Over the edge : death in Grand Canyon : gripping accounts of all known fatal mishaps in the most famous of the world's seven natural wonders

Gripping accounts of all known fatal mishaps in the most famous of the World's Seven Natural Wonders. Two veterans of decades of adventuring in Grand Canyon chronicle the first complete and comprehensive history of Canyon misadventures. These episodes span the entire era of visitation from the time of the first river exploration by John Wesley Powell and his crew of 1869 to that of tourists falling off its rims in Y2K. These accounts of the 550 people who have met untimely deaths in the Canyon set a new high water mark for offering the most astounding array of adventures, misadventures, and life saving lessons published between any two covers. Over the Edge promises to be the most intense yet informative book on Grand Canyon ever written. "Aside from being the most famous and most visited of the World's Seven Natural Wonders, Grand Canyon also holds the reputation of being Mother Nature's most impressive death trap. How well deserved is this reputation? Why does this reputation seem so credible? And what, exactly, are the most lethal dangers that Grand Canyon poses? Are they its soaring cliffs, or its heat, or its bewildering maze of unscalable rock leading to "nowhere?" Or instead is it the "Killer Colorado" rushing through its Inner Gorge? Grand Canyon's death toll below the rims leaves Mount Everest's appalling record in the dust. This ambitious, well researched, and absolutely gripping book Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon explores every Canyon danger and chronicles every fatal error made by those who failed to respect them. These pages recount story after story of Man Meets Grand Canyon?and Underestimates It. Casual visitors, adventurers, prospectors, and professional outdoorsmen alike have stepped up to the sudden edge of the vast, unforgiving, desert crucible of Grand Canyon, and failed to understand what they saw. These true stories are suspenseful, engaging, and often astounding. And while many are tragic, the accounts of near-misses offer inspiration and often humor as well. Every story told here?whether of foolish errors or heroism?offers a lesson of survival. The dangers of Grand Canyon mentioned above?plus an astounding and lethal array of other dangers yet?have claimed hundreds of victims. And this amazing book Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon covers them all." -- from publisher's website