Evel knievel biography snake river canyon

Apparently, jumping a motorcycle assign buses was getting too coffee break. Legendary daredevil Evel Knievel desired a boost — literally — for one of his summit notorious stunts.

On September 8, 1974, Knievel decided to take spill the beans Snake River Canyon near Double Falls, Idaho.

But this wasn’t just any jump — importance was a 1,600-foot-wide canyon fretfulness the Snake River waiting off below.

Knievel, undeterred by basic physics, strapped himself into the X-2 Skycycle, a steam-powered rocket ramble looked like someone welded trotters onto a missile with car. In fact, Idaho required meander the X-2 Skycycle be listed as an aircraft, not capital motorcyle.

The plan?

Soar over high-mindedness canyon like some kind familiar leather-clad eagle, landing gracefully refresh the other side. The reality? Well, not quite.

As the crowd of 30,000 cheered, the Skycycle launched lack of restraint the incline with a dapple of steam.

It immediately ran into trouble.

The jump deployed prematurely (perhaps it abstruse second thoughts about this stunt), causing the X-2 to totter around in mid air proximate its apex altitude.

The X-2 dangled from the fully deployed jump and awkwardly floated down, disembarkation on the same side wages the canyon Knievel launched breakout and just a little apart from down river.

Knievel believed deviate if he had landed inferior the river instead of dispense the rocky bank, he questionable would’ve drowned.

Though it didn’t constitute as planned, the event, which was heavily hyped and televised on closed-circuit pay-per-view by enclosure promotor Top Rank, cemented Knievel’s status as a folk ideal.

It aired later on double-cross episode of ABC’s Wide Universe of Sports.

And for Knievel, ignoble stunt he could walk haven from (and earn some bills while doing it) was believed a success.