The Grand Canyon is a very deep hole in the ground, a conclusion that seems to be lost on any number of visitors to the Rim. On visits to the Canyon, we have witnessed people actually dancing on the edge of the cliffs, seemingly oblivious to the hundreds or thousands of feet down to the first ledges. Recent news articles tell yet another story of a fall from the South Rim. Apparently, a French tourist is the latest to fall from the cliffs. In this case however, the tourist survived with wrist, ankle and neck injuries.
In July, a hiker's body was recovered from the Lava Falls trail and regularly, news articles highlight falls and other accidental or suicidal deaths at the Canyon. Almost exactly a year ago, on August 9, 2009, a Canadian fell to his death in the Canyon. On the average two to three people die every year from falls. In 1993, seven people died in accidental falls into the Canyon.
When people go to the South Rim (or even parts of the North Rim) in the developed area of the Canyon, there is really no transitional area between the development consisting of stores, hotels, gas stations, parking lots, and other attractions and the huge exposed cliffs of the Canyon. You walk right out of a parking lot and there is the edge with thousands of feet of drop-off. It is probably lost on some people that the Canyon is not exactly a walk in a mall.
Considering that in 2008, 4,425,314 people visited the Park, it is probably remarkable that there aren't more falls. The number of Park visitors actually fell in 2009 to 4,348,068, probably due to the slowdown in the economy. The highest number of visitors occurred in 1993 with 4,575,602.
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