National Park After Dark - Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

The Grand Canyon has always been a magnet for the bold, the reckless, and the people who look at a mile-deep chasm and think... yeah, I can take that. In this episode, we race through a century of jaw-dropping stunts, from a 1922 biplane pilot who somehow landed inside the park’s early boundaries to Nik Wallenda balancing across tribal land on a high-wire without a harness. Along the way we unravel how thrill-seekers dodged rules, rewrote them, or ignored them entirely in a quest to outdo nature itself. For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to the week’s partners!Smalls: For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Smalls.com/NPAD.Blueland: Use our link to get 15% off your first order.Rocket Money: Use our link to get started saving.Quince: Use our link to get free shipping and 365-day returns.Against The Odds: Follow Against The Odds: Tsunami in Thailand on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge all episodes early and ad-free right now on Wondery+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monday AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. They live inside Monday.com. So they see the full picture, my work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff,

knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. Ready to soundtrack your summer? With Red Bull Summer All Day Play, you choose a playlist that fits your summer vibe the best. Are you a festival fanatic? A deep end DJ, a road dog, or a trail mixer. Just add a song to your chosen playlist and put your summer on track.

Red Bull Summer All Day Play. Red Bull gives you wings. Visit redbull.com slash bright summer ahead to learn more. See you this summer. One could imagine a world where truly death-defying feats are limited to the grainy footage of the past, captured before safety codes were established and the age of digital scrutiny. But we all know that is simply not the case. The human desire to push the limits of capability, skill, and danger is an enduring impulse,

and the audience is hunger to witness these moments, to be present for the razor-thin line between triumph and tragedy, is just as strong as it was decades ago, if not more so, egged on by the immediacy of social media and live streaming. Think about the spectacles that have captivated us across generations. Harry Houdini, locked upside down in a tank filled with water for his signature water torture chamber escape, struggled against gravity in time only to emerge triumphantly and cement his iconic legacy. David Copperfield, strapped to a table, appeared to be sliced in half by a massive spinning saw blade in his death saw illusion before re-emerging unscathed, proving his mastery of miscarved, proving his mastery of

misdirection. Chris Angel pushed the boundaries of illusion by appearing to hover weightlessly between rooftops, leaving spectators to question reality itself. These classic magicians and escape artists defined an era where cheating death became the highest form of entertainment. But then you have the daredevils, those who stepped outside the controlled environment of the stage. Consider Elaine Robert, the French Spider-Man who has built a career on free solo climbing some of the world's tallest buildings without ropes or harnesses. In one nerve-wracking ascent, Robert scaled the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong, clinging to window ledges and structural beams. Authorities often arrested Robert for his unauthorized climbs, but that never stopped him. Or David Blaine,

who submerged himself in an eight-foot water-filled sphere for seven agonizing days in 2006, breathing through an oxygen tube. Although he fell short of breaking the world record for holding his breath underwater, this bruling test of physical and mental strength solidified his reputation as a modern-day Houdini. Even more famously, in his above-the-below endurance test, Blaine suspended himself in a glass box over the River Thames for 44 days, living on nothing but water. He lost 25% of his body weight, but gained worldwide recognition, despite some Londoners even mocking him by flying hamburgers near his enclosure. These acts, whether they involve skyscrapers or glass boxes are a visceral reminder of the human's bodies

resilience and fragility but when the stakes are raised and the stunts are performed live for millions what exactly is the audience watching for are they marveling at the mastery precision and strength of the performer or are they there to witness the potential fall this raw tension the uneasy mix of awe and morbid curiosity is the core appeal of extreme live stunts New places on earth offer a backdrop as iconic, treacherous, and unforgiving as the Grand Canyon for these audacious antics. It has been the stage for some of the most daring and controversial live feats in history. Today, we explore the daredevils who have attempted to defy at scale, the crowds who flock to witness their survival or catastrophe, and the regulatory battles fought where these dangerous spectacles could or could not take place.

Welcome to National Park After Dark. Hello everyone and welcome back to National Park After Dark. I'm Danielle. I'm Cassie. And we're going to a park that you have not physically stepped foot in yet. I know. This is one I feel almost embarrassed to say that because the Grand Canyon is such a huge. It's one of the top parks that people visit.

And it's just one that I've never made my way towards yet. But I really, it's, it's really high. It's getting higher and higher on my list, the longer I haven't been there. Yeah, it feels like this, like your great white buffalo. You need to, you need to get it. Yeah. Well, I'm excited to hear this because I know I saw that you were doing something stunt related because of the picture that you put like on our planner. So just so everyone knows, like we have a planner so we can see what each other is the theme of what the other person is doing. So we don't. overlap, which has never happened before, or do certain themes back to back to back. And all I saw was just like a motorcycle in the air. Like, okay, what is this about? Yeah. Yeah, I had to do an episode on live stunts because I was actually, it's interesting because I have been wanting to do a story in the Grand Canyon. But what really sparked this for me is when Netflix announced that Alex Donald is planning to go to Taiwan and climb this like 600,600, I'm sorry, foot skyscraper in Taiwan on

live television on Netflix, who will be streaming it. And they haven't announced a date or anything, but it's in 2026. And when I saw that, it just kind of sparked my memory of all the live stunts that used to take place. And actually, what made me want to do the Grand Canyon National Park is because I have a personal memory of tuning in to a live stunt. stunt that took place in the Grand Canyon years ago. And I was like, wait, this would be a really fun episode. Two questions. First, is Alex Honnold free soloing this building? Yes, I believe so. Okay. I mean, that tracks. Which is what adds to the live stunt aspect to it, I think. Right. If there were ropes, people would be like, okay, you're Alex Honnold. Yeah. Step it up. Yeah. Okay. And then the second one,

when was this live stunt in the Grand Canyon you have a memory of? This one took place in 2012 when we were in college. And I remember tuning in. It was, I think it was between my classes because I had a late night class. And I remember tuning into this and sitting in my dorm room with my laptop on my futon. And you had a futon in your, in your room. I had, so weird happenstance that happened to me in college. is that I had a single room for my first two years when I was in college. And I lucked out because I say lucked out. But when I had to list my medical issues when you go into college, I listed that I had

had a kidney transplant and stuff. And for whatever reason, that got misconstrued into them thinking that I needed a handicapped single room with my own bathroom. And so when I got to college, I arrived. You're like, I'm not going to correct them. No, I did because I was like, wait, I don't need that. I don't physically need this. I don't want to take up a handicapped room for a student who actually might need this access.

So I went down the first day, I went to the office and I was like, hi, like, I love my room. But here's my name. And I can walk. I only have one kidney, but it doesn't affect my. It doesn't affect my ability to move. And so they looked in the system and they're like, oh, wow, you're right. I have no idea why you got this room. They were like, okay.

So your options are is we can put you into a force triple or we don't have anyone who needs your room this year and you can have it. Oh, easy choice. So I took the room and it ended up the next year. It was also the same case. There was no one who needed the room. And I got first dib. So they gave it to me my freshman and my sophomore year. That's very nice. You lucked out for sure. I mean, very kind of you to go down and say, you know,

anyone who actually needs this room, like, please, there's been a mix-up. Yeah. I imagine you're like, actually, no, I want to be in a triple. Well, selfishly, I was a little sad. I didn't have a roommate because that was the college experience. Everyone had roommates. And so I was sad about it a little bit, which was part of why selfishly I went down to tell them. I'm like, wait a second, I need a roommate. But it was fine. And actually, I'm very happy that I had my own room for so many reasons. It was so nice.

And everyone I knew had, even if they were best friends with a roommate, there was always just issues because college, they just put you in a dorm room with no walls separating you, not even like a separation wall for the most part. Like, you are in these rooms. You're there. You're right up. I mean, in those my, the rooms at Keene State, my freshman and sophomore year, they were small. There is no, it's like people have issues with roommates when you just share a home and you have individual rooms, let alone. You're two feet away from another bed at all times. I felt a little bad because not only did I have a private room with my own bathroom, which was a handicapped bathroom. So I had a huge bathroom with a huge shower. Okay.

My room, I was also in the newest building with like 30 foot ceilings and giant windows and it was beautiful. Our college experience was so opposite. I was like, I don't know what I did to deserve this, but thank you, especially when going into my other. And I was in the nicest dorm room at my school, but when I would go and see other people's storms, they barely fit two people. My room was bigger than people's rooms who had two, which made sense because I had wider doorways and wider closets and just a wider space to be able to accommodate a wheelchair. But I really, really looked out. So you were there. I can picture it so clearly watching your laptop on your very own private futon.

Yes. in your very own exclusive high-end luxury dorm room. Yes, with my very own vending machine snacks. I didn't have a vending machine. I didn't have a vending machine, but I went in the vending machine. Okay, I see. And you're watching this stunt in the Grand Canyon, which is what? Do you remember when Nick Wilenda did the highwire across the Grand Canyon on live television?

No. Oh, my God. It was he also did it in Niagara Falls. And I believe I tuned in live to that. I know I've seen the video. I don't remember if I watched it live or not. I think it was in 2011 maybe. But watching this stunt live, I was just hand sweating.

It was a whole experience. And I added a lot more information on that because this episode that I'm doing is a contemplation of a bunch of scary stunts that have happened within the Grand Canyon over years, like starting in the 1920s. Okay. Well, I don't know any of them, to be honest. I'm again, same, same but different. Like, I can totally see how you have witnessed or at least have knowledge of some of these stunts. I was not in that world. In this room. Wasn't piquing your interest. I want to be, though. Let me in. Well, welcome. Before we dive into these stunts that we're taking place because we are going to be jumping from.

plane landings to car plunges, tightrope walks, and kind of everything in between here. Let's take a look at the Grand Canyon itself. Expedia and visit Scotland invite you to come step into centuries of history that await in Scotland. Castle steeped in legend, walk along cobblestone streets. Come share the warmth of stories passed down through generations. This is a place with a past that is fully present. isn't today and all yours to explore. Plan your Scottish escape today at Expedia.com

slash visit Scotland. The Grand Canyon is an immense geological landscape measuring 277 miles long. Its width ranges from a minimum of 600 feet at Marble Canyon to a maximum of 18 miles rim to rim with an average depth of one mile. The south rim sits at an elevation of 7,000 feet, while the north rim is 8,000 feet above sea level. The Colorado River, which we know, runs through the Grand Canyon, especially because I've covered the Grand Canyon in quite a few episodes so far,

is 1,450 miles long, and it starts in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, snakes through the canyon, averaging 300 feet wide and 40 feet deep within the park. The canyon itself preserves an iconic geologic landscape with rocks ranging from 1.8 billion years old, to recent volcanic deposits. The Colorado River established its course through the canyon approximately six million years ago, and the area preserves deep human history with over 3,391 ancestral sites documented within the park. Grand Canyon National Park was first designated as a Forest Reserve in 1893 by President Benjamin Harrison. It was established as a national monument in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt,

and finally designated as a National Park by an act of Congress on February 26, 1919. And this park's primary mission mandated by the National Park Service is to protect and preserve all of the human history, culture, and natural resources found within its boundaries. It is the core mission for resource protection and public safety, and because of that, it has put the NPS at odds with modern-day daredevils. The NPS actually denies permits for commercial stunt activities that may pose danger to visitors or jeopardize resources. But of course, as we're going to get into for this story, that has not stopped them from happening in the Grand Canyon. Stunts that involve flight below the rim, structure construction, or intentional risk of free frall generally do not meet the criteria for permitted activities within the National Park.

The park regulations prohibit launching, landing, or operational. unmaned aircraft such as drones inside the park without written approval. The restriction is necessary to protect human health and safety, preserve the visitor experience, safeguard wildlife from potential displacement or harassment, and maintain safety for emergency operations. Also, I think it's important to note that base jumping falls under extreme tourism and is prohibited anywhere in Grand Canyon National Park. And that is because the NPS prioritizes maintaining the park's atmosphere of peace and tranquility, which stunts often compromise.

And you actually went into pretty big detail on that in your base jumping episode in Yosemite, where you talked a lot about the complications of the sport from the people who are really passionate about doing it to the NPS who has to kind of deal with the aftermath of what can happen in those stunts. Yeah, that was a couple years ago now, but it's pretty relevant, I think, for that topic of discussion as far as, you know, people being like, well, you know, this is public land and this is like what we want to do. And, you know, and then the National Park Service being like, yes, but you're endangering not only yourself, but other visitors. And then I'm sure you're going to get into maybe some other subcategories of why stunts aren't just exclusively between. the person and the activity, especially if they're being televised or whatever. I think in the base jumping one, maybe there was a couple that they were kind of big spectacles, but by and large, I was just kind of talking about individuals wanting to base jump within the park. And I forget the episode number, but I know I titled it Dying for the Cause. So if you're interested, you can look at that up, if you haven't heard it. Yeah, it's a really interesting topic.

Well, getting into the kind of nuances of performing these stunts inside the Grand Canyon, it's a little bit complex because the Grand Canyon is not only managed by the NPS, but it's also managed by tribal nations, including the Hulalupai and Navajo, who hold jurisdictions over significant portions of the Canyon region outside of the National Park Boundaries. These sovereign governments may approve commercial filming and event operations on tribal land. And that's distinction has become really crucial to understand because the Hualupai have developed attractions like a glass bottom lookout and sightseeing helicopter tours that actually dip below the canyon rim, which is a practice that the federal government has prohibited in the national

park itself. So if you're signing up for these tours or if you're going to the glass bottom walk, then you are not technically in the park. You're on tribal lands. Adjacent to the park. You're still part of the Grand Canyon, for sure, because it's the same feature, but it's just not technically within the park boundaries. Okay. Gotcha. And of course, the National Park Service does not permit aircrafts to fly below the room, which I kind of mentioned before and you need a special, I shouldn't even say you need special permission. They just don't permit it at all. But the less strict regulations that the tribal nations have have kind of feared away from that rule and they actually do allow it on their tribal lands. So because of that,

we're going to dive into the nuance of stunts that were performed inside the park and then how people kind of skirt around those rules and do it in the Grand Canyon, but not technically. the park boundaries. But because of that, the Grand Canyon, this story is going to be told in two parts because first there are those unregulated tests of skill within the future National Park before all of these regulations take place. And then, of course, there's the modern day media spectacles performed just beyond its borders that are in more recent years. The era of Grand Canyon stunts began before the modern National Park Service had implemented its strict regulations, allowing one of the most remarkable feats to occur deep inside the protected landscape.

The year was 1922 and Grand Canyon National Park was still in its relative infancy, having only been officially designated as a national park three years prior. Aerodynamics experts in 1920 widely declared that flying a plane into the canyon depths would be impossible. They theorized that the turbulent air currents would shred an airplane. There were eddies, whirlpools, up currents, and airfills, created by huge boulders, cliffs, and obstacles. Test balloons released from the bottom were torn apart, but R.V. Thomas, a daredevil stunt pilot from Kansas,

and a World War I flyer, was determined to defy the conventional wisdom of aviators and said, no way, this can be done. So working with Ellsworth called a photographer who intended to film the daring exploit for $100, Thomas began preparations in late July 1922. He traveled to the canyon by train, leaving his plane in Williams, Arizona, 63 miles away. He joined a party of tourists traveling down the Bright Angel Trail on donkeys to scout a potential landing site. Near Indian Gardens, Thomas found a suitable, fairly level plateau covered only with greasewood, which is a small western shrub. The proposed landing strip was small, only about 60 feet

wide by 450 feet long, ending close to a 1,200 foot drop on the Colorado River. So really short, that's literally my nightmare. A really short runway with a 1,200 foot drop at the end of it. Yeah, it's like, I hope this works out because otherwise death. Yeah. Whenever we take off from Boston, I'm like, at least we're on the ocean. So if something takes place, we have life jackets. Yeah, unless we slam into it going like 500 miles an hour. Right. We're not going to just gently float into it. The girl can dream, okay?

Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Flying with you is an adventure. As time goes on, it gets more. You watch the progression. I have. You've deteriorated over time. Yeah, it's not looking good for me.

Which is not good since we have a lot of things to do. I'll get it in now because we have a lot to do. That requires. I'll be feeling. Okay. Well, 10 years is fine. I don't know if I can do this for over 10 years. You don't want to travel with me for 10 years.

If we keep up the pace that we have been doing, I don't know if we'll have anywhere to go left. That's true. That's true. So anyway, he finds this really short landing strip with a giant hole at the other end of it that you can dive and crash down and explode. but he does secure permission from Colonel Crosby, who was the park superintendent at the time. And so with the go-ahead, they had five men who took an entire day to clear the strip for the landing. So just as a quick note, to make this happen, they're clearing protected federal national park land. Just this quick little side.

You can rip it out of there. We got a plane to land. We have a plane to land. Get this vegetation out of here. Especially in the Grand Canyon, it's probably three inches tall and it's taken a thousand years to grow. It's like it'll grow back. Yeah. Not our problem.

Truly. So good. So good. Everything you want for summer is at Nordstrom Rack stores now and up to 60% off. Stock up and save on the brands you love like Vince, Sam Edelman, Frame and Free People. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts. arrivals first and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Well, this flight was set for Tuesday,

August 8th, 1922. Thomas departed Williams, Arizona at 910 a.m. and climbed to 2,000 feet as he approached the canyon, and he needed this high altitude to permit a long glide back to safety if anything went wrong with his motor over the thick shrubbery and trees. Upon recent, he was a lot of the thick shrubbery and trees. Upon reaching the rim, Thomas circled over the canyon to test the air. He then dropped low to take some pictures of El Tovar Hotel and Bright Angel cottages. To show the perfect balance of his plane, Thomas even held up both hands and smiled as he glided overhead for the gathered tourists watching. It's like, hey, I don't need hands to fly a plane. Look at me.

Which now, I mean, you could totally put both hands up in the air in your commercial airplane. and it wouldn't be cool. But in the 1920s, it was really cool. Pilots, anybody listening that's flying my plane, please don't do that. I'm sure commercial airline pilots do a lot of things that would make me very uncomfortable to see. But they got it handled, right? I mean, they put it on an autopilot once they're at a certain cruise point.

And I feel like they just kind of hang and they make sure all the checks and everything's good. They chat, they talk. I feel like for very experienced commercial airline people, it's like driving a car because they're so experienced that they can listen to music. They can talk to their friends. They can text and drive. I'm just kidding. I don't know if they do that. They probably do. For sure, they do that. But have you seen the amount of buttons in a plane? I know. I could never. Why are there so many buttons? I wish I knew, but I have no experience with any amount of flight piloting. nothing. There's levers, knobs, controls, like just lights of every kind. If I was a sole person on a plane and I had to figure out how to land it and I had full instructions from someone on the other end, I don't think I could do it. Yeah, no. I would never volunteer if that scenario ever was like, can that, does anyone know how to? No. I would hope you wouldn't stand up. Well, like, some people, you'd be like, sit.

Like, no, she doesn't. She has no idea. I'm just trying to help. I think on my feet quickly. I feel like I could adapt. But no, every time I get in to a plane and if the door of the cockpit is open, I'll glance in there, see all of the controls and be like, God bless us. I hope you know what you're doing because that looks insane. That looks insane.

They have to know what they're doing. Just keep telling yourself that They do Just keep going Did this person Flying this plane That probably had one steering wheel

Made of wood It was the 1920s It was actually a paper airplane So he waves And he's flying at 2,000 feet He's flying around the rim He's waving To the tourists

Then with the motor throttle down Thomas headed straight for the edge and drop slowly over the rim down into the canyon steps. The plane hit a crosswind and rocked slightly. Far below the Colorado River appeared a silvery thread. Thomas executed what has been called the most dangerous and yet most useful stunts known to aviators. Climbing in wide circles, he flew to about 4,000 feet from the bottom.

He then entered a terrifying tailspin plunge, whirling hundreds of feet before leveling out just above his landing spot. Then came the landing. The wind had changed 60 degrees, making the landing extremely difficult. Thomas doubted he could set the plane down and advise cold to, and I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the photographer is actually in the plane with him. So he instructs him to loosen his seatbelt and prepare to jump. Despite his doubts, Thomas set the Lincoln standard biplane down on the small strip.

It rolled all the way across and stopped just about 50. 50 feet from the edge of the drop. It was a breathtaking feat and the first and only airplane landing on plateau point within the Grand Canyon. 50 feet is far too. That's, hmm. That's way too close. Something about, I was trying to make a football field comparison, but.

It's like if only I knew anything about football. I know there's 100 yards. There's, oh, there's three feet in a yard, so there's 300 feet in a football field. In a whole football fields. Right. Yeah. So however percentage of that. A football field is not 300 feet.

A football field is 300 feet. No way. If my calculations I just did on the fly are correct. Maybe you're right. Are you looking at up? How many feet is. 360. Oh, there's 120 yards.

Right. Go sports. Go sports. embarrassing to the football community I apologize the football community that you're part of let me in I'm trying I'm trying to be supportive okay anyway my point was 50 feet is such a small comparison to a phone okay I'm sorry keep going if you had 50 feet left to run on a football field

The last quarter of the game, you have to make a touchdown. That would be a perfect, you're like, that's nothing. It's nothing. 50 feet. What is happening? Oh, God. Okay. Oh.

I'm trying to tell a story, Daniel. Okay. Okay, so 50 feet. The point is, where's my water? Okay. The point that we're trying to make is it was a close one. one. It was a close one. That photographer was probably like, this was not worth $100. Because he only got paid $100, right? A hundred bucks in 1922 is big money, I think. But yeah,

you couldn't pay me enough to be like, all right, get ready, loosen your seatbelt and prepare to jump out of this plane. Yeah. No, I'm good. But once they land, they safely land, they're 50 feet from the edge, but they couldn't take off right away because the winds were really strong. So Thomas and Colb actually had to head up Bright Angel Trail by donkey instead of taking off on their plane. Also, immediately after they left, a gust of wind carried the aircraft, spun it halfway around, and broke off the tail skin. Thomas later repaired the damage with nothing more than an old automobile spring and wire. Okay. Wire from where? And how'd you get an automobile spring? Well, they had to hike back up. Imagine he's like, ah, whips it out of his bed. Just what I needed.

that feels like what's that saying? It's like you fix it with nothing but tuck tape and bubble gum or something. Yeah. It's like you slap it together. Like that's fine. That's how I want my airplane. Slap together. It feels like it can carry us out of here.

Yeah. Hey, well, it did because the following morning on Wednesday, August 9th, Thomas faced what may have been just as daunting as the descent, which of course was the return flight back to the room because they couldn't just leave this plane at the bottom of this plateau. The short run allowed only minimal takeoff distance, and Thomas banked the plane steeply against the wind and began climbing into very small circles, always keeping the plane within gliding distance of the landing spot. It took Thomas five minutes to climb the mile from the bottom to the top, and he reached the rim at 10.17 a.m., but he did it

successfully. 10 days later, the Fred Harvey Company hired Thomas to repeat the flight. This time with a Fox News photographer. The resulting film headlined as the first flight in the Grand Canyon and appeared in theaters across the country. This historic flight was approved because regulations curbing activities that could endanger visitors or damage the environment were not fully in place yet. As the Grand Canyon National Park solidified its mission of resource protection and public safety, the door slammed shut on stunts like this one.

So this was a short era where this was allowed. By the late 1970s, the National Park Service was prioritizing the protection of resource and visitor experience. So when celebrated professional movie stuntman Dar Robinson approached the NPS about doing a vehicle launch off the canyon, the Park Service denied his request to perform the stunt within the park boundaries. So instead, Robinson turned his attention to land controlled by the tribal nations. And he got his approval there. In September 1980, Robinson, prepared for a car plunge parachute stunt at the edge of the canyon on the

Hollow Pie reservation for the reality television program. That's incredible. A ramp was constructed right at the rim and Robinson accelerated his white Bradley GT sports car towards the edge and drove right off of it while the car plummeted midair down the canyon. He leapt out of the vehicle free falling for a few seconds before deploying his parachute while the car was still airborne. The sports car fell into the canyon and was destroyed.

Approved observers and the production crew watched from the site. And this feat established a critical pattern for future canyon stunts, finding tribal jurisdictions willing to host the risky spectacles that the NPS denied. And these are stunts that you can actually go on YouTube and watch. Pretty much all of these ones I'm going to talk about if you guys are interested to go see them. because this guy, he literally just launches this car off of the canyon. He's plummeting into it. And then he just jumps out and is free falling next to the car for what feels like a long time before he pulls this parachute and then lands safely.

But it's just a crazy. It's a Kelma and Louise moment. Almost. Because they'd, yeah, they die. If they have the parachute. Tell everyone. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert, yeah.

And they filmed that in. Arches, that iconic scene, I think. Oh, really? I think. I think I did an episode on that. I did a quiz on that once, a surprise quiz, remember? To you? No.

All the movie locations and stuff, and you had to guess where they were filmed. Yeah, I did really bad. I'm pretty sure it was Arches. I'm not sure. One part of Thelma and Louise. Anyway, yeah, I don't have whatever that gene is that gives people the itch to do things like this. Yeah, me either.

I don't think a lot of people do. I don't think that there are a ton of people who would be willing to drive a car off the Grand Canyon. You have the gene that makes you attracted to people who like to do things like this. That's my gene. That's what you have. That's my gene. Whatever that is, let me know. You got it bad. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress.

Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Well, this successful stunt only inspired other people to follow suit. And soon, Evil Knievel, a legendary daredevil,

known for his stunts with motorcycles also set his sights on the Grand Canyon. Evil Knievel had always wanted to jump across the Grand Canyon, but the U.S. Department of Interior nixed his plans back in 1973. Instead, Evil ended up attempting and also famously failing to cross the Snake River Canyon in Idaho and a steam-powered rocket that same year. The parachute deployed prematurely, causing him to crash near the bottom of the canyon instead of flying across. He survived with only a broken nose, and now there's actually a monument where this all happened that has his picture on it and says that he tried this stunt there if anyone's in that area and wants to go visit it.

I hope he has other monuments instead of just Evil Caneval failed here one time. You know, I don't know if he has other monuments. I didn't look into that, but he does have a lot of successful stunts as well. I mean, he's one of the most famous name. I don't even really know what he did other than he was a famous stuntman. And I know his name right off the bat. Well, Evil Caneval is a pretty iconic name. Evil Caneval.

Yeah. He did himself good with that when he dubbed himself that. Well, decades later, his son Robbie Knievel, who had very much inherited his father's sense of adventure, decided to attempt the Grand Canyon jump on a dirt bike. Robbie negotiated with the Hulalupai Indian Reservation to jump across Quartermaster Canyon, a section of the gorge that was on their land. The tribe granted him permission in hopes of luring tourists. The engineering effort alone for this stunt was staggering. It took 10,000 hours and a quarter million pounds of steel to erect the longest motorcycle jump ramp ever built.

The takeoff ramp towered 31 feet above the canyon edge, and Robbie needed to reach a speed of 80 to 92. miles per hour to clear the gorge battling expected gusting wins. It was a 2,500 foot drop to the canyon floor if he didn't make it. Parachute or no? Don't believe so. I watched the video of this one. I watched the video of all of these, but it's crazy to watch. I, yeah, I'm again, not interested. I'm interested in this. I was like, okay, can you just, I don't want to hear anymore. Just, yeah, no. Well, after an earlier attempt on April 29th was canceled due to high winds and cold weather,

the jump was eventually rescheduled for Thursday, May 20th, 1999. Fox News televised the event live and a crowd of 500 people cheered Robbie on. While he traveled at nearly 100 miles per hour, the crowd held their breath as Robbie soared across the Arizona gorge. Surprise and excitement erupted. when he easily cleared the gap. The jump spanned 228 feet, beating the previous world record set in the early 1990s by 5 feet. Firework shot into the air as he completed the stunt.

But the drama wasn't over once he touched down. As Robbie left the landing ramp, a combination of high speed, rough terrain, and crosswinds caused him to lose control. Onlookers watched as he rocked side to side, losing his balance before he was thrown from the motorcycle into a barrier of hay bales and paramedics rushed to his side. Though medics initially ruled that he had only minor cuts,

a medivac helicopter later rushed him to the hospital where doctors confirmed the stunt legend had broken three ribs and severely sprained an ankle. Despite the crash, he was granted his page in the record books for the 228 foot jump. Yeah, I mean, he stuck the landing, so. Kind of. Well, okay.

Stuck the landing is generous. Definitely generous. He made it across, which was his goal. He did. He didn't fall to, he didn't plummet to his death. Right. Which was the goal for sure. And he initially, he landed and then kept riding and crashed before he could stop.

I can't even imagine that because I know, well, I don't know this feeling. But I feel like I've had a taste of this feeling. And I think so many people can relate, especially when you're young, you're first getting confident on a bike. or a scooter or something with wheels, skateboard, and you're gaining confidence enough to tackle the hill. You know, everyone had a hill. Yeah. And you do it and then you gain too much speed, too fat. It's too much too soon. And then you start wobbling a little bit and you're like, oh shit. Like, am I going to lose control? Like, you have a moment where you're on shaky ground and it feels like you're going 100 miles an hour.

And if you don't keep it together, you know you're going to eat shit and get road burn or like mess something up. And in that moment of that shakiness, I just can imagine him being like, what am I going to do it? As he's actually going 100 miles an hour after just flying across a canyon. Yeah. I mean, I've never done anything even close to. the stunt, but I can definitely know the feeling of riding. Motorcycles are a lot heavier than bikes, too. So when they start, like, going out of control, you need a lot of strength and endurance

to, like, reset yourself back. And I've definitely been on the track while people are watching. I'm like, whoa. And then I just fall over and people have to help me pick up my bike. You messed yourself up, like, a couple of summers ago when your bike fell on you on your leg. I've done it a few. I've messed myself up a couple times in a motorcycle. A few years ago, I think two summers ago, yeah, I was out and I fell and my bike fell on top of me. It landed on my knee and I ended up in physical therapy over it because I, my knee, I needed crutches for a little bit and my knee was super swollen. Nothing was broken. I think it was just like some tendants and stuff. But another time I was when I was first learning to ride on a motor cross track. I was riding and I was going around a corner and a kid, I think he might have been trying to pass me. I don't know what was happening. But instead, he just drove straight into me while

I was going around the corner. And he knocked both of us down. And I, my entire side of my body was bruised from head to toe. I literally had a purple down my whole side. From where you fell or when he like from where he hit me. Oh. Because he just ran into my side. And that was fun. Yeah. Well, it's worth it, right? Totally, I had a lot of fun.

I mean, you're still doing it. So not on tracks anymore, but outside and in the back road. I never. This I can't relate to, though, a 40 foot jump or a 40 foot ramp and then 228 foot jump. I was happy to get a couple inches off the ground on my bike. Well, there's a difference between the sport and a stunt. Right. You know, like, I mean, people in the sport are crazy, though, too.

When I would be on the motocross track, people were so good. They would go over a jump and they would literally jump over me. While I'm in the air a little bit, just just smell, smell. You're like a little hot. I was really excited until I look up and there's someone literally over me. They're blotting out the sun above you. You're like, oh. Yeah.

Like, oh, that's what being good at riding looks like. Yeah. You got to start somewhere. Yeah. I finished there too. And that's fine. I peaked. I peaked there, I should say. Well, by 2006, the Grand Canyon was becoming a stage for hybrid stunts.

On March 23, 2006, skateboarder Baum Burquit, bomb, Bob Burquist, achieved what was described as a first of its kind stagating stunt and a lifelong dream, base jumping into Hellhole Bend at the bottom of the canyon of the Hololoupi land. A ramp and megarail structure was built outward from the rim above a daunting 1,500 foot vertical drop. The goal was to travel down the ramp, glide across the mega rail, then free fall landing safely with the help of a parachute. His friends and family, including his children, watched as he successfully rode down the 40-foot ramp, but gasped when he missed the rail entirely, falling way sooner than he was supposed to. His fall brought him

so close to the canyon wall, he was in severe danger of crashing in. to it. Cameras filmed as he flailed in the air before he seemed to gain his composure and steer himself farther from the wall before eventually pulling his shoot and landing safely. People thought that that would be his last time he would attempt at as he had very narrowly escaped death from this experience, but he didn't. He went back up for attempt number two the same day. Okay. Well, he's like, I'm here, I guess. It's like, we're doing this. This ramp's built. Let's go. And this time, Burnquist rode down the ramp, balanced along the rail, released himself from his skateboard, entered free fall, and successfully deployed his parachute. The stunt was filmed by a production team for the Discovery Channel show Stunt Junkies.

These shows have never stunt Junkies, and that's incredible. Yeah, I never watched them either. But I did watch this video, and one of the most heart-wrenching moments was after he completed the stunt the second time, and it went well. was you hear on camera they're filming. So they're filming live between him and then going to his family too to show the reactions of them and his stunt. Yeah. And you just hear his kid go, yeah, dad. Oh.

Like if this had gone bad. Yeah. Oh, my heart. But it was exciting because his dad had did it. But like, oh, that's such a risk to have your kids watching that. But, yeah, man. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session.

And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L. Every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. In the years following Brinkwest jumps, technology offered a new. way to traverse the canyon's vast emptiness. Yves Rossi, a former Swiss jet fighter pilot known as

Jetman, designed his own custom jet suit with four small jet engines and a rigid carbon Kevlar wing system measuring six and a half feet wide. The wing strapped to his back, weighing about 125 pounds with fuel, and Rossi steered the device using only his head, shoulders, and arms. And if you look up pictures of him and I'll post him, he has, he's wearing black and yellow and his wingsuit is just like these giant wings on the back of him. He kind of looks like, kind of looks like a wasp or like a giant bug. But it's meant to make him fly. And I guess that's the point. But he kind of looks like Ant Man.

But did you ever watch that? He's Jetman, but he looks like Ant Man in the Marvel. I have not had the pleasure of seeing Ant Man. but Paul Rudd is aunt. Yeah, Paul Red is the ant in Antman. Yeah. And I like Paul Red. Me too. He's aging great. I know. Unproblematic people age great. Yeah. And he doesn't look overly. Like, I wouldn't say he's had a huge leg up from like Botox or any sort of cosmetics. Because if he's doing it, he's doing it subtly and in the right ways. Because he looks like his age only just like so good for. for his age. Yeah. You know what I mean?

He looks like he is. I wouldn't even say he looks his age because I would say he looks younger. He's just aging really, really well. Yeah. Yeah, he's so funny. Oh, my God. He's so funny. And this is 40.

Oh, my. Did we just find common ground? We did. It's one of my favorite comedies to watch. It's so funny. And I'm not even 40 yet. And I feel like it's relatable kind of. I could relate to so many of the things that happen.

Oh, my. And with Megan Fox in it too. And it's just, it's so good. Megan Fox isn't it? Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. In the changing room.

Yeah. She's, um, she works at the store that, um, what's her name? Leslie's, Leslie Man. Leslie Man. Yeah. Leslie Man owns the shop and Megan Fox works there. And yeah, it's just, it's so good. She's incredible, too.

I mean, I love her. Leslie Man, we're talking about. Yeah, Leslie Man is so funny. I mean, Megan Fox is great too. If you haven't seen that movie, when they go to school and their kid, there's so many good people in it. Yeah, I'm probably going to watch it after this. Just to remember.

Yeah, if you haven't seen this movie from 2008. Go watch it. You should. You should. It's gold. So jet man. So anyway. Who looks like Ant Man.

Jetman who looks like Ant Man. So looks like a giant bug. Plans to fly over a section of the canyon near Guano Point on the Hollow Bay Reservation. The original flight planned on Friday, May 6, 2011 was postponed because Rossi felt he lacked sufficient practice time, admitting that the pressure of the difficult flight had caused him to lose a bit of sleep. So on Saturday, May 7, 2011, so it was only a day later, Rossi finally put his jet suit to the test. Traveling 200 feet above the rim at speeds up to 190 miles per hour, he glided 8,000 feet above the canyon floor for more than 8 minutes. Rossi traveled five miles before deploying his parachute and landing smoothly on the canyon floor. Rossi acknowledged the importance of the location, thanking Mother Nature and the Hulupai tribe for making his lifelong dreams come true.

190 miles an hour is insane. That's not... That's not Ant-Man. That's Jetman. That's Jetman for sure. It's also really cool. I keep saying this after every single stunt, but if you haven't seen these and you're just feeling like you want to watch these things, they're really fun to watch. Even though I'm telling you the outcomes, you will still get sweaty palms watching these things.

I'm sure. Because they're just so, you just can't believe people are really doing this. But speaking of things you can't believe people are really doing, now we get into what we mentioned at the beginning of the podcast. Because two years later, Nick Walendez, a seventh generation member of the famous Flying Walenda's circus family, had a dream of crossing the Grand Canyon since he was a teenager on a high wire. Seventh generation? It's just in his blood. They're all, they're all performers. I feel like there's some family pressure involved. You're telling me for seven generations those children wanted to be performers in this way.

Families have their things. I don't know. I feel like somebody needs to look into them, but. Yeah. So he was already, at this time, he was already a world record holder having famously traversed Niagara Falls in 2012. Like those before him, Wollanda was. denied permission by Grand Canyon National Park officials. So instead, he secured permits from the Navajo Nation, opting to cross the Little Colorado River Gorge, approximately 40 miles east of

the main tourist facilities. Willanda prepared intensely in Sarasota, Florida, using wind machines to simulate gusts up to 91 miles per hour. The tightrope, a two-inch-thick steel cable, stretch 1,400 feet long, about four football fields in length. It was positioned about 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge, and this stunt was performed without a safety harness, which was a non-negotiable condition. Melinda insisted upon having, after being forced to wear one for his Niagara Falls crossing. So he used custom-made leather shoes with elk skin soles and carried a 30-foot-long, 43 pound balancing pole.

My hands are sweating right now. That's okay. To each their own. Live and let live. I'm from the live free or die state. I literally live for your die. If you doesn't want to freaking save your harness, don't make them. This event was titled Skywire Live and was televised by the Discovery Channel in 219 countries.

The live coverage hosted by Natalie Morales and Willie Geist began with a. lengthy pre-show. Viewers could select from five different camera angles online, including one attached to Willend's chest that face straight down to the riverbed. Oh my God. What? Okay. Wait, is this the one that you were watching? Yes. I was not watching this angle. Okay. I was just watching the Fox News covering. I don't know if I would want that. I would want to see him in his entirety, I think, instead of a... It's definitely another viewpoint, though, because you're looking down. Because from the view of Fox News, you see he's over this massive canyon and you know it's huge. But if there's also a viewpoint to see what he's looking at if he looks down, you know, like,

don't look down, don't look down, don't look down. But he has a camera just facing down the whole time. I wonder if, what do they call high wiremen, high people who do this high wire stunt. You know how like in yoga when you're trying to balance, you, or at least I pay. a fixed point and just stare at it. So I don't lose my balance because if I avert my eyes or close my eyes or do something, it's all over for me. Like I have to stare at something.

I wonder if that, he does that. He's like, I'm going to pick a point a mile away from me because I have so far to go and just hope I don't lose my balance. Maybe. He's not looking all around. Yeah. I imagine that there's so much focus on. And he has that pole.

Yeah, the balancing pole. Imagine if like a raven just flew by and like mess up. That's why it's like landed on it. Or even just fluttered by him or something and distracted him or whatever. That's in Edgar Allan Poe shit right there. Well, I don't know. I just picked it right. An Osprey.

I don't know. I don't know why an Osprey would be in the canyon. But yeah, God. I mean, how far is he going again? across the high wire. Yeah. It is 1,400 feet long. Okay.

Okay. Or four football fields. As we know now. As we know. Because football fields are 360 feet, obviously. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Right? A hundred and something yards, six yards. Whatever. I get it. I understand. Great. As his walk began at 7.38 p.m. on Sunday, June 23rd, 2013, Willenda realized the wire was slippery due to dust, prompting him to spit on his hands and rub his shoes.

He could be heard praying, repeatedly saying, help me to relax, Lord. The winds expected to be around 30 miles per hour proved to be challenging and unpredictable. Twice, he stopped and crouched down, bracing himself on the shaking case. to wait out strong Gus. Oh my God. About 13 minutes into his walk, his microphone audio captured him saying, thank you, Lord, thank you for calming that cable God. Also, to put a mic on him while he may or may not fall and plummet to his death is crazy. I'm in a live stream feed that people are watching from his POV. That's insane. Yeah. What years this, 2011? 12. Okay. I feel like that wouldn't be a thing. Like the thing, I would be so curious. I might be eating my words, but when the Alex Honnold thing goes live in a few months, I don't think we're going to be having, if he's truly free soloing something live on Netflix, which I have my doubts, Netflix can't get their shit together for a love is blind live reunion.

So let alone. The whole site just shuts down. This global event, you know, that everyone is going to be tuning in for, I doubt that they're going to have a cam and a mic on him. Yeah, I don't know. It just feels like early 2000s decision making to me. Yeah. I don't know, though. We'll see. We'll find out.

We'll see how much things have changed. So the Lord is with him at this point. Yes, he's praying aloud and people watching live are hearing him, say his prayers. And during this time, it took every part of him to stay focused. It was so dusty. Even his contact lenses were affected impeding his concentration. He thought of his great-grandfather, Carl Walenda, who had actually slipped and fallen to his own death during a high wire walk in Puerto Rico at the age of 73 in 1978. Not the best memories to be reliving while you're in a high-wire live.

But after 22 minutes and 54 seconds of pure suspense, Walenda jogged the last few steps, jumped off the cable and kissed the ground, becoming the first person to tightrope walk across a gorge in the Grand Canyon area. Wow. Amazing. Truly incredible. It really is. Or what is it?

That's incredible. That's incredible. Well, the event was a massive rating success for a discussion. drawing an average of 10.7 million viewers, which spiked to 13 million people during the actual walk. Because remember they had like a pre-show before it to gear up for everything. So 13 million people were watching all of this happen. It shattered Discovery's record for live broadcast and generated immense social media attention, generating 1.3 million tweets and becoming the number one social show across broadcast and cable in the U.S. that day. However, this spectacle was not without controversy. While Navajo Nation President Ben Shelley was grateful for the publicity, hoping it would expose the beauty of the region and boost tourism, a group of Navajo and other Native Americans protested the event.

They felt the tribe should not be promoting the risk of human life for tourism and questioned the accuracy of billing the location as the Grand Canyon, given the location was technically outside of the park. And I do think that it's important to mention, because I've been talking a lot throughout this whole episode that the NPS would not allow it because of all of these environmental reasons, but tribal nations welcomed it. And I think it can kind of get confusing there. It's like, why would they allow that? Tribal nations are known for being stewards of the land. Why is why is this being accepted here and not at the NPS? And a lot of it is economic reasons. When you look at it, these stunts were bringing in a lot of money, not only for tourism for people who were. participating and viewing the stunts in live time.

People were coming to their shops, their restaurants, staying at their hotels, coming in and seeing their area. But this, you have to remember that these tribal nations a lot of times are really impoverished. And they are some of the poorest parts of the country in the U.S. So this was an opportunity to support their communities. And I just think that that's important to mention of why this was. happening. Makes sense. I mean, they see an opportunity to bring some very much needed tourism

dollars into their area. I get it for sure. Yeah, but in addition, I think also what's not often spoke about for these stunts is the environmental impacts. Because even a single stunt brings crews, gear, support vehicles, and crowds into fragile spaces. Food traffic, crushes vegetation, loosen soil and creates informal trails that can take years to heal. Helicopters and planes used for filming push noise deep into sensitive areas, scattering wildlife, and cutting into the natural quiet. In places already stressed by erosion, limited water, and heavy visitation, one major event can magnify the strain.

Wildlife is especially vulnerable. Drones, bright lights, noise, and sustained human activity can drive animals away from feeding grounds, den sites, and. water sources. So I also wanted to just mention that there are environmental impacts that these have because I feel like we can't just brush by that without munching an egg at least a little bit. I mean, we joked a little bit about it before with the sagebrush and stuff in the 20s. But yeah, I mean, it's something to consider for sure if especially with thousands of people and no matter what you do, you know, signage, blockades, education, whatever, that amount of people is still going to have a pretty

significant impact on a specific area, especially one that's so fragile, you know. Yeah, yeah, and having some type of plan. And I know, based on when I was looking up research, I know that the tribal nations have their own cleanup plan that they implement, that they have implemented in the past for these types of things. And I don't know the extent of it. So I don't know if it includes like restoring vegetation or or if they pick places that are safer. I don't really know the whole nuances behind the choices in that in that aspect. But I know that that is a contributing factor to why some of these stunts are not done. And the controversy that's around them, of course, is also because you're profiting off of someone who may or may not lose

their life on live television. There is that. But it's their decision. But it's their decision. It is their decision, but you're also subjecting millions of people to maybe seeing someone die on live television. But it's your choice to watch. That's true. That's true. That's true. You have to maybe watch this. I don't know.

I think we also talked a little bit about that in my base jumping episode of like, like, I don't know. It's a weird line. It is. It's hard to be like, this is wrong. This is right. You know, it's just, it's very complicated. It's a weird situation. Yeah.

Yeah. And I mean, I watched them. You did. I have watched. I have tuned into live, live stunts. And it doesn't seem like they are going away because people are very interested in these. What started as a handful of people watching Thomas land his plane eventually turned into global audiences watching live stream extreme stunts. The most striking upcoming upcoming exam.

example of course is Alex Honnold's announced a live free solo climb in early 2026 in what streaming service Netflix is calling a global must watch live event predicting that there will be millions of people across the globe tuning in. So clearly the fascination continues and will most likely never end because there is something truly intriguing not only about the stunt itself, but also the people who are willing to do them. And that is my story. of the Grand Canyon and all the stunts that have happened throughout the years. Amazing. That's incredible.

And I can't believe that. I mean, I can believe that people choose to do that. I just could never be one of them, but power to you if that's what brings you joy in happiness and fulfillment. Yeah. I feel like for a while there was a big influx of these types of things. And I know you just clearly outlined several of them. but I'm talking more of, it was like the age of the Red Bull, like Red Bull sponsored stunts or

monster. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know what that was about, but I feel like that was a flash in the pan of like it was very hot at the time to, for certain companies to be sponsoring really incredible feats. I think one of them. I think it's still pretty popular in especially on YouTube and stuff when you see. people like snowboarders and skiers and motorcross people and people who do these big adventures.

You see there's a ton of YouTube videos and a lot of them are sponsored by Red Bull. But I'm talking about like, I feel like the one I'm thinking of was, I believe it was, I don't know the person's name, but I believe he was sponsored by Red Bull. And he jumped out of a plane like in technically like at the very top of the atmosphere. like way higher than a normal you skydive out of. Oh. And it was this whole thing. I kind of vaguely remember that. I thought you were going to talk about, I thought you were going to say when Travis

Pistrana jumped out of a plane without a parachute and just trusted that his friends who had parachutes would grab him. Didn't even know about that. Yeah. And he did, he does stunts all the time too because he raced at Mount Washington on a motorcycle and for like the fastest time and got the fastest time. I believe going up Mount Washington. So there definitely are stunts that are happening all over the place.

I mean, the scary thing is, is I think that they're just increasing in risk. And because of the, I mean, we could all tie it back to social media and people's attention spans and like kind of like wanting to one up. I mean, that's been a theme forever. You know, somebody does one thing. Somebody has to beat it by either time or distance or, yeah. You want to be the one to one up that person, but you can only do so much, you know, and go so far. And I think that people are just so eager to get that, you know, like be on top or get the most views or clicks or comments or whatever that they're putting themselves in some really crazy situations. And I mean, these seem to be, these are professionals.

They're doing them at least it looks like in a regulated way. Sometimes they're like, hey, I'm not really feeling this right now. the conditions aren't right, let's reevaluate. They're not just doing it to do it, right? Yeah. And I don't know. It just makes me nervous. So I don't know if I'll be watching Alex Honnold live.

Even though I know in my heart of hearts that like it's just the way the world works, they're not truly doing it live to the millisecond. Like if something happens to him, they're going to cut the feed. Because they run, it's like an award show. If somebody swears, it's bleeped out. And they're like, no, we're live. It's like, no, you're not. You're five seconds ahead or a minute ahead.

No, I didn't even think about that. Yeah. Yeah. What are you doing? You're thumbs-upping like so many things right now. I think it's just the way I'm Riverside is. The way I'm sitting or something. I think some thumbs-upping.

I don't know why. I don't know. Well, thank you for sharing that. That was an interesting episode. And I know we kind of shot the shit a little bit, but it was fun. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in and hanging out with us.

I wanted to do kind of a kind of fun episode. I think my past few stories I've done have more been deep in history, which I love, but I wanted something that was a little bit more fun. And this was it for me. Yeah. So thank you guys for tuning in. Hope you're enjoying December, the Sagittarius season. It's my birthday week.

It's my birthday week. It is. It's your birthday month, your birthday week. Yeah. I'm not really into the month thing, even. though I do feel like energetically, I feel really good usually in December. But yeah, I'm definitely a birthday week person, especially if it's towards full week. I don't know though. Because if your birthday is on like a Friday or Saturday or even a Thursday, I think you can claim the week. But

if it's on a Monday or Tuesday, you can't because it's over. Because it's at the beginning of the week. Yeah. So sometimes you get a birthday week. Yeah. And it's not all the time because calendars work like that. Well, this is your birthday week. It is. And I'm excited. Well, yeah, we'll see everyone when it's not my birthday week, which is next week. And in the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye. Bye. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you love National Park After Dark and want to hear exclusive bonus stories, join us on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. Patreon subscribers have access to our National Park After Dark Club, live streams, Discord, and much more.

If you prefer to watch our episodes, video episodes are now available on YouTube. If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe on your favorite listening platform. And to follow along with all our adventures, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X at National Park After Dark. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you may not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressives save over $900 on average.

Pop over to Progressive.com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit Progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed, who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2020. Potential savings will vary.

Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank.