Take our user survey and make your voice heard.
Three people fell to their deaths from a cliff while rock climbing in Minami-izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Friday.
Police said a fisherman saw the three fall at around 2 p.m., TV Shizuoka reported. All three were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead.
Police said the three were a local rock climbing guide who was in his 60s, a 78-year-old woman and her 48-year-old son, both from Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture. They were tethered together by a rope.
Locals say the cliff is a popular rock-climbing spot.
© Japan Today
20 Comments
Login to comment
snowymountainhell
A tragic end to a mother & son yet, very different from the other types of family news stories we often read here.
Agree with @zichi about her advanced age. Perhaps son was taking mom up the mountain to share one more life experience?
Still, @Lamily, it was possibly the guide’s overconfidence in his own previous experience, strength & ability to insure ALL were tethered to the course lead lines & anchors and not just to each other.
Condolences offered to family & friends of all lost.
timeon
Zichi, Miura climbed Everest at 80 years old. Depends a lot on experience and level of fitness
Sandoval
As someone with climbing experience, my assumption is that guide was belaying them from the above and the anchor on the top failed. I cannot say what kind of anchor it was, but my assumption would be that it was either compromised tree or an anchor made with climbing protection pieces. If guide was putting his weight while being attached to the anchor he would probably fall first and drag the rest of the tied people with him.
Regarding the poor woman’s age, I have personally witnessed on many occasions that Japanese grannies are quite adept climbers so age really means nothing in this sport.
Anyhow, tragic news indeed.
David Brent
No. He was dragged to the top by Sherpas.
master
78 is too old to drive to rock climbing.
Mark
Age has nothing to do with your physical condition, it all depends on your life style and what you consume.
NOMINATION
Sorry to all of the ageists who thinks a 78 year old belongs in a nursing home but I commend her for living her life to the fullest. Rest in Peace and hope to have her energy if I reach that age.
ian
If the woman was too old to climb, she wouldn't have been able to and wouldn't have died.
Maybe it was the guide who was too old to be working professionally.
Or anyone of them could have made a fatal mistake that dragged everyone down or just bad luck that something failed
master
She dies of massive blunt force trauma when she could have just gone for a nice walk in the park. Thats not "living her life to the fullest".
NOMINATION
Well she died doing something she wanted to do and it is her life. Who is anybody to be a complete stranger's life coach?
philly1
Ha! Immediate default to ageism--the prevailing and toxic point of view. Expected that as soon as I read the headline. You can die from being pushed over in a parking lot--at age 16. Or fall from a two-step ladder while painting a room--in your thirties. (Actual people in my circle to whom this happened.)
Or you can engage in all kinds of activities and live a long and fulfilled life--however it might end, and it will.
Please read Bolder: Making the Most of Our Longer Lives by Carl Honore, bestselling author of In Praise of Slow. Learn about the history of ageism, the numerous myths and falsehoods societies perpetuate regarding people who live long lives, and the way such flawed perceptions cause actual harm to people. For example: Did you know that doctors routinely fail to diagnose treatable conditions in patients because they dismiss the "complaint" as "a natural part of getting old"? Yup. They've studied that. People die from such cavalier dismissal--more often than they do rock climbing, I suspect.
painkiller
zichiApr. 9 05:15 pm JST
78 is too old; ok. But wait:
zichiApr. 9 06:26 pm JST
Is 78 too old or not? And if it is, then it wouldn't matter if the 78 year old woman was experienced or not.
zichiApr. 9 06:26 pm JST
So 78 is not too old?!?!?
Sollith
Sad, but unknown what could have caused the fall.
As far as age goes, there are many people who climb well into their 70s, 80s, and 90s. Just because you can't do it, doesn't mean others shouldn't if they have the ability.
Life happens. You could be hit by a car while out walking, killed in a freak natural disaster (i.e. lightning, flood, tornado, tree falling on you, landslide, tsunami, earthquake, etc.), fall of a stair the wrong way, an allergic reaction, triping and falling on a paintbrush just the right way, or any number of other causes. Maybe you get sick in a pandemic and medical complications leave you dead. Who knows? Point is we can't all be scared all the time and just hide in some padded room hoping that the person(s) or processes that deliver food don't suddenly fail and you end up starving to death or something in that padded, "safe" room.
Climbing is a perfectly acceptable hobby and while it can be dangerous it can also be done safely, freak accidents aside. Personally, I'm more worried about snake bites, grizzly bears, and other stuff out of my control than the stuff in my control while climbing.