50 years later: Twin Falls event to celebrate Knievel's canyon jump (2024)

TWIN FALLS — The spirit of Evel Knievel lives on.

His son, Kelly, offers the words “extraordinary,” “original” and “charismatic” to describe his father, and it is all those attributes that have kept the daredevil in the spotlight after all these years.

One more attribute he remembers about his father: “Bravery.”

Evel Knievel was brave enough to strap himself into what he called a tin can with a little hot water in it and attempt to jump across the Snake River Canyon.

It’s been almost 50 years since that rocket ride that although ended unsuccessfully, helped put Twin Falls on the map and was an iconic moment for the daredevil. Indeed, Knievel and Twin Falls appear to be joined at the hip.

To commemorate the event that took place on Sept. 8, 1974, Kelly has helped organize a free motorcycle ride/parade over the Perrine Bridge on Sunday, with the lineup starting at 11 a.m. and the ride starting at noon, followed by a celebration at Koto Brewing Company on Main Avenue in Twin Falls, including music by a granddaughter of Evel Knievel plus displays including the famous steam-powered skycycle in which Knievel tried to make a mile-long jump across the canyon.

Previous to the motorcycle ride across the canyon, at 10 a.m. local daredevil Kyle Miller will motorcycle BASE jump off the rim of the Snake River Canyon into open air near the intersection of Eastland Drive and Pole Line Road.

“He did so many original things,” Kelly Knievel told the Times-News ofhis father, “and certainly one of the most talked about and exciting things he came up with was this the leap across the canyon and people still remember 50 years later.”

His father captured the attention of the nation, evidenced by five of the top 25 most-watched shows on ABC’s Wide World of Sports being Knievel-related events, with the canyon jump at the No. 7 spot. Tourists of all ages still come into the Twin Falls Visitor Center, asking about the stuntman.

“It’s pretty much an everyday thing,” said visitor center staff manager Marcus Garcia.

Garcia says children ask about Evel Knievel, likely due to the resemblance of the Duke Caboom character in the movie Toy Story 4.

A monument stands near the Perrine Bridge as a tribute to the daredevil, and the dirt mound at the jump site sits upstream from the bridge.

Kelly Knievel said he never heard his father express disappointment on the outcome of the canyon jump, which saw the skycycle’s parachute deploy prematurely, and the rocket descend into the canyon, with many fearing Knievel, who was strapped securely in the rocket, could drown if he went into the river.

Just the fact that he survived is good enough, he said, saying his father, instead of going into the water, landed on one of the only sandbars in the area and was rescued.

As far as the daredevil attempt, “He said he would do it, kept his word, and he survived,” Kelly Knievel said.

The planning for the 50-year anniversary of the canyon jump was put together just a few months ago. The motorcycle ride across the canyon will be led by stuntman Robbie Maddison, “a daredevil in his own right,” he said. Maddison broke the world motorcycle jumping record in 2007, on the 40th anniversary of Evel Knievel’s jump over the fountains at Caesar’s Palace, and later successfully surfed a motorbike on a wave in Tahiti.

Six-time gold medal X Game champion Colby Raha will also be in attendance.

There will be opportunities for selfies and autographs, making it a fun event for all, he said — even if people weren’t born before the canyon jump. He said his father, who died in 2007, inspired many extreme sports athletes of today, including Raha.

“Evel Knievel is the godfather of all that,” he said.

It was inevitable that someone else would try to duplicate the canyon jump, Kelly Knievel said.

The re-creation took place in 2016, as Hollywood stuntman Eddie Braun flew over the canyon while riding a replica of Knievel’s X-2 Skycycle, built by Scott Truax, the son of Knievel’s rocket designer, Robert Truax.

“My dad used to say the greatest form of flattery was people who imitate you,” Kelly Knievel said.

He emphasized the importance of the motorcycle ride, which will start at 11 a.m. at the Valley Wide Country Store at Crossroads Point north of the bridge, and has made social media posts inviting motorcycle riders from across the nation to join in.

“Evel Knievel was about motorcycles and riding, so I would like to see that bridge packed with motorcyclists,” he said.

“I hope people come ride their motorcycles across the bridge, not so much as a tribute to the Knievel family but to recognize how great an American character Evel Knievel was.”

The motorcycle parade will end at Koto Brewing Company, and the festivities will continue there and give people a chance to view the daredevil’s relics.

There won’t be any sitting in the skycycle, as it is a historical relic, Kelly Knievel said, but people will have a chance to have their photos taken in his father’s dragster wheelie car.

In addition, people will have a chance to win a trip for two to see the grand opening of the Evel Knievel Museum in Las Vegas, expected to open next year.

There, he said, his father’s items, including the skycycle, will be displayed in the grandeur they deserve. Much of the memorabilia now sits in a Topeka, Kansas, museum.