Death of 2 Who Fell from Yosemite Ledge Under Investigation
Share
SAN FRANCISCO — The deaths of two people who fell from a popular Yosemite National Park overlook were being investigated Friday by park officials who were still working to recover the bodies.
It’s still unclear when the pair fell and from which spot at Taft Point, which is 3,000 feet above the famed Yosemite Valley floor.
Visitors can walk to the edge of a vertigo-inducing granite ledge without railings that has become a popular spot for photos posted on social media but it’s still unclear when the pair fell and from which spot at Taft Point, which is 3,000 feet above the famed Yosemite Valley floor, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. The victims have not been identified.The bodies of the man and a woman who plunged off the ledge were spotted by another tourist on Wednesday, Gediman said.
Railings only exist at a small portion of the overlook, which has breathtaking views of the valley, Yosemite Falls and El Capitan and fissures on the granite rock that drop to the valley floor. The promontory has become a popular spot for dramatic engagement and wedding photos.
More Than 10 People Have Died
More than 10 people have died at the park this year, six of them from falls and the others from natural causes, Gediman said.
More than 10 people have died at the park this year, six of them from falls and the others from natural causes, Gediman said.
Last month, an Israeli teenager fell hundreds of feet to his death while hiking near the top of 600-foot-tall (180-meter-tall) Nevada Fall. The death of 18-year-old Tomer Frankfurter was considered an accident, the Mariposa County coroner’s office said.Taft Point is also where world-famous wingsuit flier Dean Potter and his partner, Graham Hunt, died after leaping from the cliff in 2015. The pair were experienced at flying in wingsuits — the most extreme form of BASE jumping — and crashed after trying to clear a V-shaped notch in a ridgeline.
BASE jumping stands for jumping off buildings, antennas, spans (such as bridges) and Earth and is illegal in the park.
An investigation concluded that the deaths were accidental. Despite video and photos of the jump, officials consider the specific reason why Potter and Hunt died a mystery.
RELATED TOPICS:
Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July
Housing /
6 hours ago
Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports
Travel /
6 hours ago
MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams
Sports /
7 hours ago
Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned
Courts /
7 hours ago
Latest
Videos
Extra /
4 hours ago
North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility
Politics /
4 hours ago