The Twin Falls Times-News reports that Texas stuntman "Big Ed" Beckley says he won’t jump the Snake River Canyon. At least not this year.
On his webpage, Beckley writes that since the Fox television network “backed out” of a TV deal, he’s looking for a media partner for 2015.
“We are not doing the Snake River Canyon Jump this year and who knows yet if we ever will do it. We are still trying to get a media partner for 2015 but we have dumped over a million bucks of our own cash money in this project and will not get it back until we get that big TV deal we thought we had until FOX TV backed out.”
The Times-News reports Beckley has spent $1.6 million on the project so far. Beckley is a 63-year-old who's been jumping motorcycles since the mid 1970s. He spent $943,000 in a public state auction for the right to jump the Snake River Canyon.
Fox pulled the plug on televising the jump last month.
Beckley says on his website the jump was always a business proposition:
“If no TV Network wants to pay us several million dollars to do this the way we have told people we would do it then we shall walk away. We are not going to sink any more money in that project until we see some huge return on our money. I was never going to do this “because it needed to be done” I was doing this strictly for the business aspect and there is no reason to take risks for the heck of it. It is in God’s hands and we shall follow his lead wherever this jumping career takes us.”
Fox also canceled plans to air another jump, by Hollywood stuntman Eddie Braun and rocket builder Scott Truax. The Times-News reports that jump is still on.
“Paul Arrington, project attorney for Braun and Truax, told the Times-News in June that Braun will still jump Sept. 7. Having built significant infrastructure and with three rockets under various states of construction, the team was beyond the point of no return, Arrington said.” – Times-News
The jump was last attempted by Evel Knievel in 1974. Knievel's jump failed.
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