Yosemite Suicide

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Messages 61 - 66 of total 66 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
jstan

climber
Mar 12, 2009 - 12:10pm PT
If I may speculate for a moment:

Nowadays the first thing a kid of two or three sees are rooms full of 60 to 100 screaming kids at daycare with no adults or structure around. By the time they are coming up on 30 years of age and seriously question their existence, as we all must at one time or another, they have never had the chance to sit entirely alone and to contemplate the trees, the clouds, or the mountains. When they decide it is easier to check out than it is to create value using their own free will, the only thing that comes to mind is to take out as many people as possible when they go.

The illness is not confined to them alone.
scuffy b

climber
just below the San Andreas
Mar 12, 2009 - 01:12pm PT
A harrowing end to this man's life.
Knowing in his heart that he would kill himself, that he was
unworthy of his family's love (false, of course), yet formulating a plan to travel
all the way to Yosemite from Connecticut...

One of his dominant thoughts all this time is "What's the Use?"
but he has to keep maintaining this horrendous process.

Can't break down at any step (airline counters, boarding plane,
renting car, etc.) or maybe somebody will realize he needs
help!!


Unbearable anguish, imposed over days, weeks, months.
graniteclimber

Trad climber
Nowhere
Mar 16, 2009 - 06:09pm PT
http://home.nps.gov/applications/morningreport/

The Morning Report
Monday, March 16, 2009

Yosemite National Park (CA)
Man Commits Suicide By Going Over Yosemite Falls

On the afternoon of Monday, March 9th, rangers received a call from a man threatening to commit suicide from the top of Yosemite Falls, which falls 2500 feet to the valley floor below. A ground team was immediately dispatched up the steep trail to try to negotiate with the man, who claimed to be armed. Winter conditions, snow, ice, and steep terrain added to the complexity of the operation. A California Highway Patrol helicopter and Tuolumne County SWAT team members were also dispatched to assist with the incident. Rangers found David Zerbe on a rock outcropping in the narrow, snowy gorge on the edge of Upper Yosemite Fall. Zerbe said that he had taken a large dose of medications, possibly including anti-anxiety and seizure drugs. According to the rangers, Zerbe appeared to be impaired when they reached him. Negotiations continued until just after 7:30 p.m., when Zerbe entered the frigid water and was carried over the edge. Recovery efforts have been unsuccessful but are continuing as conditions permit. Ranger Jeff Webb is the incident commander. [Submitted by Adrienne Freeman, Outreach and Education, Protection Division]
JuanDeFuca

Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
Mar 16, 2009 - 07:27pm PT
We should all pray and try to help the people in this world that find the pain of life to much to handle.

juan
Lynne Leichtfuss

Social climber
valley center, ca
Mar 16, 2009 - 11:16pm PT
Walk a bit slower during your day and look into the eyes of those you meet. Eyes are indeed the windows to the soul.

Sometimes a kind smile or a touch on the shoulder has saved my day and the pain it carried. Peace, lynne
Peter Haan

Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
Mar 17, 2009 - 12:03am PT
I was fearing all day this is one of the twin sons of the late attorney Carl Zerbe from Carmel Valley. His other son Lindley climbed Everest in 05 and is a decent climber ..... Carl suddenly died from a brain injury a few years ago when his wheelchair overturned coming out of his specially equiped van. His wife Audrey moved back to Connecticut--- where David came from according to the news. The family was friends, especially Carl who was both wondrous and brilliant. And well-knit in a circle of friends I have in Carmel Valley.

Fortunately I just got word that it is NOT the Zerbe family I know; what a relief although it certainly was reasonable to think so as his widow did move back to Connecticut. I kept playing in my head a movie of the drama that must have unfolded up at the top of the Falls. I have spent a couple fabulous sunny afternoons up there; it is a tremendous, sublime place.
Messages 61 - 66 of total 66 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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