Teen plunges to his death at Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park

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kdbgoat said:
Really y'all? This is a human life we're talking about here. A child, a grandchild, someone's best friend was lost. It's not funny, and I don't see where it's something to be joked about. Yeah, the kid didn't make the best decision, but there's no need to make fun of him or his family. How about praying for his family's comfort instead?
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+1
 
As to my point about asking why these stories keep making the news, according to the CDC about 33,000 people per year die in the US from accidental falls (this is just slightly less than the 37,000 that die in automobile accidents), a little math tells us this equals to about 1 death every 16 minutes from accidental falls, now sure some are going to be more spectacular than others, and the teenager that falls off a famous scenic vista is going to likely get more attention than the 50ish year old cousin I had that slipped and fell and died in his bath tub some years back.  Still the question remains, why is this national news?
 
I spent a lot of time at the Grand Canyon and the best selling book there is called "Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon. If you wish to read about people who deserve a Darwin award look no further:

https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-Canyon-Expanded-Anniversary/dp/0984785809/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536394804&sr=8-2

I have also attended lectures on rattlesnakes and it seems that 90% of all rattlesnake bites happen to males, 90% of those males are 18 to 28 years old and 90% of those have been drinking and 90% of those tried to pick the rattlesnake up. So I feel as I am safe from being bit by a rattlesnake since I am old, I don't drink and I would never attempt to pick one up.

The reason I laugh at these kids stupidity is because I cannot believe I am still alive. I did way more than my share of really stupid things in my life and lived to tell about it.
 

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Got just one question, Tom.  Why in the world are you wearing a "floatie" in those PICs?  ;)
I been there too.  Still here and seem to be a lot smarter these days - maybe.
 
phil-t said:
Got just one question, Tom.  Why in the world are you wearing a "floatie" in those PICs?  ;)
I been there too.  Still here and seem to be a lot smarter these days - maybe.
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A floatie was a top of the line safety device. Jackets were not available when I started skiing. As soon as they became available we started using them, which according to my photos was in 1973. They might have been available sooner but we didn't see them before then.
 

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Unfortunate. Worse, preventable.

Taking the selfie wasn't the issue, it seems how it was taken was. On the other hand, there is really no earthly reason that I've survived this long, after all of the stupid and/or dangerous things that I've done in my life...
 
Isaac-1 said:
Life is dangerous, I don't see why these stories keep making the news, maybe they want to outlaw gravity.  On the other hand maybe it is the over use of warning signs, so that people now just automatically tune them out, as my Little Giant folding ladder has 10 warning labels on it.
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I can think of several reasons. First all the deaths commented on in that article people were taking risks with out the need to do so.  I mean El-Capitan has been climbed And the other climb where you hang on to the cable.. That too has been climbed.  As for the Selfie (The lead death in the story.  Well that's just chlorination of the gene pool  Survival of the smartest. He ..clearly.. was not the smartest.
 
We can (and should) be sympathetic to the loss to the family, but there is no reason to be sympathetic to the cause of that loss.  A young man foolishly caused a terrible loss to his family and friends.  He took a huge risk for trivial gain and ended up costing his family their most precious possession.
 
I Agree with Gary B. on this. While we were at Crater Lake (actually several times) there are signs not to climb past a certain point. past the sign where both adults and children looking down the clifts. I've seen parents looking at the crater while there kids play just a foot or two from a 1000 drop or steep side of the crater. Even people from other countries.

Don't know if they are unaware of the danger or just don't care. Just about every year someone slips and falls down the side. Some are rescued with just scrapes and bruises and others are brought up by body bag. Agree that the gene pool is getting filtered. Sorry for the lost of life.
 
We lived 100 miles from Yosemite for 25 years. Sadly, this kind of incident, while totally preventable, isn't that uncommon. You can't fix stupid.
 
I agree with Seiler. Go to the Grand Canyon if you want to see people taking stupid risks for the sake of a photo. I saw children out on rock croppings with no adults even around. Surely they didnt come there by themselves.There were also many adults out there as well. I was going to post the  incident on my utube channel, but thought that perhaps someone might lose their child to protection services if they saw the video. Maybe they deserved to have their children taken away for being so stupid. I never posted the video.
 
Over my 35 year career as a paramedic/firefighter we would refer to these incidents as ?job security ?. Young people just seem to have a knack for feeling bullet proof and since our department covered a major university, I?ve seen more instances of what-were-they-thinking behavior than I care to remember. That being said, how many of us can look back on our wasted youths and not find a single incident where we think to ourselves, ?How in the world did I get away with that??
 
Young people just seem to have a knack for feeling bullet proof
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Ha!  Years ago I was commenting to our niece about something her brother had done that was really stupid.  She said "Ardra, he's 16 and he thinks he's infallible and will never die."  She was right.  It's amazing how a few years changes one's attitude about so many things!  ::) :eek:

ArdraF
 
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