Dan Becker Grand Canyon rescue

[Moovyoaz]

On February 18, 2023 Dan Becker was rescued after backpacking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim in the snow. See the YouTube videos.

[ youtube video ]
[ youtube video ]

[tibber]

On February 18, 2023 Dan Becker was rescued after backpacking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim in the snow. See the YouTube videos.

[ youtube video ]
[ youtube video ]

pretty amazing. Sounds like he's lucky to be alive; pretty scary!

I do follow his videos from time to time.

[big_load]

That's definitely a dangerous condition, but avoidable. Take more breaks, eat more food, drink enough, don't let your mind overpower your body. I hope he bounces back quickly.

[FOTG]

What a gumby.

[CannondaleKid]

@FOTG
My first thought was whether he either under- or over-trained for the hike... listening too much or not enough to his health coach?
In a way I believe the rangers telling them to have an aggressive plan would have better served them by pressing asking them to spell out their plan to see how viable it was.
Not that they would have listened anyway.

[FOTG]

@CannondaleKid
They laughed and joked about the rangers warnings throughout the first half of the video. I will be nice because he has some fans on here it seems, but this dude is literally the embodiment of the bane of existence for rangers across our national parks. A self entitled dummy, who was unprepared and ignored the warnings of rangers. He is a half a step up from the tourons in Yellowstone petting buffalos. Everything about his video was cringe. To include: the jokes about how dumb they were for doing it, his buddy telling him he thought it wouldn't be windy below the rim, the promotion of his health coach's Instagram, his friends thinking he has altitude sickness, the ranger's subtle annoyance in having to deal with them, the 9-1-1 call, etc. His video only further reinforces the warped belief, that there are not consequences for stupidity in the wild and that someone will come in bail you out when your poor choices get you in trouble.

[rcorfman]

@CannondaleKid
The GCNP BCO considers any schedule over about 10 miles per day aggressive. I'm pretty sure that's all in their SOPs. Also, I'm not sure I'd consider Mr. Becker's ordeal much of an endorsement for his health coach.

All that being said, I found the videos interesting. It looked like they were geared up properly but even then, things can go bad quickly and unexpectantly. I am glad the rescue was successful, and that Dan should have a full recovery.

[big_load]

The GCNP BCO considers any schedule over about 10 miles per day aggressive. I'm pretty sure that's all in their SOPs.

Yeah, their assessment skews toward caution. My last two trips had warning flags and I'm hardly a daredevil. However, it's completely understandable given how much trouble people get themselves into.

It wasn't entirely clear what from the first video if their plan was R2R on the first day with that much snow. If so, it was simply too much. I wonder how much snowshoe experience they had.

[sam_hikes]

Looked liked a movie making group of 4 or 5 with 2 having the very good MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes where often they could of taken turns breaking trail but not easy on NK especially after dark. Looks like things got extreme above Supai Tunnel after dark but the exposure in the ice fall area looked scary.

Amazing the number of people who have quit their office jobs and become social influencers like this group earning just internet related income.

Wonder if they obtained a filming permit as NPS is requiring them in 2023 for all parks for youtubers/tick tockers/etc??? I think personal youtube postings are ok as long as you don't collect ad revenue?

[joebartels]

Wonder if they obtained a filming permit

Wondered too, about "cost recovery" and if they require an itinerary.

[sam_hikes]

@joebartels
Saw a Garmin inreach in the video but footage shows 911 cell phone call as maybe Garmin takes issue with funding SAR's for youtubers depending on your SAR plan? They changed SAR plans recently with the purchase of GEOS.

It was interesting to see how well plowed NK was on Feb 18 and NPS shuttled him up Hwy 67 to a waiting ambulance granted behind the NPS plow and I suspect an assist from ADOT from the Jacob Lake side. Also noteworthy instead of the very costly medical evac ride this movie maker got rescued mostly via a likely free automobile ride except for the ambulance portion.

Wonder if the footage audio "be sure to send me the movie" was from a NPS employee or was fake?

Does this mean Hwy 67 might be plowed on both sides by May 15 as record snowfall years have resulted in delays?

[big_load]

It was interesting to see how well plowed NK was on Feb 18 and NPS shuttled him up Hwy 67 to a waiting ambulance granted behind the NPS plow and I suspect an assist from ADOT from the Jacob Lake side. Also noteworthy instead of the very costly medical evac ride this movie maker got rescued mostly via a likely free automobile ride except for the ambulance portion.

Seeing video of an NPS vehicle at Jacob Lake with a driveable-looking road behind it was a shocker for me.

[RedRoxx44]

Can happen to anyone. I've been lucky I guess. Bad air in caves, mines, especially dicey on rope; multiple falls most with non injury, flash floods, lost, multiple cuts bruises and abrasions, tricky 4 wheel drive roads and self rescue on that, having to make road modifications. Irate land owners with guns. Illegals ( many many encounters over the years). Animals have been the least of my worries. I've been close on a couple of hikes to just sit down and not move again but I've kept on. Because I hike solo and no one is coming to get me, and I feel I must get myself out.

[sidhayes]

FOTG
Not a gumby unless you to are one compared to me.

[chumley]

It's brilliant monetization of the platform. Controversy stokes views (this thread is a perfect example of it, and supports the idiocy of it all). In the end, it's cash in the bank. Don't watch it, and if you get tricked into watching, definitely don't comment, share, or encourage others.

[DixieFlyer]

I have no idea who Dan Becker is, but it seemed like they were a group of instagrammers who were there solely to see how much attention they could get on the corporate social media. One guy was out of gas after going about 3/4 of the way DOWN the South Kaibab Trail, and one of them referred to his microspikes as crampons; that tells me that they aren't very experienced. There are a lot of people like them who seem to think that doing a R2R hike is like going to Disneyworld.

[SpiderLegs]

I watched a couple of Dan's videos last year. Seems his whole channel is dedicated to whoring himself out doing gear reviews when he isn't selling insurance at his day job. Most of his stuff was geared to what you need in the Midwest, so got bored after a month's worth of videos and sort of forgot about him.

One of the guys on my last R2R2R was from Michigan and knew he'd be at a disadvantage. He started prepping 6 months ahead of time and still finished within 20 minutes of the rest of the group. No way I'd go to the GC from the Midwest on a month's worth of training.

[xsproutx]

doing gear reviews when he isn't selling insurance at his day job.

That's basically it, although he quit his day job a while ago. He makes over 100k a year purely on ad rev (most youtubers make more money off their sponsors than ad rev, too). He has very few backpacking videos and isn't very strong at it, realistically. I know a guy who was on another sponsored trip with him out west in that said he's very nice but not super fit/used to putting in miles.

Even his gear reviews, which are his bread and butter, are... interesting. He gets basic facts like weights wrong. With all that said, he's apparently very appealing to what are probably the 'one trip a year' crowd as he has one of the biggest backpacking youtube channels out there.

[joebartels]

It's brilliant monetization of the platform. Controversy stokes views (this thread is a perfect example of it, and supports the idiocy of it all). In the end, it's cash in the bank. Don't watch it, and if you get tricked into watching, definitely don't comment, share, or encourage others.

Chums post is almost as brilliant. One must drink the Kool-Aid and shut up, or be cast as participating in the issue.

Ghosting is a modern term for an age-old solution to dealing with difficult issues. Throttling/redirecting interaction on HAZ until it's gone is no different.
It's crystal clear when someone has figured out loopholes, hence...
Should comments be enabled on Hide 1 Wk content to bring attention?
(Posting for future researchers? Leaving comments ON attracts social comments, defeating less initial views)
HAZ relies on current public content. Primarily throttling and such, misuse HAZ for storage or attention.

[Watauga]

A poster on r/ultralight_jerk put it best:

"Actually goes hiking, almost dies"