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[bigtroyjon]

Yeah and I read it as him wading in the water holding his kid, not as holding out the kid in front of him over some edge/river to get his jollies.

I'm not sure what you are reading. The article says that he climbed over the rail and stood on the corner of the waterfall with his daughter outstretched in his arms. He never went in the water.

 

[U2NUMB]

Watching that video you realize it could have been 10+ dead if some of them had not moved as fast as they did. Not sure why those 5 just sort of made little effort to get to the shore but power of nature and so forth. Sad story but could have been easily prevented.

 

[tiff]

Is GAF full of Internet sociopaths?

Do you even need to ask?

But I'm not exactly sitting here "oh no, how tragic ..." to the initial girl that caused it all, really.

Nah, it's definitely tragic. She and her friends are idiots for ignoring all the signs, pleads from fellow hikers, and common sense because they think they're invincible, but the death of an idiot is still a tragedy.

Maybe a huge-ass screen showing a video of people falling to their deaths and the pictures of the bodies when they find them. Although I'm pretty sure that would attract more reckless people.

Yeah, better warnings might detract some people, but you'll never completely eliminate the supply of stupid 20-somethings that think nothing bad can ever happen to them.

 

[Anteater]

Oh well.

 

[fastford58]

Heed your warning signs, kids. Tragic, but totally preventable with some common sense.

 

[_Isaac]

Oh I've been to that waterfall. It's a beautiful place and a fun hike. The mist is constantly hitting you. When I was hiking up, a man actually fell over the waterfall too. There was a bunch of rescue people there. This happens all the time, but people still don't listen. It's crazy.

 

[Black Republican]

surprised no one photoshopped you are already dead pic over the waterfall

 

[XiaNaphryz]

There could be no rocks under the falls

Saw this comment posted in response to the news story:

As one who worked in Yosemite for nearly 10 years, has hiked every trail leading out of the Yosemite Valley and countless miles in the back country, and has heard several accounts of waterfall deaths:

At Vernal Fall, the victims don't usually fall from the Mist Trail but from the pool at the top of the trail, top of the cliff, behind the falls. Everything is safe enough until you go over the rail, too far into the pool, too close to the falls. The surface of the pool can at times be glassy, looking very calm. The appearance is deceptive. That water is moving very rapidly, although smoothly, toward the cliff. The rock floor of the pool is mossy and slippery.Once your feet are swept out from under you, you're headed for the fall. There's nothing to grab to save yourself. There's no stopping. Say Goodbye. You're done.

At the base of Vernal Falls is a deep and turbulent pool. Bodies are sometimes trapped under or against rocks and don't resurface for months, if ever. Search crews must wait until the seasonal flow reduces enough for them to enter the pool. Other times the bodies are circulated violently, like in a washing machine, beaten by the falling water until they are pulverized and the parts wash downstream, and there's nothing left to find. Right now the crews are probably not looking for a body, but for a torso, some limbs snagged on a log or rock at the water's edge, or a skull tumbling downstream.

Several of my friends were on the trail maintenance crews and the Search & Rescue teams and I've heard their stories. The closure of the trail is standard procedure. They say its for the public's safety, and to some degree it is. The most likely reason is that they don't want to have to work around gawkers who will invariably bunch up on the trail to watch, get in the way, and ask questions all day.

 

[Jangocube]

This reminded me that there was something similar that happened in Indore, India recently. Family crossing what I assume was a river basin, then got stuck as a flash flood swept them over a cliff (now a waterfall).

Bewarned, there is a Youtube Video of this.

Well, that was damn depressing to watch.

 

[Socreges]

Saw this comment posted in response to the news story:

WHELP THAT SETTLES THAT

 

[2th]

Darwin Awards are gonna have a ton of candidates this year

yup

 

[Dastardly Jerks]

The general IQ of the population just raised slightly.

 

[Srsly]

What morons. Even 6 inches of fast moving water can lift you off your feet and carry you. In fact, that's enough water to do the same to a car. There's a reason you're told not to drive through any roadways covered by moving water or water more than a couple of inches deep.

 

[GG-Duo]

there's a darwin award for every darwin award that's darwined the darwin.

Darwin.

Am i doing it right, GAF?

 

[Mistake]

Is GAF full of Internet sociopaths?

Yosemite hikers ignore warning sign, bypass railing to goof off, fall down waterfall

Well, that's what I thought while I was reading it

 

[LM4sure]

Wow, people are stupid. Not really sure what they were thinking. I'd have to be batshit insane to get in that water.

 

[VGChampion]

It's a beautiful place but come on, if you want to get up close go to the bottom and stand where the guy in the red shirt is. I was there in the summer and it was great.

 

[xxracerxx]

I'm not sure what you are reading. The article says that he climbed over the rail and stood on the corner of the waterfall with his daughter outstretched in his arms. He never went in the water.

I didn't read that at all.

"He's got a 6- or 7-year-old daughter in his left arm on the edge of the waterfall while his other daughter, about 14 years old, is taking his picture," said Jake Bibee, 28, of Costa Mesa (Orange County), who was hiking with a friend on the Mist Trail that day. "He's on the corner, hanging over the falls. This little girl is screaming bloody murder, and he's laughing, thinking it's a big old joke."

 

[Simplet]

holy shit. I don't feel bad for them; they had plenty of time to get out before the water got really bad, but an attempt should have probably been made to help them. But that woman/man in the blue screwed the whole family: she fell, and she held on to everyone else, bringing them down with her/him.

Don't be a retard, you can clearly see that the whole family waited for what looked like a child and an old person. Those at least didn't have time to reach the river bank at all. They should probably have gone on all four right there and then and try to dig a good "defensive position" for themselves but you can see that it takes them some time to start taking the threat seriously. It's hard to imagine that all of a sudden you're in a situation where you're going to die 2 minutes from now.

 

[Salmonax]

There's an attitude some people have that safety measures exist only for idiots who don't know how to handle themselves. Of course, this attitude couldn't be more steeped in irony.

 

[YoungHav]

Don't go chasing waterfalls.

lmao damn.

 

[The Elite]

Is GAF full of Internet sociopaths? Yes they were stupid, but no one deserves to die because of stupidity. Imagining the fear they were in at that moment makes me sick, the whole situation is horrible. People blaming them and saying they got what they deserve are sick.

Who else should we blame?

It's their fault. Their death will hopefully be a warning to others.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

As far as I'm concerned, if you hold your child over the edge of a waterfall while they're crying and screaming, that's child abuse.

 

[Plywood]

Don't go chasing waterfalls.

This is poetic.

 

[Raistlin]

@noone could survive the fall, wouldn't the waterfall's water hitting the water break up the surface tension, so that it wouldn't be like a normal high fall into water (aka like hitting concrete).

Sure they'd drown after , but they could survive , no? And then it wouldn't be the fall that killed them.

Anyhow, this is all kinds of stupid.
As was said, darwin award, I feel sorry for the people who had to watch it.

Look at the rocks at the base of the falls

 

[Lamel]

This reminded me that there was something similar that happened in Indore, India recently. Family crossing what I assume was a river basin, then got stuck as a flash flood swept them over a cliff (now a waterfall).

Bewarned, there is a Youtube Video of this.

Oh my god, that was terrifying to watch.

 

[tiff]

Who else should we blame?

It's their fault. Their death will hopefully be a warning to others.

The rest of that sentence is pretty important, I think.

 

[freenudemacusers]

Equally stupid and sad. Having grown up near a river with small, ankle-deep rapids, you learn pretty quickly that smooth rocks provide zero traction in the water and hurt like hell. I cannot imagine wading knee-deep in swift moving water, let alone near a falls.

 

[jamesinclair]

I was there last week.

If during the hike, the absolute force of the water, the amount of rocks, and the wind created by the current does not make an impression on you....

No sign, or fence ever will.


The river does not look survivable. It's the very definition of "white waters"

 

[CrankyJay]

Is GAF full of Internet sociopaths? Yes they were stupid, but no one deserves to die because of stupidity.

Um...yes they do. Drunk drivers are stupid. You can't pick and choose which stupid activity people should die for. Death is indiscriminate.

 

[ArjanN]

I once fell through snow on a glacier and was dangling by one hand in a 20-metre (min) deep crevasse. My friend grabbed and then with another friend they lifted me to safety. We were fucking fools for ever putting ourselves in that situation. It wasn't "shit just happening". It was us making a terrible decision and me nearly dying as a result. Months later I went and ran with the bulls. Not the most boring activity, but certainly one where you're not in any true life-threatening danger.

Well, except for the people that get crushed or gored to death by bulls.

 

[Dresden]

Reminds me of this dude that I saw in Grand Canyon - he climbed over one of the walls and made his way down to the very edge of the cliff, and took a piss right there.

Spoiler

I was hoping he'd fall.

 

[Centurion]

they were actually good church going folks that did a lot of community service, just to help others... Did they make a bad mistake? yea, but they don't deserve all the shit comments some of you are giving them. I knew one of them personally, very good kid.

 

[Blair]

Daaaym. They aint gonna be in rush hour 3.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

Reminds me of this dude that I saw in Grand Canyon - he climbed over one of the walls and made his way down to the very edge of the cliff, and took a piss right there.

Spoiler

I was hoping he'd fall.

Bet he felt like God.

 

[Zoe]

Yeah and I read it as him wading in the water holding his kid, not as holding out the kid in front of him over some edge/river to get his jollies.

The middle of the article is poorly written with too many pronouns. When I first read it, I thought the daughter fell, then the father slipped, then the person commenting grabbed the daughter, and then he shielded the daughter's eyes so she didn't see her father die.

 

[bigtroyjon]

There's an attitude some people have that safety measures exist only for idiots who don't know how to handle themselves. Of course, this attitude couldn't be more steeped in irony.

What kind of bastardized version of irony are you trying to use here? Seriously, I'd like to know what you are trying to convey here.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

I've been to those falls, anyone whos been to the top and seen it would have been smart enough to not attempt something like that without any climbing gear. Mainly due to the heavy moisture caused by the very rigid falls.

Poor kids though.

 

[_Isaac]

The middle of the article is poorly written with too many pronouns. When I first read it, I thought the daughter fell, then the father slipped, then the person commenting grabbed the daughter, and then he shielded the daughter's eyes so she didn't see her father die.

I agree. It gets confusing sometimes.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

There's an attitude some people have that safety measures exist only for idiots who don't know how to handle themselves. Of course, this attitude couldn't be more steeped in irony.

There is a perfectly good safety measure: The rails the idiots hopped over to river. If there is dangerous to be at the rail, they close the trail up.

 

[tiff]

they were actually good church going folks that did a lot of community service, just to help others... Did they make a bad mistake? yea, but they don't deserve all the shit comments some of you are giving them. I knew one of them personally, very good kid.

Damn, really? Ouch.

Spoiler

Church-going is not the best word to use as a compliment on GAF.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

they were actually good church going folks that did a lot of community service, just to help others... Did they make a bad mistake? yea, but they don't deserve all the shit comments some of you are giving them. I knew one of them personally, very good kid.

They didn't deserve to die, but I'm flat out disgusted that the father put his child in so much danger. That's indefensible.

 

[xbhaskarx]

I did the Nevada and Vernal falls hike for the fourth time a couple months ago. It's my favorite hike at Yosemite. I have no sympathy for these idiots, I just hope that a few people being stupid doesn't lead to additional restrictions for everyone else... There are already plenty of warning signs and rails, if I see more next time I am up there, I will be pissed.

 

[FLEABttn]

What kind of bastardized version of irony are you trying to use here? Seriously, I'd like to know what you are trying to convey here.

That the people who think safety measures are only for idiots who don't know how to handle themselves are often the idiots who don't know how to handle themselves.

 

[xxracerxx]

they were actually good church going folks that did a lot of community service, just to help others... Did they make a bad mistake? yea, but they don't deserve all the shit comments some of you are giving them. I knew one of them personally, very good kid.

It is horrible that they died, but they blatantly disregarded the rules and put themselves in the situation that got them killed and people tend to make harsh comments about stupid decisions, especially on GAF.

And might I ask what you consider shit comments? The ones calling them idiots?

 

[Old Gimlet Eyes]

I have hiked down Panorama trail which leads to mist trail. Those waterfalls are no joke and anyone ignoring the metal railings and multiple warning signs along the trails, deserves their fate. This is just one of the many, many warning signs along the water.

Hey let's go in, DERP!

I feel the worst for the people who had to witness this stupidity.

 

[TheNatural]

Dumbasses. What are the chances lawsuits come out of this though? "They couldn't have known!"

 

[methodman]

Yosemite is so fucking beautiful.

 

[SpectreFire]

they were actually good church going folks that did a lot of community service, just to help others... Did they make a bad mistake? yea, but they don't deserve all the shit comments some of you are giving them. I knew one of them personally, very good kid.

Good people don't purposely put their kids in danger for kicks admist protests from bytanders. Nor do they laugh off their screaming cries.

Just sayin'.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

My mom is notorious for being a huge moron in regards to stuff like this.

She would routinely hop railings to get a closer look at things, and one time hopped off some boardwalk over a geyser field in Yellowstone because my hat blew off my head and she wanted to get it back. (Note: The boardwalk had signs everywhere saying "Don't step off the boardwalk, the ground is not solid in many places" or something like that)

Same trip, tried to make my dad drive our rental minivan down a road I wouldn't have taken a Jeep Wrangler down without assitance because apparently it was a good site for fossil hunting.

How my dad put up with it I'll never know.