Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite

This book was written by a retired National Park Ranger who well documented all the known fatalities that have occurred over the last 150 years within the Yosemite Park boundaries. The text is divided into chapter categories such as: Waterfalls Base Jumping Snow Aircraft Down Falls While Hiking Drowning Lost Murder Homicide. Each chapter gives what amounts to a study on select events within the category and then provides a full summary of the fatalities within that category at the end of the chapter which includes incidents that were not fully described in the case study. The style of writing is not dry at all and includes hints of sarcasm or humor where appropriate. For example, one woman was killed while illegally BASE jumping (parachuting) off of a cliff. The event was advertised and the Park Service knew of it in advance because the event was a "protest" to demonstrate the "safety" of BASE jumping. The author points out the irony that the woman DIED as she attempted to protest the "unnecessary" prohibition against a sport she felt was "safe." The text even provides eye witness recollections of the final words people uttered as they slipped to their deaths (you can guess a few of those words). Details of the deaths can sometimes be grusome, but there is only one photo in the entire book and that is on the front cover. (A man who starved to death in the 1930's after being trapped by an early winter storm). The book is actually an excellent source of wilderness education. If you are the type of person who learns from the mistakes of others, you will benefit by reading the book. Or, if you are simply unaware that people actually get LOST in Yosemite Park and are never heard from again, it is an eye opener. And for those among us who think that a National PARK is safe to behave without concern of one's behavior, the book will explain that the term PARK is nothing more than a bureaucratic title for what can be a dangerous wild area. I had one friend reject the concept of reading the book as "not being a positive activity." Its people like him who falsely think that going through life is a matter of "being positive" rather than being well informed. Its people like him who get lost and then can't extract themselves from danger despite being a "positive thinker." I recommend the book for adult or young adult reading and give it a 5 Star rating.

An excellent book about the hazards of Yosemite, and how being young, dumb and often male can be a fatal triangle that brings (or has brought) death to entirely too many people. Yosemite is a very dangerous place and people underestimate the dangers of just going off trail. In this book, the authors have carefully researched deaths and disappearances in the park. (Hint: It ain't Bigfoot or Skinwalkers). When I received the book, I was thumbing through chapter 9, Big walls, and small ones too. It quickly becomes apparent how many ways nature can kill you. Reading some (or most) of the stories is quite sobering and at times just depressing. Dumb kids and young adults who should have known better but did not. This book is 612 amazing pages about the reality, and again, this is not the David Paulides missing 411 nonsense, but a clear and concise examination of the faulty decision making and over estimation of one’s own abilities, and how simple mistakes lead to certain death. If you are an outdoorsman, or want to be, this is a book you should pick up and read. I highly recommend it.

Off The Wall: Death in Yosemite is a book that chronicles the history of deaths in Yosemite park in California. From hikers to swimmers to base jumpers there is no shortage of people who will do very dangerous and idiotic things in a national park. The tale is told by two park rangers, Michael Ghiglieri and Charles Farabee who, in addition to performing their normal duties, also are involved in search and rescue for climbers and hikers who have met with injury or even death. Most of these hikers and tourists are either unprepared, overzealous, or just downright stupid. Not to mention those who are blatantly suicidal. The rangers are even deputized as such to be coroners for the counties in which they work. The book is extremely detailed and well written. The stories range from comical to ironic to sad and eventually to gruesome and diabolical. There is no shortage of ways to die in Yosemite: wading in rivers with dangerous flows just above fatal waterfalls seems to be the most idiotic. There are: car accidents, failed parachutes of base jumpers, wall climbers who fall, lost hikers, ice climbers, goring animals, bears, mules, suicides and homicides. The book spells them all out. There is even the tale of a lost hiker on whom hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars was spent in a hopeless search and rescue only to discover the person had merely hiked a few yards out of sight of his wife, turned around and was found years later alive and well and living in Maine. He had faked his disappearance to leave his wife! You will enjoy this book. It's easy to put down and pick right up agin from where you left off as the body count mounts.

Great read in the style of “Death in the Grand Canyon”. The judgement exercised by some of these unfortunate victims, entering a water pool upstream from a 100 foot waterfall, leaves serious questions but that’s life(and death).

I really liked this book. I’m always curious about such tragedies, and how they occurred so I could avoid the same fate. The stories are a good reminder to follow the park’s rules and warnings. Easy to read, can skip around the book to the different areas, like falls, drownings, weather, and even murders. Not morbid or disrespectful to the victims either.

I've been a wilderness guide since about 1973. Early in my career, when I was an apprentice climbing instructor, part of the evening fireside ritual was reading from "Accidents in North American Mountaineering" published annually by the American Alpine Club. The chief climbing instructor would read the case, and then we do a group analysis with our students on what went wrong and what we might learn from it. This process was very formative for me and definitely strengthened whatever native caution I had. It may have contributed to a certain timidity that kept me out of trouble, but also discouraged me from becoming particularly accomplished as a mountaineer. This book has many stories that are similarly useful. Like other reviewers, I found it hard to put down once I started, and I read it cover-to-cover over about two days; I suggest clearing your schedule before you crack this book open. There are a lot of ways to die in the mountains, and Yosemite has been a laboratory of sorts for those ill-fated experimenters whose ignorance, poor judgement, and bad luck have terminated their research. There are chilling stories of simple decisions gone terribly wrong, and even more chilling stories of car wrecks and psychopathic murder rampages. As a guide, the tales about misjudgement of the power of water in streams and rivers, and about getting lost, stand out. My colleagues and I put a lot of effort into preventing these mishaps; on long trips in the Spring the stream crossing can definitely be more hazardous than technical ascents on backcountry peaks. But that's not to say that tales of climbing accidents are not also informative, because they are. Some of the stories are legendary, and have been told and retold around many a campfire. Others were new to me. I was a bit surprised at the total count of climbing deaths in Yosemite; I would have estimated about twice as many. And how many is that? Buy the book and see. You won't regret it, and it just may help you stay out of trouble.

This is a great read. The more you know Yosemite the more gripping it is. I had my own experience on a valley wall as a young teen that could have made me an entry in this book but I was one of the lucky ones whose fall was broken by a tree (and this did not involve trying to get a better photo or view but rather came out of getting caught in a freak blizzard and white out). Sadly the people who may need this book the most will never read it. I have seen so many parents do stupid things with their kids around the falls it is amazing more people have not been swept over Vernal Falls. One would think people would learn but it seems they never will. One thing however, this book comes down very hard on off trail hiking. Off trail hiking can be safe but one needs to be excellent at trail hiking first and the valley is NOT a good place to do off trail for the beginner of X-country.....and the walls are death traps unless you really know your route and are willing to turn around at any point.....getting cliffed out is all too common on the walls. Unlike the past, the internet is full of off trail routes that help with route finding but you still must know your limits ahead of time and stick to the CLASS of hike you planned on. The worst thing to say to yourself is....."oh it is only a short bit of class 4....I looks doable." Yep....could be you last thoughts. While upclimbing can be fun, downclimbing pretty much always sucks and that class 3/4 up could end up being a class 4/5 down if it does not lead anywhere. Remember....if you route is suppose to be a class 3 and you hit a class 4 you are OFF ROUTE....time to retrace your steps and see where you messed up. You don't want to be an entry in the next edition of this book.

Yosemite is astonishingly beautiful and for those who are careless, ignorant, or arrogant, it is lethal. Reading the section on those sad souls who ignore warning signs before plummeting hundreds of feet over waterfalls to impact granite bolders the size of homes is shattering. Searchers are often unable to find the dead or the body is found in fragments that bear scant resemblance to the original inhabitant. Yosemite offers a smorgasbord of fatal opportunities. This book is best read in conjunction with Laurence Gonzales Deep Survival which offers insights into why otherwise intelligent people make horrendous decisions.

Good and informative. A good read before travel or on the plane. Print size good.

Interesting books about accidents and incidents in the Yosemite National Park

Very good book

i enjoyed the book but I thought the grand canyon book was the better one.