[Dschur]

Missing hiker found dead after mountain fall
by Megan Boehnke - May. 10, 2009 12:21 PM
The Arizona Republic
A missing hiker was found dead Saturday night after police think she may have slipped and fallen down the mountain side.

The 52-year-old woman, whose name has not been released by the Surprise Police Department, was reported missing by family at about 11 p.m. when she didn't return from a hike. Officers searched a nearby mountain near 157th Avenue and Dynamite Road that the woman was known to frequent. They found her body about 40 minutes later.

Police are still investigating the death, though they think it is accidental.

[big_load]

A badly placed slip is what I fear most on the trail.

[Rob del Desierto]

A badly placed slip is what I fear most on the trail.

Yup. All it takes is just one, too...

[Jim_H]

I don't fear the fall, I fear the sudden stop. At least it doesn't matter if its 100' or 1000' for the fall, either one its the same result: no more taxes.

[azbackpackr]

Taxes? What taxes?

[desert spirit]

I don't fear the fall, I fear the sudden stop. At least it doesn't matter if its 100' or 1000' for the fall, either one its the same result: no more taxes.

I think I'd almost prefer the 1000. With a 100-ft fall, depending on how it went, you might still be alive, but you'd most likely be physically incapacitated for life.

[Jim_H]

I don't fear the fall, I fear the sudden stop. At least it doesn't matter if its 100' or 1000' for the fall, either one its the same result: no more taxes.

I think I'd almost prefer the 1000. With a 100-ft fall, depending on how it went, you might still be alive, but you'd most likely be physically incapacitated for life.

I'm working under the assumption that even with a 100' fall I'll die, since I won't be walking out. It might take a while longer, but I still won't be walking out. I don't carry a phone and I go alone, so No walking + time= no more taxes.

[Sredfield]

The 1000 foot gives you too much time to think about what's happening.

[Hoffmaster]

I've heard that the magic height to fall from and ensure certain death is 50ft. Of course, as a climber, I've read plenty of stories about people who've fallen from much higher and lived. On the flip side, people have gotten killed falling off the first story roof of their house. No matter how high you fall from, it would suck.

[Dschur]

Surprise woman fell to her death during hike
by Lisa Halverstadt - May. 11, 2009 12:29 PM
The Arizona Republic
Police believe a 53-year-old Surprise woman fell to her death during a Saturday hike.

Sharon Berman likely slipped and fell down the mountainside of Bunker Peak Summit near 157th Avenue and Dynamite Road, said Sgt. Mark Ortega, a Surprise police spokesman.

Family members called police at about 11 p.m. after the experienced hiker didn't return home.
Because Berman regularly hiked the mountain, police officers searched there almost immediately, Ortega said.

They found her body within about 40 minutes, close to the top of the mountain.

Police are waiting for a Maricopa County medical examiner to determine what led to Berman's death but they suspect it was an accident.

Friends and family members are likely startled by Berman's death because she was a prepared hiker who brought water, wore safety gear and took precautions, Ortega said.

Though police believe Berman took necessary steps to remain safe and was the victim of a “freak accident,” Ortega said both novice and experienced hikers should always exercise caution.

"If you can, hike with a companion or a friend and try not to bite off more than you can chew," the sergeant said.

[jeffmacewen]

I've heard that the magic height to fall from and ensure certain death is 50ft. Of course, as a climber, I've read plenty of stories about people who've fallen from much higher and lived. On the flip side, people have gotten killed falling off the first story roof of their house. No matter how high you fall from, it would suck.

3x your height onto any surface = serious trauma. Same fall onto concrete or stone is about 40% lethal. It gets more severe as height increases from there.

[desert spirit]

I've heard that the magic height to fall from and ensure certain death is 50ft. Of course, as a climber, I've read plenty of stories about people who've fallen from much higher and lived. On the flip side, people have gotten killed falling off the first story roof of their house. No matter how high you fall from, it would suck.

Yah, I knew a fellow in college who claimed that his parachute didn't open and he lived. And then you hear stories about people tripping over a shoelace and breaking their neck.

I was scrambling down a rock face one time and slipped on some ice ... it was maybe 25-30 feet to the ground below, and I was certain I was going down, but somehow my boot caught on the lip of the ledge and held me. But in that split microsecond, I was already scanning the ground, looking for the best place to land and figuring how I would do it. The landing spot was mostly soft sand, so hopefully it wouldn't have been too terribly bad, but I was resigned that I was gonna sacrifice at least an ankle or a knee.

The funny thing is I wasn't scared until afterward, when it began to dawn on me how close I'd come to very serious injury. I sat and cried for many minutes. It was a good lesson, though. I'm very, very, very cautious now. I don't even like to do stuff like cross a stream on a fallen log, and I don't go near cliff edges. I've seen too many chunks of sandstone break off when somebody stepped on them.

[chumley]

3x your height onto any surface = serious trauma. Same fall onto concrete or stone is about 40% lethal. It gets more severe as height increases from there.

Any surface? It has a lot to do with how you land. Anybody can jump 20-feet into water and be fine if they land correctly. Same goes for snow of reasonable depth. And I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the definition of serious trauma, but is breaking an ankle considered serious trauma? There are "soft" surfaces such as sand, mud, and grass that you may injure yourself falling from 3x, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it life threatening. (How far you are from medical assistance can certainly play a role in this though).

As Desert Spirit explained above, in the split second of falling looking for the best place to land and figuring out how to do it can really help. Unfortunately, here in Arizona a misstep or fall often results in a rocky landing. Uneven surfaces and rocks are not forgiving, and one knock to the head can kill you from a lot less than 20 feet!

[jeffmacewen]

3x your height onto any surface = serious trauma. Same fall onto concrete or stone is about 40% lethal. It gets more severe as height increases from there.

Any surface? It has a lot to do with how you land. Anybody can jump 20-feet into water and be fine if they land correctly. Same goes for snow of reasonable depth. And I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the definition of serious trauma, but is breaking an ankle considered serious trauma? There are "soft" surfaces such as sand, mud, and grass that you may injure yourself falling from 3x, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it life threatening. (How far you are from medical assistance can certainly play a role in this though).

As Desert Spirit explained above, in the split second of falling looking for the best place to land and figuring out how to do it can really help. Unfortunately, here in Arizona a misstep or fall often results in a rocky landing. Uneven surfaces and rocks are not forgiving, and one knock to the head can kill you from a lot less than 20 feet!

Those are statistics and guidelines. They exist for a reason, of course. If you fall or jump from more than 3x you height and land in water you are doing damage even if you don't realize it. Some of these types of things are cumulative. When you're sixty-five and need a walker...well, you get the idea.

[desert spirit]

If you fall or jump from more than 3x you height and land in water you are doing damage even if you don't realize it.

My brother was in the Navy and told me about the training where they had to jump into the water from a great height (I don't remember how high, but it was high).

Not to be indelicate, but apparently if guys don't cross their ankles and keep their knees together as they hit the water, then they'll most definitely notice the damage that happens!

[nonot]

Falling is not about how high so much as it is the sudden stop at the bottom.

You can jump 100 feet into water without injury, heck olympic divers are typically about 65 feet I think. Cliff divers routinely do 80 or more.
On land, the best thing to land in is probably snow.
Sand is probably the second best.
Following that, a nice fluffy tree or bush

When you land, don't lock your knees, absorb as much of the impact with your leg muscles. For falls above 20 feet you should do the paratrooper roll where you try to turn the landing into a roll and continue to absorb the impact along your side and shoulders.

Most important is to avoid hitting your head on anything. Next is to prevent injury to your neck and spinal column. Broken legs and arms can heal.

It's tough to do this in Arizona cause there are so many freaking rocks.

[azpride]

On land, the best thing to land in is probably snow.
Sand is probably the second best.
Following that, a nice fluffy tree or bush

That's interesting... I wouldn't think that sand would absorb that much of the impact when you're falling 50 feet. I feel like a bush would slow you down a lot more before hitting the ground.

[jeffmacewen]

I wouldn't recommend trying any of that.

[big_load]

I'd rather fall on a tree or bush than sand. Even loose sand feels like concrete from more than a few feet. On the other hand, I saw a bicyclist completely skewered by a sapling after hitting some railroad tracks wrong, so I agree that any unplanned contact with the ground can be bad news.

[Hoffmaster]

I've jumped from 50 ft at the Tonto Narrows, and survived with no readily apparent injuries. Heck, just last summer I was hucking 30 ft or so in Clear Creek up near Winslow. Had to time it so I didn't land on the barrage of logs floating down the creek. Good stuff! I saw a moron jump from about 100 ft near the take-out at the Salt River tubing. He hit the water in a less-than-spectacular fashion. He had to be pulled from the water and taken away in an ambulance. With water, it's all about how you hit it.

As a kid, I used to run and jump off the edge of the very steep sand dunes on the Outer Banks in NC. I never got hurt, but it also wasn't a hard impact, even though I'd drop about 20 ft or so before touching the sand again. Also I was landing on a steep slope. If it had been flat, I would have been in a world of hurt. I used to jump off the 2nd story roof of the house when we got deep snow in PA. But I was landing in snow that was 10 ft deep.

I'm not sure what my point is. I'm just saying...