900 hikers killed in Yosemite

See: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/20...0yosemite.html

Wouldn't bicycles be safer?

On Sun, 13 May 2007 12:47:50 -0700, John Muir wrote:

See: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/20...0yosemite.html

Wouldn't bicycles be safer?


NIce find. That book sounds interesting. I remember hearing about this
story; one of the great tales of irony:

"But the book's most stirring episodes are its chronicles of bad
decision-making, often by experts whose wits abandoned them at key
moments. In 1999, Jan Davis, a 58-year-old stunt woman, jumped from the
top of El Capitan as the fourth of five demonstrators protesting the
park's ban of BASE-jumping — the sport of leaping from mountains, bridges
or buildings with a parachute.

Because she expected her equipment to be confiscated by park rangers, Ms.
Davis borrowed a less valuable rigging with a leg-sheath pilot chute,
which was different than her own back-mounted gear. Spectator videos of
her fatal 3,000 foot fall showed her swatting at her back in an apparent
attempt to clear her chute, but she was unable to activate the
less-familiar equipment effectively."


The things we do to save a buck... or two.
--
Slack

On Sun, 13 May 2007 19:47:50 +0000 (UTC), John Muir
wrote:

See: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/20...0yosemite.html

Wouldn't bicycles be safer?

Absolutely not. The injury/death rate PER person is MUCH greater for
mountain biking. That 900 was over 156 years and MILLIONS of hikers.
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

â–€Slack wrote:
On Sun, 13 May 2007 12:47:50 -0700, John Muir wrote:

See: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/20...0yosemite.html

Wouldn't bicycles be safer?


NIce find. That book sounds interesting. I remember hearing about this
story; one of the great tales of irony:

"But the book's most stirring episodes are its chronicles of bad
decision-making, often by experts whose wits abandoned them at key
moments. In 1999, Jan Davis, a 58-year-old stunt woman, jumped from the
top of El Capitan as the fourth of five demonstrators protesting the
park's ban of BASE-jumping — the sport of leaping from mountains,
bridges or buildings with a parachute.

Because she expected her equipment to be confiscated by park rangers,
Ms. Davis borrowed a less valuable rigging with a leg-sheath pilot
chute, which was different than her own back-mounted gear. Spectator
videos of her fatal 3,000 foot fall showed her swatting at her back in
an apparent attempt to clear her chute, but she was unable to activate
the less-familiar equipment effectively."


The things we do to save a buck... or two.
--Slack

Not a nice way to go...

"?Slack" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 13 May 2007 12:47:50 -0700, John Muir wrote:

See: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/20...0yosemite.html

Wouldn't bicycles be safer?


NIce find. That book sounds interesting. I remember hearing about this
story; one of the great tales of irony:

"But the book's most stirring episodes are its chronicles of bad
decision-making, often by experts whose wits abandoned them at key
moments. In 1999, Jan Davis, a 58-year-old stunt woman, jumped from the
top of El Capitan as the fourth of five demonstrators protesting the
park's ban of BASE-jumping - the sport of leaping from mountains, bridges
or buildings with a parachute.

Because she expected her equipment to be confiscated by park rangers, Ms.
Davis borrowed a less valuable rigging with a leg-sheath pilot chute,
which was different than her own back-mounted gear. Spectator videos of
her fatal 3,000 foot fall showed her swatting at her back in an apparent
attempt to clear her chute, but she was unable to activate the
less-familiar equipment effectively."

A good friend of mine had just spent 4 or 5 days climbing El Cap when at the
top he met those five demonstrators. They told him when and where to watch.
He said the body hitting the ground was the worst sound he'd ever heard in
his life.

On May 14, 8:34 am, "Duncan" wrote:

A good friend of mine had just spent 4 or 5 days climbing El Cap when at the
top he met those five demonstrators. They told him when and where to watch.
He said the body hitting the ground was the worst sound he'd ever heard in
his life.

Not a very effective protest.

On a somewhat morbid note, I have always been fascinated by the
euphemism of referring to a falling person as a "body" before he or
she hits the ground, as if the inevitability of the situation made
them already dead. I don't imagine the individual involved had any
such luck.

CC

Corvus Corvax wrote:
On May 14, 8:34 am, "Duncan" wrote:

A good friend of mine had just spent 4 or 5 days climbing El Cap when at the
top he met those five demonstrators. They told him when and where to watch.
He said the body hitting the ground was the worst sound he'd ever heard in
his life.


Not a very effective protest.

On a somewhat morbid note, I have always been fascinated by the
euphemism of referring to a falling person as a "body" before he or
she hits the ground, as if the inevitability of the situation made
them already dead. I don't imagine the individual involved had any
such luck.

CC


In my mind a body can be alive or dead.
"She's got a hot body." is not a declaration of necrophilia.
You're using it more like corpse.

Matt

MattB wrote:
Corvus Corvax wrote:
On May 14, 8:34 am, "Duncan" wrote:

A good friend of mine had just spent 4 or 5 days climbing El Cap
when at the top he met those five demonstrators. They told him
when and where to watch. He said the body hitting the ground was
the worst sound he'd ever heard in his life.


Not a very effective protest.

On a somewhat morbid note, I have always been fascinated by the
euphemism of referring to a falling person as a "body" before he or
she hits the ground, as if the inevitability of the situation made
them already dead. I don't imagine the individual involved had any
such luck.

CC


In my mind a body can be alive or dead.
"She's got a hot body." is not a declaration of necrophilia.
You're using it more like corpse.

I remember, when I was a kid, wondering if someone who jumped off a building
or whatever was dead before they hit the ground. Heart attack...or shock at
the very least? I'd like to think the /body/ has some kind of autonomic
(right word?) mechanism to short-circuit the panic and pain.

Bill "Santa and Tooth Fairy Believer, Baby" S.

On May 13, 2:05 pm, â–€Slack wrote:
On Sun, 13 May 2007 12:47:50 -0700, John Muir wrote:
See: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/20...0yosemite.html

Wouldn't bicycles be safer?

NIce find. That book sounds interesting. I remember hearing about this
story; one of the great tales of irony:

"But the book's most stirring episodes are its chronicles of bad
decision-making, often by experts whose wits abandoned them at key
moments. In 1999, Jan Davis, a 58-year-old stunt woman, jumped from the
top of El Capitan as the fourth of five demonstrators protesting the
park's ban of BASE-jumping — the sport of leaping from mountains, bridges
or buildings with a parachute.

Because she expected her equipment to be confiscated by park rangers, Ms.
Davis borrowed a less valuable rigging with a leg-sheath pilot chute,
which was different than her own back-mounted gear. Spectator videos of
her fatal 3,000 foot fall showed her swatting at her back in an apparent
attempt to clear her chute, but she was unable to activate the
less-familiar equipment effectively."

The things we do to save a buck... or two.
--
Slack

Perhaps the saddest part of the story was that it was a PLANNED
protest filmed by her husband (and others).

And just like the death that the protest was started over (Frank
Gambalie III), some in the BASE community pointed the finger at NPS
for "causing" the death, since in pre-protest meetings with the NPS
the jumpers were notified that they would forfeit their equipment.

I was at GLCA at the time ... where ~5 ppl a year drown, and so far
none of them were on bicycles (though 2 were driving).

R

Bill Sornson wrote:
MattB wrote:
Corvus Corvax wrote:
On May 14, 8:34 am, "Duncan" wrote:

A good friend of mine had just spent 4 or 5 days climbing El Cap
when at the top he met those five demonstrators. They told him
when and where to watch. He said the body hitting the ground was
the worst sound he'd ever heard in his life.

Not a very effective protest.

On a somewhat morbid note, I have always been fascinated by the
euphemism of referring to a falling person as a "body" before he or
she hits the ground, as if the inevitability of the situation made
them already dead. I don't imagine the individual involved had any
such luck.

CC

In my mind a body can be alive or dead.
"She's got a hot body." is not a declaration of necrophilia.
You're using it more like corpse.

I remember, when I was a kid, wondering if someone who jumped off a building
or whatever was dead before they hit the ground. Heart attack...or shock at
the very least? I'd like to think the /body/ has some kind of autonomic
(right word?) mechanism to short-circuit the panic and pain.

Bill "Santa and Tooth Fairy Believer, Baby" S.

You should've signed it:

Sill "Schrödinger" S.


Shawn