Dishuitan Waterfall, an internet celebrity attraction in Guizhou.
I believe most people understand that the event of "falling down" began with the unexpected deaths of two "allies" a few days ago.
Earlier, media reported that on the 23rd, a number of outdoor sports enthusiasts from Hunan, Chongqing and other places met to challenge Guizhou’s online celebrity attraction Dishuitan Waterfall. Two people were trapped on the waterfall during the rapid drop that day. After more than 40 hours of rescue, all the trapped were rescued, but unfortunately they were killed.
On the 25th, rescuers transported the bodies of two people to the other side of the waterfall through a tow rope, and collectively mourned the victims. A rescuer choked up and told that the first time he saw such a tragic scene, the victim was hit by a rock and his body was bruised.
Official announcement.
In recent years, accidents due to outdoor adventures are not uncommon, but it is so embarrassing that even rescuers may choke on it. This makes "Waterfall" emit a "horror" signal when it is first known to people.
As the name suggests, waterfall is to descend along the waterfall from the cliff. It doesn't sound complicated, but in fact, "falling is a very dangerous thing!" Senior outdoor sports coach and the first batch of waterfall contacts in China exclaimed Liu.
Rescuers choked and told about rescuing the victims of the waterfall.
Fascinating danger
"The most attractive part of the waterfall, I don't think it is about challenging myself or looking for excitement, but following the waterfall from the sky, feeling all the impact and beauty of the waterfall throughout the process." In Liu's view, the unique attraction of waterfall The strength is that this sport allows people to truly participate in the scenery and follow the waterfall down.
Bu He, director of the Outdoor Sports Teaching and Research Office of Beijing Sport University, said that in addition to the excitement brought about by this exercise, it can also enjoy the unique natural environment such as water flow and vegetation while gaining the pleasure of exercise.
However, this fascinating place is also the risk of falling.
accident scene.
The danger first comes from the uncertainty brought by the flowing water environment. The flow of water will change the landscape around the waterfall, so even if you have fallen at the same place countless times, every time, it may be a new situation; and during the descent, the one who descends has to withstand the impact of the current. , Thereby affecting technical actions. At the same time, the cold mountain water may cause the body to lose temperature at any time and cause cardiac arrest; not only that, the stones and branches carried in the water flow may hit the waterfall at any time and bring danger.
"Once an accident occurs, it is easy to cause suffocation, leaving only about one minute for the waterfall person to deal with." Da Liu emphasized.
He also pointed out that from a technical point of view, the early anchor point setting, the judgment of the on-site environment and the cleaning of the site will all have an impact on safety. Waterfall sports require the descendants to master mature speed descent, rock climbing technology and rope technology. Also because of these dangers, the fallers need to be equipped with special fall equipment, such as helmets and diving suits.
Data map: waterfall lovers. Photo by Yang Huafeng
However, this is only part of the source of risk. Buhe pointed out that for waterfalls, there is still a large part of "subjective risk": "Everyone feels that the equipment is almost the same, and they all descend from a height to a rock wall. It might be the same as falling from a waterfall."
On the one hand, due to the similarity of their sports forms, many people will use personal downhill experience to measure the risk of waterfall, ignoring the particularity of their sports from equipment to sports technology. Therefore, Buhe pointed out: "If you don't know this project very well, whether it is a coach or a team member, it is easy to think of it too simplistically and ignore the influence of water flow, weather, and temperature."
However, it seems that the difficulties of the two fellow travellers cannot be explained simply by "this sport is too dangerous".
Data map: cliff waterfall. Photo by Yang Huafeng
The troubled travel friend
In the previous live video, you can see two motionless silhouettes hanging in the middle of the water flow of the dripping beach waterfall, the turbulent water pouring down, and the silhouettes are faintly visible in the water hanging in the middle of the waterfall, washed by the water. .
It is understood that the travel companions in distress are a man and a woman. The man is about 70 years old and the woman is about 36 years old. They were trapped in the waterfall about 140 meters and 60 meters respectively.
In response to the deaths of the two people, on the afternoon of August 24, the official website of the People’s Government of Guanling Buyi and Miao Autonomous County in Anshun City, Guizhou Province reported that, after preliminary verification, the two trapped persons and the other 4 team members (the other 4 were safe) totaled 6 People, together went to the Dishuitan Waterfall in Guansuo Street, Guanling County, to conduct an expedition. Two expedition members descended down the third layer (130 meters high) of the Dishuitan Waterfall and were trapped in the middle of the waterfall.
Location of the victims.
As for the cause of the accident, there is no official statement. However, the practitioners have made their own speculations through the scenes and circulating information, and the final point indicates that this is an "adventure" with non-standard preparation and execution.
Buhe pointed out that looking back from the perspective of hindsight, such a high-risk sport should be followed by a qualified and risk-handling leader. However, it is clear that none of the six fellow travellers have such qualifications. Buhe also mentioned that “the report saw that the female victim had played 4 years ago”, and he reminded: “Not to mention what level she reached 4 years ago, at least for outdoor equipment operation, Four years is a very long cycle, and the interval of several months will become very rusty."
Liu's focus is more detailed: First, the two victims did not wear the short-sleeved diving suits that should be equipped for the waterfall, which proves that this is not a professional waterfall team. In addition, as the first person to fall, the female victims carry them with them. Carry too much equipment.
Data map: Those who descend during the waterfall activity do not carry too much equipment with them.
"There is a rule for rope sports, that is, whoever cloths the rope, who is the first to lay, this is a rule that will never change. And the person who cloths the rope should be the most experienced one in the team, he goes down first, One is to check the safety of the rope, and the other is to judge the water flow. However, all signs indicate that they have broken this rule. This female victim must not be the most experienced one." Liu said.
At the same time, he judged that the male victims were almost certainly dropped in order to rescue the trapped female victims. "Because usually one person successfully descends, and then one person starts, and not two people descend at the same time." It was just that the rescue failed in the end and both died.
Travelers accepted the media interview.
He also pointed out an extremely important point. Before the incident, Guizhou experienced heavy rain. The large amount of precipitation will inevitably lead to the increase in the water volume of the waterfall. At the same time, it will also increase the debris and branches in the water, increasing the risk.
From this perspective, this waterfall operation should not have been carried out from the beginning.
Travelers also admitted that the equipment is not perfect.
Adventure or adventure
According to the latest report, the travellers said that they were not familiar with the mountain road, and it was getting dark when they arrived at the waterfall. Because they did not carry the light source, the "falling" descended the mountain the fastest, so they decided to challenge.
In this way, rather than saying that this pedestrian is here to explore, the more accurate term should be "adventure."
"Because the probability of success in the adventure is not high, you have very little information; as an adventure, we have made sufficient preparations and plans, so it is very safe." Buhe explained.
Data map: the moment of the waterfall.
Similarly, Liu also mentioned a similar concept: "What is adventure? It is that you have some of the most basic skills and necessary equipment before you start this sport; and all adventures must come from your incomplete equipment. , Incomplete skills, but you force to do it, try."
This is also an important source of the frequent occurrence of outdoor adventure sports or extreme sports accidents.
Despite this, Buhe believes that this is a necessary stage in the development of outdoor sports in China: "Other countries with developed outdoor sports have also come from this stage." In his view, with the development of people's sports awareness, sports The demand for sports is also increasing, and the rise of outdoor sports adventure is a manifestation of people's sports needs and participation in sports.
After the popularity of marathons, outdoor running sports such as trail running will also be loved by people. The data picture shows the players competing on the sand and gravel road. Photo by China News Agency reporter Ma Mingyan
Buhe believes that with the emergence of such accidents, people's safety awareness will inevitably increase. Therefore, from a professional perspective, what outdoor sports needs to do is to create a more refined industry system. From skill training for enthusiasts to qualification certification of coaches and guides, a more detailed and accurate industry system has been gradually established.
From a practical point of view, Liu called for the establishment of a more complete system of laws and regulations to provide more detailed rules and regulations for outdoor sports to avoid risks: "The threshold for participation in sports will therefore increase, but the development of this sports is It is good, but it can also minimize unnecessary casualties."
Photo by China News Agency reporter He Junyi
He introduced that at present, many provinces in China have launched a reporting system for outdoor adventure activities, but not all of them. Liu recalled that he had also been to Dishuitan Waterfall in Guizhou where the accident happened. As it has not been developed yet, it is still a "wild field" and there is no reporting system to cover it.
It is understood that the Dishuitan Waterfall is an "net celebrity" attraction, and many people once challenged the waterfall to punch in. However, the Dishuitan Waterfall has not been developed. Earlier, a relevant person in charge of the Guanling County Cyberspace Administration Office also said that after this incident, government departments will strengthen the management of the area. (Author Li He)