IN TWIN FALLS IDAHO CRACKED#
As you might imagine, having a job where smashing your body into the ground makes up one day out of five kind of wears on a person after a while, and after a gangbusters crash in 1975 involving two cracked vertebrae and a fractured. In front of a small crowd mainly comprised of family, friends, rocket scientists and the Hollywood stunt community, Braun was strapped into the Evel Spirit as it sat on a steep launch ramp. The answer, according to History, is multifaceted, but not entirely unexpected. After more than 35 years as a stunt man, he was determined to retire with a bang.Īnd today, under perfect weather conditions near Twin Falls, Idaho, he did it. Braun didn't manage to raise enough money to fund the jump, so he dug into his own pocket to fund the jump attempt – to the tune of 1.5 million dollars.
