Most of what I have seen has been rock climbers and these people to me have always seemed to have a death wish. Sort of like Russian roulette with a rope.

Media reports aren't always correct.

Having spent some time photographing the Delicate Arch, I see two likely fall locations:
- The final section of the trail to the arch, as shown in the video posted by oddball.
- The large bowl below the arch.

The trail has a large drop to the north, which is the left of the video. The carved trail could be very slick if it was covered with snow or ice. The trail does slope a bit to the south -- which is away from the cliff drop.

The bowl below the arch should not be trivialized. The posted video ends where people can first see Delicate Arch well. Immediately after reaching this point, there are a number of good-sized boulders to sit on and view the arch. We see this in the last few seconds of the video. Further off to the right, the rock face no longer has good boulders to sit on, and the rock face slopes noticeably towards the bowl. A slip or mis-step at this point could result in a tumbling fall of maybe 150-200 feet into the bowl. The walls of the bowl get steeper as one approaches the bowl, meaning that a person would continue to pick up speed and wouldn't be able to stop the tumbling.

I have climbed down into the bowl to obtain a different perspective for pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't care all that much for the pictures I took. I climbed up/down the west end of the bowl -- right below the arch, which is the least steep part of the bowl. The climb down, and return climb out, was fairly technical. Even with my climbing approach shoes, which have "sticky" rubber soles, I was quite focused on every move.

The whole bowl area below Delicate Arch is not a place for mistakes.

"The victims, a 60-year-old woman and 65-year-old man, fell into the lower bowl near the renowned arch..."

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
"The victims, a 60-year-old woman and 65-year-old man, fell into the lower bowl near the renowned arch..."

Oh come on now. Why would anybody read BEFORE they post? Everyone knows the first post is just a placeholder anyway and thus, not worth reading.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Don't post conspiracy theories in this forum. If you have some evidence to present, do so. Otherwise, do not post that overly-dramatic speculation in this forum.

Three people on a trail- the one in front slips and knocks down the other two, or, one falls and the other two try to rescue them and, in turn, they themselves fall. Come on. Enough with this conspiracy stuff. Occam's Razor

My first thoughts also. I would certainly have reached for my loved one.