Tourist Taking Photos Falls to Death in Grand Canyon

Tourist Taking Photos Falls to Death in Grand Canyon

A tourist is presumed dead after slipping and falling over a Grand Canyon lookout.

The incident happened on the Hualapai Tribe's reservation to the west of Grand Canyon National Park. According to reports from a spokesman for the tribe, David Leibowitz, on Thursday morning a man said to be in his 50s and from Hong Kong fell and slipped at Eagle Point while trying to take photographs. The man was part of a tour group.

Eagle Point is situated alongside the Skywalk, a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge sticking out from the canyon wall. The rim has some ledges and outcroppings below, although there is no barrier between tourists and the edge.

The area where the incident occurred has been closed for the day. Leibowitz extended prayers from the tribe.

The case is one in an increasing number of instances whereby photographers, or enthusiastic members of the public taking photos, have unintentionally caused their own death. Last year, Jiyoun Park fell 40ft to his death after standing on a ledge on top of a parking garage, meanwhile a German tourist was trampled to death in Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe after trying to get closer to an elephant to take a picture.

Lead image credit: Yavapai Point_09445 via Flickr CC.

Jack Alexander's picture

A 28-year-old self-taught photographer, Jack Alexander specialises in intimate portraits with musicians, actors, and models.

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39 Comments

Oops.

Was the photo good enough to die for?

Darwin's natural selection at work. Keep it going.

The internet never fails....

Not sure why everyone is so offended....no intelligent person will put themselves in an obviously life threatening position just to take a stupid photo. Unfortunately we live in times when it's perceived more civilized or nicer to feel sorry for a person who dies out of sheer stupidity than feeling sorry for them for being plain and simply dumb. I traveled to many places where if I took it one inch or two further I would most likely die, but I used common sense and didn't push my luck. Overconfidence, lack of common sense, lack of respect for the surroundings...it all adds up.

A person dies and you feel justified, and even defend your lack of empathy. You're a disgusting person.

I absolutely have empathy for his family not for him. If it makes you better for feeling sorry for an idiot who also put in danger the people who ultimately recovered his body so be it. My friend is a mountain rescuer in Europe and throughout the year they rescue tourists who 8 out of 10 times act like complete imbeciles causing rapid response rescue teams to travel into very dangerous sections of the mountains in order to either help or sadly recover bodies of people who didn't think before they acted.
I do a lot of trekking and mountaineering and I've seen my own share of irresponsible, frankly dumb people. My response is based solely on my own experience.
You have no idea who I am, what I represent and what I stand for so calling me a disgusting person is pretty shallow.

you can try and justify your abhorrent mentality all you want. A person died by accident, you feel nothing, and that makes you an awful human.

People who know me would beg to differ. The person did not die by accident. He died because he acted totally irresponsibly and stupid. He ignored the signs and warnings which clearly state not to do it. What you and many others are doing however is justifying stupidity in the age of reason. We live in times when knowledge and information is very accessible in the developed countries, to which China would obviously belong to. If you ever visited the Grand Canyon there are signs everywhere to keep away from and not get close to the edge of the rim. The rock formations are covered with fine sandstone and are thus very slippery. It can take as little as a centimeter and a fraction of a second to lose your balance and fall. Despite the obvious I've seen people do this at Grand Canyon both South and North rim, at Zion, at Bryce, at Yosemite, in Machu Picchu where a month after my visit a German tourist fell close to 300 meters down into the Urubamba river when he crossed a clearly marked section of a terrace. You can frame it however you like, but it doesn't change the fact that people who do this and die are plain and simply stupid.
I have tremendous empathy for poor people (I have been sending packages with clothing and school supplies to poor children in Peru for the last 4 years bearing all the costs), for sick, less fortunate, physically and mentally challenged, but I don't however have empathy for people who choose to act stupid. Plain and simple.

I can literally copy and paste my previous reply. Justify your disgusting mentality all you want, doesn't change how awful you are. The end. Reply all you want now, I'm done with you.

Yea, unfortunately this is how people carry on conversations these days. I give you facts and you are offended. Pretty sad and frankly pathetic. Have a wonderful evening snowflake.

Actually Przemek, you state above that you "traveled to many places where if I took it one inch further I would most likely die". All you would have to do is inadvertently trip then and this could easily be you this article was about. The guy slipped. It was an accident. When you slip, how do you want the article about you to be written?

Reading comprehension. That is NOT what I wrote. I wrote that I traveled to many places, but nowhere did I write that I walked to the edge of the rim. Read those sentences again. Mountaineering makes you much more aware of your surroundings and you take safety precautions before venturing into dangerous terrain. I know the dangers thus I don't do what many people do falsely believing that nothing will happen.
Two years ago at Horseshoe Bend in Arizona I saw first hand how reckless and dumb people can be. A large group of Chinese tourists ran down the hill to the rim like cattle. One lady holding a selfie stick ran dead on to the rim not looking ahead or at her feet and roughly 5 feet away from the edge she fell flat on her face with her back to the edge. She started rolling back onto her right side facing the edge and it if wasn't for one of her compatriots she would surely have ended up about 600ft down in the Colorado river. That would not be accidental. That would be simply reckless behavior. Similarly I saw similar behavior last year at the South Rim at Grand Canyon. Few hundred feet west of Mather Point there are two long ledges way past where visitors can venture. There were number of people who walked onto the roughly 3 ft wide rock that extends about 100 ft away from the rims edge. What they did absolutely blew my mind and you could hear people scream: are you insane, what are you doing?!" Two girls were jumping up while their friends were snapping photos. If that doesn't constitute stupid and reckless I don't know what does.

"I traveled to many places where if I took it one inch further I would most likely die..."

So you are putting yourself in harms way if you are an "inch" away from falling. But somehow because you did not fall makes it ok for you because you are smart...wow.

You have some serious reading comprehension problems. Go back and read my statement again. I give up.

" If you have ever visited the Grand Canyon there are signs everywhere to keep away from and not get close to the edge of the rim. The rock formations are covered with fine sandstone and are thus very slippery. It can take as little as a centimeter and a fraction of a second to lose your balance and fall." There is no "I" there indicating I did it.

Damn, someone made a fatal mistake and this comment section is laughing. A family lost someone they loved because of one accident. Everyone cracking jokes, you're disgusting.

Am I or anyone else truly supposed to feel sorry if this man pushed his limits too far just to take a picture that is available in a million places on the web or in a the gift store? Nope. Common sense skips many people these days, I guess you don't understand that. I shoot lots of landscapes in the southwestern US, I carry crampons and ropes to tie off for safety so I can focus on angles and framing. This false sense of safety is baffling.

To answer your question - yes.

A fellow human being lost their life because they made a mistake, and you feel nothing or worse, you actually criticize the person's common sense. Do you understand how dead you are to compassion? A family is now mourning the loss of someone they loved dearly because of a simple mistake, and you feel NOTHING. You're gross.

People die every day making mistakes, but because you don’t know them you feel nothing. If your friend dies in a car accident that was their fault, I doubt you’d be so flippant. Mistakes happen all the time. Don’t be a dick.

Some people deal with tragedy with comedy, as a way to cope with complex and difficult things. We all deal differently. And like, what am I, a total stranger going to do? #ThoughtsAndPrayers, or something? Total garbage. May as well crack a joke.

If I die, especially if I die doing something stupid, I would hope that I am the butt of MANY jokes, most of them dark and depraved, the kind that makes delicate flowers feel offended on the internet.

I understand that the person was foolish and it is (probably) his own fault. But joking about somebody's death? Shame on you all. Photography seems to be such an intellectual hobby, and yet, so many idiots here. What a shame.

Some people deal with tragedy with comedy. We all cope in our own ways. I wont judge you for your ineffective thoughts and prayers, but only if you don't judge me for crackin' a joke.

Well, coping with tragedy is a completely different story. But I don't see it happening here. I don't think people who are cracking stupid jokes here are emotionally unstable right now since it is safe to assume that they didn't know the victim personally. And if they did know the victim personally, them coming to Fstpoooers to crack a joke as a first action raises even more questions.

Joking about somebody's death is just stupid and insensitive, there can't be two opinions about this, some things are just inherently wrong. LIke killing someone for instance. This case just simply isn't as severe as the other.

"there can't be two opinions about this" that's where you're wrong, kiddo.

I have to agree, you are completely right for calling me out. There can be multiple opinions about this. But there shouldn't be and only one is right.

Intellectual? Well, the deceased certainly wasn't being intellectual. And he certainly wasn't thinking about his family and friends when he chose to endanger his life.

You don't really know that. We all make mistakes that may lead to tragedy. But what is your point here anyway?

You can't comment people into decency.

Very true, but staying quiet allows them to feel justified. If someone is a foul human, the very least I can do is tell them so, even if it doesn't have any effect. People are allowed to behave reprehensibly, but there needs to be some form of consequence, even if minor, for doing so. We all share life, behaving with common decency benefits everyone, calling out those who don't at the very least signals they are in the wrong.

I completely agree. Staying silent is a form of agreeing by silence. My comment didn't mean not to comment, it meant that the people are beyond reach.

a person died and you've managed to make it all about yourself. good job undermining your own position.

Yes, telling disgusting people they behavior is reprehensible is "making it about me." Bye

If you think valuing human life is a high horse then chances are you're disgusting also, and since you confirmed it with "stating a fact," I don't give a shit about your thinking. Bye

So you have no problem with the deceased taking such reckless actions that they endangered those who rescue or have to retrieve the bodies of the dead. Maybe you should find some compassion for the actual heroes.

This might be the dumbest of the arguments made so far. What you're saying is I should have MORE compassion for the people who CHOOSE to do that job, but in this instance DID NOT get injured, than the guy who DIED? The people who choose that job have my utmost respect. They choose to risk their life for others safety. It's admirable, honorable, brave, courageous, and they deserve respect for what they do. Never said or implied anything different. But your argument of having compassion, no sorry MORE compassion for people who didn't die is absolutely moronic.

It's so sad. I don't know if this guy was near the edge or what. When I was at that same Eagle Point area near the Skywalk, I remember seeing this guy in the photo below standing on the edge. What's the purpose of doing that? What if he lose balance. Stay safe everyone.

My point exactly. That isn't cool, exciting, brave...it's simply stupid and reckless...and if you die doing it so be it. I have zero empathy for you and could care less about all of the sensitive snowflake comments.

Am I surprised? Not really... What I've seen at the Horseshoe Bend it's unbelievable. People sitting on the sandstone edge, walking on the edge with flip-flops and posing dangerly near the edge for selfies. Even other tourists don't keep their distance and comming really close... But those tourist also disregarding the signs to take water bottles with you. That's another story...

btw I took my picture too. I kept my distance to the ledge and told others to keep their distance to me.