5 ms·

Drowning is the leading cause of death in national parks and recreation areas. It's scary how powerful water is.

have_faith 4y ago
A great example of this just down the road from me is The Strid: https://the-yorkshireman.com/the-strid/ https://the-yorkshireman.com/the-strid/ (ignore the hyperbole title) Looks entirely harmless but is incredibly dangerous in some parts. Apparently the river "turns on it's side" creating a narrow but very deep stream with very fast underwater currents.
- orobinson 4y ago
  There was a good discussion about this a few months ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32933603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32933603
FlyingSnake 4y ago
Most people don’t understand how woefully unprepared modern humans are for nature. I’ve lost friends to drowning in calm looking waters where they got trapped in hidden potholes in river bed. Water bodies are no joke.
onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
Force in numbers. It's powerful because there's a lot of it. Also it's deceptive as hell. See all the stories here about strange pockets of rivers that almost killed people, or the author's own note about the 252 degree hot pockets in Yellowstone Lake with an average survival time of 20 minutes. I think when people see water they're tempted to think it's a nice pool or a lazy river to enjoy - when really it's most likely a death trap.
dsfyu404ed 4y ago
This is one of those lies right up there with "the box cutter and the step stool are the most dangerous tools" Frequency/exposure matters. A lot of people swim. Not a lot of people choose the more extreme hike that's borderline on rock climbing. The danger of the typical or average swim is basically nil. Worrying about it other than just knowing there's baseline danger (that you can amplify by poor decisions if you choose to, but same goes for everything in life).
- sixstringtheory 4y ago
  It's more obvious how a cliff is dangerous versus a seemingly calm body of water. Thus people are less wary about water, and more people die that way. It's not a lie, because the results are the results. And spreading awareness of the outcomes is about reducing the exposure that you mentioned, especially amongst the unprepared/unskilled.

A great example of this just down the road from me is The Strid: https://the-yorkshireman.com/the-strid/ https://the-yorkshireman.com/the-strid/ (ignore the hyperbole title) Looks entirely harmless but is incredibly dangerous in some parts. Apparently the river "turns on it's side" creating a narrow but very deep stream with very fast underwater currents.

orobinson 4y ago
There was a good discussion about this a few months ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32933603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32933603

FlyingSnake 4y ago

Most people don’t understand how woefully unprepared modern humans are for nature. I’ve lost friends to drowning in calm looking waters where they got trapped in hidden potholes in river bed. Water bodies are no joke.

onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago

Force in numbers. It's powerful because there's a lot of it. Also it's deceptive as hell. See all the stories here about strange pockets of rivers that almost killed people, or the author's own note about the 252 degree hot pockets in Yellowstone Lake with an average survival time of 20 minutes. I think when people see water they're tempted to think it's a nice pool or a lazy river to enjoy - when really it's most likely a death trap.

dsfyu404ed 4y ago

This is one of those lies right up there with "the box cutter and the step stool are the most dangerous tools" Frequency/exposure matters. A lot of people swim. Not a lot of people choose the more extreme hike that's borderline on rock climbing. The danger of the typical or average swim is basically nil. Worrying about it other than just knowing there's baseline danger (that you can amplify by poor decisions if you choose to, but same goes for everything in life).

sixstringtheory 4y ago
It's more obvious how a cliff is dangerous versus a seemingly calm body of water. Thus people are less wary about water, and more people die that way. It's not a lie, because the results are the results. And spreading awareness of the outcomes is about reducing the exposure that you mentioned, especially amongst the unprepared/unskilled.