Robbie Knievel is the son of the late, great American Daredevil Evel Knievel. He continued on the family tradition of jumping motorcycles over wide swaths of buses and other obstacles.
The Grand Canyon jump on May 20, 1999 was one of Knievel’s most famous jumps. The jump was partially based on Robbie’s father’s desire to perform a Grand Canyon jump, yet would end up doing the rocket-propelled Snake River Canyon jump. On May 20, 1999, Robbie jumped his motorcycle for a personal record of 228 feet. However, Knievel lost control of the bike on landing and broke his leg in the ensuing crash.
The Grand Canyon is on average five miles wide from rim to rim, so Jumping that far was pushing it beyond the limit. So they found a spur in the canyon that was very narrow. So Robbie didn’t really jump the Grand Canyon, he jumped a small spur on the periphery of the canyon. But it was bloody good nevertheless.
A showman just like the Old Man.
To pay homage to his father, Knievel jumped the Caesars Palace fountains in 1989. The jump took place 22 years after Evel Knievel failed to clear the fountains in 1967. Knievel landed safely and became the first to successfully jump the fountains. Following the jump, Knievel stated, “that was for you, Dad”.
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