Re: Woman Falls To Death From Angel’s Landing Trail

Zion National Park (UT)
Woman Falls To Death From Angel’s Landing Trail

Tammy Grunig, 50, of Pocatello, Idaho, and St. George, Utah, fell about a thousand feet to her death on the north side of Angel’s Landing on the afternoon of November 27th. Grunig was hiking the popular Angel’s Landing trail at the time. The call came in via St. George PD dispatch and rangers were immediately dispatched to Angel’s Landing. A ground search and rescue team was mobilized and sent to the location to search for the victim. The Angel’s Landing trail was closed for a short time during investigation and recovery operations. Grunig’s body was located and recovered by 6:30 p.m. The incident is under investigation by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Zion National Park; preliminary information suggests that this was an accidental death.

Anybody here hiked this trail? Is it a reasonalble trail? (meaning that much like the HD cables, if you keep a good head about you, it is a relatively do-able hike for the amateur)

Bee

First of ... my condolences to the family.

I didn't think the trail was a big deal. Chick-on been up there too.

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?1,10266,10381#msg-10381
(hilariously <to me> this was posted before the bird ever made it to Yosemite)

That being said... they really warn you left and right and try to really scare you to not go.
Sadly and unfortunately more than one fatality has occurred on the trail this year:

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?1,16612,16612#msg-16612


Here's a recent post on the trail:

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?1,20291,20303#msg-20303

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Bee
Anybody here hiked this trail? Is it a reasonalble trail? (meaning that much like the HD cables, if you keep a good head about you, it is a relatively do-able hike for the amateur)

Bee

I've done it before. I didn't find it that intimidating. However - I did it in the summer and started early in the morning. That avoided the late rush and meant I got back before the peak midday heat. It's only about 5 miles round trip and most of the way (up to Scout Lookout) is paved. The last section up Angels Landing is scrambling up sandstone with some sections with heavy linked chains as climbing aids. Personally I thought it was easy, but the time of year can be an issue. The biggest problem isn't really the difficulty but any fear of heights.

Sandstone is strange. It feels incredibly grippy unless there's an area of loose sand. At that point you slide. I've never mountain biked on sandstone, but I've been told one can do crazy things on it like climb at silly angles that wouldn't work on dirt.

I'm not sure it would be icy yet. The weather forecasts said Zion was maybe barely freezing overnight. It would be somewhat cold and cold hands could make a difference holding onto the chains. Apparently that wouldn't have been the case with this woman.

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y_p_w
The weather forecasts said Zion was maybe barely freezing overnight.

At what altitude?

I guess that it is like all of the other potentially fatal activities that I have engaged in: if there is a potential, eventually it will be realized by someone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2009 10:30PM by Bee.

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Bee
I guess that it is like all of the other potentially fatal activities that I have engaged in: if there is a potential, eventually it will be realized by someone.

It's probably not the best time of year to be doing that trail either. Exposure is one thing; exposure with ice...