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My family is visiting havasupai this year as our family vacation. It is an incredibly beautiful reservation at the bottom of the grand canyon.
Last time I went to this place, me and some of my scout mates shimmied behind the waterfall, starting on one end and going all the way across. It was extremely difficult. The waterfall is 210 feet high.
My question: My father thinks we could have died last time( if we had fallen into the falls, from the pressure of them coming down on us.
That is a picture of us. If you look to the left of the waterfall you can make us out.We had to start climbing there, because it was impossible to swim closer to the fall.
So my question is: Could we have died? I would like to attempt it again, but my dad has specifically forbid me from doing so.
Thanks for the input.
Posts: 332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Ask yourself if it's worth going against your father's explicit wishes, when there are plenty of other fun things to do, and you've already done this one anyway.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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I think that it depends on what is under the fall, which is something I don't know, and other circumstances, which we also don't know.
I also think that if you're under 18 and your father told you not to do it, you'd better not do it. And if you're over 18, and your father told you not to do it, you should consider carefully whether you ever want to be invited on vacation with your family again/want to continue to live with them (if you're doing so.) Because doing it might result in either of those things being discontinued, even if you get through it without a scratch.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I won't be going against my father's wishes at all. I'm just curious if water falling from over 200 feet high could kill someone on impact, or push them far enough into the water that they couldn't get back up.
I repeat, there's no way in heck that I will be attempting this again.
Posts: 332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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i would guess no, as long as you had a solid place to stand. If you were swimming, i think you could die.
Posts: 549 | Registered: Feb 2008
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Really, who knows? There could be jagged rocks under there. If you were slammed into them hard enough, you could lose consciousness and drown. Other things could happen. I really don't know what would happen. Why don't you write the Mythbusters and suggest they test it out?
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Based on my experience with waterfalls and whitewater rafting, it's certainly possible that you could be knocked unconscious, pushed under and get disoriented, be caught in an underwater current, smashed into rocks, or have something solid like a rock or log hit you from above.
So yes, it could kill you. It very well might not, but it is certainly risky.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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I always figured the danger from a waterfall was the falling, not knowing what was down there. The possibility of getting smashed on the rocks is what made it dangerous, not necessarily the water hitting you. Although the water could push you under to the point you couldn't get back up, I guess.
Posts: 1522 | Registered: Nov 2005
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My understanding is, you can get pushed under and caught in the "washing machine effect" that takes place even under small waterfalls: the water cycles round and round vertically at the foot of the falls and eventually, but certainly not always, pops the object (you) out, sometimes quickly, sometimes after days, sometimes never. Too risky. Here's a link I found to someone who survived the washing machine effect
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This winter while in the Bahamas, we hiked to two falls with a tour group. The first was a 50 foot fall and I swam under the waterfall with the encouragement of a cliffdiver that was there. It was amazingly difficult to swim under and I am a pretty strong swimmer. The second was a 180 foot fall and the tour guide stated that in the past they allowed people to swim near the falls but someone decided to swim under and got pinned down by the waterfall to the bottom. The rocks were not ragged or anything, but the pressuer from the falls kept the person trapped at the bottom of the water for 10 minutes of so. So yes, it is very dangerous if you fall in under a waterfall that large.
Posts: 176 | Registered: Jun 2008
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It often causes an eddy, and those can be very, very hard to get out of. It happens on rivers all the time, behind large rocks, and it can suck you down and keep you underwater.
My dad almost died in one despite wearing a life vest.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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The sheet impact of the water would not kill you though I don't think, but I can't imagine you'd be happy about it.
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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The thrill that this gives doesn't outweigh the risks. And if your father forbade you to do it, even more reason not to.
Posts: 290 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Parents often have a much more realistic idea of danger than do kids, just because they've lived so much longer and seen or heard about so many more people dying. Definitely listen to your parents when it comes to risk.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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So, it's kind of like an undertow effect? We were always warned about undertows (living near the Pacific ocean, we have beaches that are prone to them.) We were warned not to go too far, and if we saw a friend get caught in one, NOT TO GO IN AFTER THEM, but to immediately scream for help so the trained lifeguards could rescue them, and NEVER to swim in the ocean on days when there were no lifeguards.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Sort of, but it is worse than an undertow because it spins you around, and you get dizzy and disoriented. A lot of times you can't tell up for down, and the water keeps lushing you down and around so there isn't a lot you can do.
I have seen a metal canoe bent completely double in whitewater because it got too close to an eddy and got sucked into a huge boulder.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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