http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/natur...outube-videos/

I'm sorry this happened, but I am extremely perplexed as to why they (NPS) would even allow this activity to take place.

It's not in a national park, the NPS has nothing to do with it.

It was on Bureau of Land Management. There was a company that did guided this for a fee. BLM made them stop, so people just started doing it on there on. It sounds extremely dangerous to me. They only use the rope 4 times, then the rope is considered damaged by the force. It seems to really jerk a lot of people(they are free falling much longer than they should be in other words). This would need to be a very calculated jump. Certainly not a risk I would take, with or without a guide.

Gee, though, it looks like fun! Maybe using the rope 3 times would have been more prudent.

I'm thinking using 2 ropes. Anybody that does much always has a backup. Measuring the rope might have been smart too.

Corona Arch was my only defeat when I was there a few years ago.

What freaked me out was a very tame looking side slope. I don't mind defeats as I can tell about them.

I have been rigging my own rope jumps for several years now. This activity is like any extreme sport. You have to have a lot of experience and know how to pull it off. That doesn’t mean it isn’t still dangerous and it doesn’t mean we need to make it illegal. Rock climbing is dangerous, can lead to sever injury or death if it attempted by someone who is inexperienced or doesn’t understand the finer points of the gear and planning. BASE jumping even more so. I’d hate to see some kind of legal fallout occur over this. I for one am not going to stop jumping – I absolutely love it… nor will I stop throwing a test bag off first to ensure my system is rigged correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Esus303

As Ron White says, "You can't fix stupid"...

Isn't this where somenone always says "At least they went out doing something they loved."

I'll bet they didn't love it much for those last few seconds though.

Why does Charles Darwin pop into my head when I read of stuff like this?

Well, this is what the folks at climb-utah.com have to say about rappelling off Corona (and I'm sure the same thought process hold trues for rope swinging off Corona):

"Corona Arch is one of the most impressive arches in Moab and having adrenaline junkies hang off of it doesn't help the tourists collect the memorable picture they all seek. Some consider rappelling off Corona Arch in the same context as holding a picnic under Delicate Arch."

Personally I don't care if someone wants to do the rope swing for the sheer fun of it, but then just go do it. The people that mug for the video cameras, taking their time to get the right shot over and over and make a spectacle out of it seem to be doing it for attention more than anything else - get out of the way and find somewhere else to be irritating.

Mother Nature culling the stupid ones out of the herd.

I'm kinda/kinda not with Esus on this. I'm not going to do it though,but I see why some do. I do think it is very rude(just like Delicate Arch), to over extend your photo op. I would think you would need a lot of time to get the photo, climb up, etc. I guess the same could be said about Morning Glory too though. Kinda like the guy that goes canoeing over huge waterfalls. Your just flirting with death really.

all i can say is.....
survival of the fittest !!!



(fittest also includes brain matter that is usable)

I saw this report today. Sad news. The report I read said he miscalculated the length of his rope. Meaning his rope was too long and he hit the ground. Dead at the scene. He was from the west side of the SL Valley.

My understanding is they don't rappell, they jump and swing.

Most people who have been to Moab, have seen the picture of the pilot (I think in the 60's) who flew a single engine plane through Corona Arch. Spectacular, but I don't think anyone has tried it since.

There are always people who love to push the boundaries. Sometimes they are not knowledgeable to pull it off. Sometime they are and take a calculated risk.

Evidently there are lots of YouTube vidoes to get people into trouble.

There are tons of vids on youtube of people swinging. Very violent jerk, depending on when you stop freefalling and start swinging. I can see how you could hurt your back or neck pretty easily. You also have to calculate your jump so you don't swing into the arch(initial swing and then on the return swing).

I'm not saying liquor or other substance was involved, but a couple of videos shows people having a drink before swinging. That just adds another problem.

Can I assume that Alex Honnold and these people do not have IRAs?

I don't care if you want to jump or swing or whatever. Just don't do it on a very popular tourist destination--people come to see the arch, not a bunch of yayhoos jumping off it. The guide who started this whole thing thinks that it would be better to going back to having guided trips because it would be safer. How about just saying no--to anybody, guided or not.

And yes, I believe his obit did say something about doing what he loved. Sigh.....

And, no, this won't stop people. We are talking about people who have to think they are sort of invincible in the first place to even try this! They know it won't happen to them. I know lots of people who climb, do extreme sports etc. The bottom line is that even the best trained, smartest people--can still have something go wrong. It's part of the risk you take.

StantonHyde,
So people shouldn't climb El Capitan or Halfdome in Yosemite?
I can imagine that might have been commented on when people started climbing there. I do totally get what your saying though. But Morning GLory Arch is one of the biggest arches in the world and people have been rappelling from it for a long long time now.


In a way, this is somewhat like cliff diving. For that you need to time the tide and hit the water just right. This is all about timing too.

The bottom line on this one is that this guy wasn't smart and he wasn't trained.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. There are so many other places to rappel or swing or whatever. I live in a HUGE climbing and extreme sports community. I get how much fun it is. But I also value places like Carona Arch for the solitude. Granted, I can hike it in non peak times. There have never been many people there when I have visited. And, no, I don't really want to find a big party when I get there