DiscoverNational Park After Dark340: Death-Defying Dreams: Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts
340: Death-Defying Dreams: Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts

340: Death-Defying Dreams: Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts

Update: 2025-12-08
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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.



Sources:




Grand Canyon Stunts Over the Years | National Geographic




Wallenda Survives Terrifying Grand Canyon Tightrope Walk




1922 - Into the Grand Canyon and Out Again by Airplane (U.S. National Park Service)


Attractions & Activities | Tourist Attractions | Grand Canyon IMAX



Park Statistics - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)




Filming, Photography and News Gathering - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)




Nik Wallenda completes tightrope walk across gorge near Grand Canyon - CBS News




Swiss ‘JetMan’ completes flight over Grand Canyon - Las Vegas Sun News




BBC News | Americas | Knievel cracks Grand Canyon




Scott’s World: Don’t Call Him Daredevil - UPI Archives




1922 - Into the Grand Canyon and Out Again by Airplane (U.S. National Park Service)




History & Culture - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)




Alex Honnold, the Free Solo Climber, Will Try to Scale Taipei 101 in Netflix Live Special - Netflix Tudum




10 Escape Acts and Daring Feats That Left Viewers Stunned - The Scroller




Grand Canyon Stunts Over the Years | National Geographic




The deadly cost of livestream culture: How pressure for views drives creators to extremes




Authorities investigate tragic death following tourist's illegal stunt at Grand Canyon




For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes



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340: Death-Defying Dreams: Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts

340: Death-Defying Dreams: Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts

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