Monthly Archives: December 2017

Crazy Motorcycle Stunts in Las Vegas

December 31, 2017

December 31, 1967 – Caesar Palace
It all Started with Evel Knevel. On December 31, 1967, Daredevil Evel Knievel attempted to jump over the water fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Knievel’s jump was a 141 foot attempt and his longest to-date. When he hit the takeoff ramp, he felt the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerate. The sudden loss of power on the takeoff caused Knievel to come up short and land on the safety ramp which was supported by a van. This caused the handlebars to be ripped out of his hands as he tumbled over them onto the pavement where he skidded into the Dunes parking lot. As a result of the crash, Knievel suffered a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist, and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in the hospital for a month in a reported coma for 29 days.

September 15, 1980 – Caesar Palace
Gary Wells gained much media coverage, and much physical suffering, when he unsuccessfully tried to jump a motorcycle over the water fountains at the Caesars Palace. He sustained injuries to many different parts of his body.

August 9, 1988 – Binion’s Horshoe Parking 7th Floor to Mint Parking garage 6th Floor
Johnny Airtime teamed up with Joe Reed and they billed themselves as The Guardian and The Bandit. They launched themselves from a seven story parking structure and landed 120′ later on top of a six story building. No safety ramp or landing ramp was used! Upon landing, they had to crash into a net to keep themselves from falling off the landing structure. The jump was billed as “Super Jump II” and was on the Guinness Book of Records television program. The gap between the two buildings was 90′.

February 4, 1999 – Jockey Club Towers in Las Vegas
Robbie Knievel jumped the 130-foot gap between the two 13-story Jockey Club Towers in Las Vegas. To avoid falling off the second tower, Robbie intentionally crashed his motorcycle into hay bales.

May 4, 2006 – Caesars Place
Mike ‘The Godfather’ Metzger sets a Guinness World Record with a 125-foot long motorcycle jump that included a back flip over a fountain at Caesars Palace on May 4, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

December 31, 2007 – Rio Hotel
Australian stunt rider Robbie Maddison, jumps the distance of a football leaping a world-record 322 feet, seven inches in Las Vegas on New Years Eve obliterating the previous Guinness World Record of 277 feet by Trigger Gumm.


December 31, 2008 – Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas
Robbie Knievel was scheduled to jump the volcano at the Mirage Hotel. At the actual 200-foot jump, Knievel gave the appearance of jumping the volcano, but limited the stunt to a ramp-to-ramp jump in front of the volcano with fireworks behind him.

December 31, 2008 – Paris Las Vegas
Robbie Madison, live on ESPN in front of a world audience, Maddison successfully jumped 96 feet up onto the Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas and then descended a 80-foot drop off the monument to return safely to ground level. Robbie said after the jump that he may have broken his hand and had a gash to the bone in the webbing of his left hand.

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On This Date: December 16, 2009 The Aria Opened in Las Vegas

December 16, 2017
Aria at City Center in Las Vegas

Aria at City Center in Las Vegas Opened on December 16, 2009

Aria Resort and Casino is a luxury resort and casino, part of the CityCenter complex on the Las Vegas Strip. Aria consists of two curved glass and steel highrise towers adjoined at the center and makes up 2 of the  seven buildings of CityCenter. The Harmon Hotel and Spa, the Crystals, Veer Towers and the Mandarin Oriental. Aria Resort and Casino opened on December 16, 2009 as a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development. At 4,000,000 sq ft, and 600 ft. in height, it is the largest and tallest structure at CityCenter.

The resort’s 61 and 51-story towers contain a AAA five diamond hotel with 4,004 guest rooms and suites, 16 restaurants, 10 bars and nightclubs, and a casino with 150,000 sq ft. of gaming space. It also has a 215,000 sq ft. pool area with 50 cabanas, an 80,000 sq ft. salon and spa, a 300,000 sq ft. convention center and a 1,800-seat theater.

Among the most notable aspects of Aria is its incorporation of technology in the exterior and interior design of the hotel, specifically for the reduction of energy consumption and in a desert that reaches over 110 degrees in the summer, this is quite a feat. It is the largest hotel in the world to have earned LEED Gold certification. On account of its smart rooms which automatically adjust curtains, turn off unused lights and electronics, and regulate the temperature when a guest enters or leaves a room, Aria was described in Popular Mechanics as possibly “the most technologically advanced hotel ever built”.

Photo By: Wikipedia

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