Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 23
NPS Investigates 23-Year-Old Swept Over Yosemite's 600-Foot Nevada Fall
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 23

NPS Investigates 23-Year-Old Swept Over Yosemite's 600-Foot Nevada Fall

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 23

Summary

  • Search and recovery crews responded after reports that a 23-year-old man went over Nevada Fall in Yosemite on June 20, with the National Park Service saying the incident remains under investigation.
  • Witness accounts posted online said the man was swept away while trying to help a woman caught in the current; she was pulled to safety with a branch, but he could not grab hold.
  • A helicopter searched below the falls about an hour later, and Yosemite Search and Rescue personnel then moved into the area with equipment.
  • Nevada Fall is a notoriously hazardous site, with slick granite, fast-moving water and a roughly 600-foot drop that visitors said leaves little chance of survival.

Insights

He died a hero trying to save a friend. Could a long-proposed footbridge have prevented this entire tragedy?
After a death in an overcrowded park, must Yosemite choose between visitor freedom and preventing the next fatality?
A safety plan for Nevada Fall exists. Will this tragedy finally accelerate critical safety upgrades?