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| Messages 1 - 29 of total 29 in this topic |
GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Woah, what a horrible thing to happen in such a wonderful place.
I think about that little cove all the time... what a terrible thing to happen anywhere.
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Fletcher
Trad climber
Fumbling towards stone
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So sorry to hear this!
Eric
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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soloist? Rest in peace whoever you were.
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CynthiaL
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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The official press release should be available in the morning. I will try to post it then. Sketchy info this afternoon. Very sad... we have had so few fatalities in the park in my 15 years...
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splitter
Trad climber
Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Very sad and troubling to hear of this. My thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones.
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ec
climber
ca
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Doesn't The Exorcist start on a ledge above the deck?
 ec
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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA
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Yes EC. But it's sloping so if he fell soloing the route he'd probably roll to the ground. Plus it's a rap off. So don't know if someone could solo it and safely walk off anywhere.
He was allegedly found 50 ft off the deck. Trying to think of routes there where the scenario of a soloing fall would put it there.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Very sad. Condoloences if any of his friends or family check in.
Looks like he probably was bouldering or soloing. Not sure what route. There's a couple of moderates scattered around in HOH that he might have been on.
Posted: Thursday, October 4, 2012 4:21 pm | Updated: 4:50 pm, Thu Oct 4, 2012.
Staff report | 0 comments
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK — A man died Thursday afternoon while bouldering in the park...
Followed by some mis-infomation about the location BTW. The 50' thing is probably reporters getting sh#t wrong as usual. Reporters never get facts straight.
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CynthiaL
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Joshua Tree National Park News Release
Visitor Fatality in Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park confirms a visitor fatality at Hall of Horrors area in the park.
Joshua Tree National Park Search and Rescue responded to an initial report of a visitor injury at 2:50 Thursday afternoon. The incident occurred in the popular climbing area located between the Jumbo Rocks and Ryan campgrounds referred to as the Hall of Horrors. Search and rescue personnel located the 42 year old male on a ledge 50 feet above the ground, but he did not respond to rescuers attempts to resuscitate.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Sad news.
Does not sound like a climber, but one of the many visitors who scramble about on the rocks.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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A crevasse?
Global warming must be BS.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Would it be any more important, more sad, more tragic...
had it been a "CLIMBER"???...
I agree that it would be no more sad if it had been a climber.
With that said, as climbers on a climbers' Forum, the death of a fellow climber in what first sounded like a climbing accident, would be of particular interest to those of us who post and lurk here. Also, the degrees of separation would be few -- and it would have been likely to have been someone known to one of us.
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boulderkitty
Trad climber
LA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 5, 2012 - 02:09pm PT
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Thank you all for the info. Condolences to his family.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Sad, yes.
But the real story here is how climbing is so commonly misreported.
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10b4me
Ice climber
dingy room at the Happy boulders hotel
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Curious as to where the accident actually happened
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Capt.
climber
some eastside hovel
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I almost find it more sad that he wasn't a climber.Climbers understand the price to be paid for a botch.Lots-o-people scrambling about don't seem to understand that it's not a rubber world until it's too late.
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murcy
Gym climber
sanfrancisco
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Sad. Desert crevasses that, while below boulders, are above 50 foot ledges, are genuine hazards.
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rlf
Trad climber
Josh, CA
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The individual APPARENTLY died from a heart attack. He was sitting on top of a formation and went down for the count. He was NOT climbing at the time. I believe he had been though.
This information is accurate.
Condolences to his family and friends.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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keep in mind people, his friends and family need only google his name and this thread will likely pop up, so keep comments civil.
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rlf
Trad climber
Josh, CA
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It's a sad state of affairs that once the real truth about the passing of someone reported on this site is revealed, that nobody really cares.
Since there is no real reason to speculate anymore, it will fall prey to all the political threads and mindless musings of the self interested.
It certainly speaks volumes about the overall character of people in general.
Disgraceful.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there all, say, ... very sad to hear that someone died.. whether from the fall, or the exersions that caused the death, :(
a day with friends, should never end this way... :(
condolences to the family and his loved ones...
:(
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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The places I've seen civies and particularly kids on top of things, blithely bounding around, it's amazing that there aren't regular incidents like this and that they are so very rare.
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MudPuppy
Trad climber
Gliese 581 g
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It's a sad state of affairs that once the real truth about the passing of someone reported on this site is revealed, that nobody really cares.
Since there is no real reason to speculate anymore, it will fall prey to all the political threads and mindless musings of the self interested.
It certainly speaks volumes about the overall character of people in general.
Disgraceful.
Absolutely. Some poor SOB apparently has a massive MI while outdoors, and some here just have to find a way to ridicule him, or make light of the situation.
It ain't funny.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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I remember falling trees one summer and driving by this man who was having a picnic under a large jeffrey pine near our firewood sale...My colleagues and i returned to the sale several hours later during a heavy thunderstorm and noticed that the man was still there lying on his side under the torrential downpour...We got out of the truck to see if he was okay when we noticed that he wasn't breathing...the poor man had choked on a chicken bone....So sad...
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bergbryce
Mountain climber
South Lake Tahoe, CA
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RIP to the deceased.
Crevasse? Probably didn't have an ax to self arrest.
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CynthiaL
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Robert is correct, the man passed out first, then fell into a crevase. He had told his friends he didn't feel well... so no, this wasn't a "climbing" accident, but someone did die.... very sad, and very difficult for the people who responded and tried to save him even though there was nothing they could do.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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We all have to die someday. Going quickly with a heart attack out of doors in a beautiful place, sounds ideal to me. The fact that he was there at all would make it seem that he was not the type to die helpless in a hospital. I hope his family can take some comfort from that even though I'm sure they think he died too young.
Condolences to that family if they read this and may he Rest in Peace.
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splitter
Trad climber
Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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so no, this wasn't a "climbing" accident, but someone did die... very sad,
It is "very sad" regardless who the person was. I also find it very troubling (like someone else mentioned earlier) when it involves a fall and isn't someone who is as aware of the danger as a fellow rockclimber would be.
and very difficult for the people who responded and tried to save him even though there was nothing they could do.
Case in point; Back during the winter of '77-'78 a young girl (elementary/middle school) fell off of The Sentinal (The Real Hidden Valley) while on an outing with her classmates and teacher. I recall being over at Fisticuffs (which is across from that formation) the following Spring with a climbing friend who was in the immediate area at the time of the accident and ran over to be of whatever assistance he could be. He had described how they were all scrambling to the top, via the sloping side, and near the top she had wandered towards the edge and fell. It was obvious to him that she would either be dying or dead when he got there.
I recall that it hit me rather hard at that point in his retelling of that tragic incident. And I must have shown it in my expression(placing my self in his situation) because he asked me very directly, "Well, wouldn't you have HAD to go over there yourself?" He had seen the fall or the screams of the people/teacher and them pointing to her from where she had fallen from the top of the rock(can't recall the details) and new it wasn't going to be easy to deal with, but he new he had to go. And I agreed/agree, I would have to go to see what assistance I could be, regardless...(obviously).
Anyway, I turned that one over in my head for a long time afterwards. Why wasn't the teacher more cautious? Etc., etc.!!
But, like someone already said, if it was a climber, we are perhaps one degree closer to the death, particularly last night when it was reported as a "rockclimber" of 42 y.o. and the name hadn't yet been released yet, because it could very well be someone most of us, or at least a few of us know. Plain and simple.
Indeed it occured at a place that many here have come to love and enjoy and doing something we all do or have done for one reason or other. And 42 is a very young and unexpected age to have a heart attack, let alone leave this earth for good. But, death is all around us, I was just reading today about the 17 y.o. in Texas who shot his 43 y.o. mother & 14 y.o. sister in the head for no apparent reason other than he "Had been thinking about killing anybody for a long time." Equally sad (particularly when you read about the mother and sister's relationship to friends, family & community) sensless and chilling.
So, in regards to the fella at HOH, I have already paid my respects, etc., in an earlier post. But, to some "degree", this prollie would not have garnered as much attention here if it had not been originally claimed to be a climbing accident. No one is saying one death is more "sad" than another, particularly when the individul is only 42 y.o.! Although this did have the connection to the park, as did one a year or two ago regarding the tourists from Germany or wherever whose car broke down and they ran out of drinking water and died. That got a lot of posts on a thread here. So whatever!
edit: so what point am I trying to make? dunno, but maybe there should be more education to the inherent dangers involved for the unititiated/general public? Perhaps a simple handout at the entrance would be helpful (maybe there already is one). I suspect it wouldn't have been much help for this fella since he had a MI, but perhaps some type of intervention would save somebody in the future!
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| Messages 1 - 29 of total 29 in this topic |
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