Nittineedles

Life & Events > How Dumb is Dumb?
 

How Dumb is Dumb?

Young and invincible, maybe also a little dumb.

This is a case of a photographer photographing another photographer. The following pictures were taken by Hans van de Vorst from the Netherlands at the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The descriptions are his own. The identity of the photographer in the photos is unknown.

I was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on this solitary rock in the Grand Canyon .

The canyon's depth is 900 meters here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe.

Watching this guy wearing flip flop sandals, with a camera and a tripod I asked myself 3 questions:

1. How did he climb that rock?

2. Why not take that sunset picture from that rock to the right, which is perfectly safe?

3. How will he get back?

After the sun set behind the canyon's horizon he packed his things (having only one hand available) and prepared himself for the jump. This took about 2 minutes. At that point he had the full attention of the crowd.

This is the point of no return. After that, he jumped in his flip flops...
The canyon's depth is 900 meters (3,000 feet) here.

Now you can see that the adjacent rock is higher so he tried to land lower, which is quite steep and tried to use his one hand to grab the rock.

We've come to the end of this story. Look carefully at the photographer. He has a camera, a tripod and also a plastic bag, all on his shoulder or in his left hand. Only his right hand is available to grab the rock and the weight of his stuff is a problem. He lands low on his flip flops, both his right hand and right foot slip away... At that moment I take this shot. He pushes his body against the rock. He waits for a few seconds, throws his stuff on the rock, climbs and walks away, presumably to a bathroom to change his shorts. I know I had to change mine and I was just watching!!

posted on June 5, 2008 11:14 AM ()

Comments:

Ummmm.... yikes
comment by shesaidwhat on June 10, 2008 8:56 AM ()
Well, I read the Snopes page on this. I kind of think it might be photoshopped... mainly because whoever took these pictures had to be very precise and lucky to get the exact moment when he was in mid-air and when he just barely landed. Do you know how hard that is? Well, unless it was a video and they took out single frames. Anyway, I did see a ledge below, but it was pretty far down.
comment by sunlight on June 8, 2008 3:23 AM ()
I think I've got to go change my shorts! That was scary! I still don't see why he had to do something so dumb when the rock he stood on wasn't the only "just as good" option available to him! Even photographers who will do just about anything for a good shot shook their heads at this one!
comment by donnamarie on June 6, 2008 8:09 PM ()
That's intense.
I thought the last picture in the series was going to show him falling between the two cliffs. Glad he made it at least. Great pic...not sure it was worth the danger.
comment by mattguru18 on June 6, 2008 3:06 PM ()
It scares me too.
comment by elderjane on June 6, 2008 2:49 PM ()
I'm glad I read this after the Snopes comment appeared. hehe. Great post, Marg!
comment by jerms on June 5, 2008 10:09 PM ()
Cool pictures, but Snopes doesn't buy it:
https://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/canyonleap.asp
There is a ledge connecting the two rocks.
comment by imaginaryfriend on June 5, 2008 6:58 PM ()
When you only have a tripod to support your fall, it can't be good
comment by blogmom on June 5, 2008 6:09 PM ()
All I can say is that this man is a dumb ass! What stupidity!
comment by redimpala on June 5, 2008 3:28 PM ()
OMG my fear of heights kicked in just thinking about it...
comment by kristilyn3 on June 5, 2008 2:28 PM ()
Holy cow! It's making my stomach turn just to look at the first photo, and then there are more. How could he? If I'd been there in person I would not have know whether to leave or stay. If I left I'd always wonder how it came out, if I stayed I would be beside myself with anxiety. The guy taking these pictures did an excellent job - I probably would have missed the shot.
comment by troutbend on June 5, 2008 12:38 PM ()
What a dumb a$$
comment by meranda on June 5, 2008 12:35 PM ()
I had this on my post a while back.Dumb than Dumber.
comment by fredo on June 5, 2008 11:44 AM ()
That is just plain crazy!!
comment by texastar on June 5, 2008 11:27 AM ()

Comment on this article   


1,359 articles found   [ Previous Article ]  [ Next Article ]  [ First ]  [ Last ]