Yesterday saw the second ‘over the edge’ death at Grand Canyon National Park this month when a 70-year-old woman fell 200-feet off the South Rim, authorities said Tuesday.
The woman was walking off a trail along the South Rim about a mile east of Mather Point. The call came into Park Rangers just after 1 pm that she needed help west of a popular overlook called Pipe Creek Vista.
“She fell before we could undertake a rescue,” said Grand Canyon spokesman John Quinley, adding that the circumstances of the call for help were unclear.
Quinley added that the woman fell between Mather Point and the starting point for the South Kaibab Trail, two well-known and highly visited places at the park’s more popular South Rim. The park’s helicopter and rescue team recovered the body.
The woman’s name and details are being withheld until her family can be notified.
On April 3, a 67-year-old California man fatally fell 400 feet from the edge of the South Rim in Grand Canyon Village, near the Yavapai Geology Museum. Park officials say about 12 people die each year within the park from accidental falls to heat, as well as drownings during rafting trips on the Colorado River.
