Today’s Fair-Footed Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
As of 2001, there had been 50 fatal falls from the rim of the Grand Canyon. Only 5 – all males of the 50 victims were rock climbing or scrambling without technical protection (ropes, pitons, chocks, nuts, friends, etc.). On June 7, 1958, for example, Donald L. Mark, age 43, took a break from his job as a Grand Canyon motel clerk and climbed over the guard wall behind El Tovar. He descended partway down the cliff as a solo, recreational climber. An audience gathered above him to watch his climbing technique and to marvel at his incredible nerve above such a dizzying exposure. Mark next appeared to be “putting on an act” by “playfully jumping from rock to rock.” He “continually looked up at the crowd” still gathering to watch. He had fair footing, one witness reported, but poor handholds. On Mark’s next climbing move, he lost his grip. And his balance. He fell over backwards into the abyss, plunging 300 feet.
Culled from: Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon
Morbid Trinket (I WISH!) Du Jour!
Seriously – can’t you just see the Castle DeSpair with one of these on the coffee table?
“A chain-mailed skull found in a mass grave related to the battle of Visby, Gotland, Sweden. The battle was fought in July 1361 AD between an invading Danish army and the local Gutnish forces. After the battle, because of the heat, many of the bodies were disposed of quickly, often in their armour. An archaeological excavation carried out in the 1930s revealed over 1000 skeletons in one of the mass graves (photo Wolfgang Sauber CC BY-SA 3.0).”
Culled from: irisharchaeology.ie
Generously submitted by: Howard
43 is about 25 years too old to think stunting around on the rocks at the rim of the Grand Canyon without any safety equipment is a good idea.