According to a National Park Service news release, the 42-year-old Belgian tourist was taking a short walk Saturday in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in 123-degree heat when he either broke or lost his flip-flops, putting his feet into direct contact with the desert ground. The result: third-degree burns.
“The skin was melted off his foot,” said Death Valley National Park Service Ranger Gia Ponce. “The ground can be much hotter — 170, 180 [degrees]. Sometimes up into the 200 range.”
Unable to get out on his own and in extreme pain, the man and his family recruited other park visitors to help; together, the group carried him to the sand dunes parking lot, where park rangers assessed his injuries.
Though they wanted a helicopter to fly him out, helicopters can’t generate enough lift to fly in the heat-thinned air over the hottest parts of Death Valley, officials said. So park rangers summoned an ambulance that took him to higher ground, where it was a cooler 109 degrees and he could then be flown out.
I feel like if you go to Death Valley, in July, when we’re having record-breaking temps all over the world, and you wear flip flops…look, I’m not saying anyone deserves to lose a foot just because they’re making stupid choices, but maybe like, a toe. Because man, that is wildly stupid.
While I fully agree with you, for a second there I wondered what could have been proper clothing and footwear for this type of trip. I normally wear Chaco sandals in the Summer and they seem to be sturdier and more appropriate footwear for this walk and then I thought they could melt too, so… Hiking boots? Those would possibly not melt, so maybe they would have been appropriate, but I’m not sure…
A strange game, the only winning move is not to play… You don’t go to Death Valley in the boiling hot summer (I myself have been in June of many years ago and it was a chillier day)
It’s Death Valley.
You want at least mid-rise hiking boots. Trail hiking shoes might be okay, except in the case you step on a rattler.
The boots aren’t full proof protection but they’re much better than a sock.
The biggest reason to go down to shoes is if you plan to be moving over boulders- it’s pretty hard to edge.
Biggest things are that they’re comfortable, sized right and sturdy enough to not fall apart. (Also? Bring lots of socks. Swapping socks frequently will help with the perspiration)
(ETA) For general clothing avoid dark or bright colors- light tan is best, wear light breathable pants and similar shirt. Id recommend avoiding cotton (it sucks for wicking,) and go with linen. I recommend long sleeves but a lot of that has to do with me having 3 shades- white, pink and burnt.
Hat and sunglasses that are comfortable.
Also? The biggest rule? Tell someone where you are going, what your route is, and when you expect to get out. I recommend checking in and out with the parks service cuz they’re gonna be the ones looking for you.
Do rattlers even live in death valley? I’m not sure that they do.
the Mojave Rattler, Mojave Sidwinder Rattler, and Panamint Rattler all can be found there.
There’s other venomous snakes, too, on that list. It’s not a place you want to go about in sandals. not. at. all. There’s also plenty of nasty spiders and scorpions, too. (to be fair, there’s basically scorpions everywhere. except like. the artic)
Huh. There being scorpions everywhere except the Arctic is such a wild statement to your average European. Never have I ever seen a scorpion outside a terrarium despite having traveled and hiked extensively in various countries around the continent.
Are they truly that common in the Americas, even in more temperate climates?
They’re that common basically everywhere, actually.
The UK has yellow tailed scorpions from southern Europe; and with climate change spreading a lot. Northern Europe is still close enough to the artic to give them difficulties; but there’s other species that are smaller that are just hard to find.
There’s also tons of pseudoscorpids that lack the tail (and are tiny,)
Ah. Well, perhaps I ought to amend it to an average Northern European, then. There are definitely no true scorpions in the Nordics, although we probably have some tiny pseudoscorpids around somewhere. Although I’ve hiked all over Southern Spain and never spotted a scorpion there either.
…which probably says more about my perceptiveness or lack-there-of than anything else./edited for spelling
Interesting anecdote. I’m a European-American; members of my family and I have all seen scorpions in Spain, Italy, and especially Greece - all you need to do is stroll through a village at night. As for the US, I’ve never seen one outside a terrarium.
"some folks will never lose a toe; then again some folks’ll. Like Cletus the slackjawed yokel. "
Aye! What’s goin’ on on this side!?
Yeah, this is akin to wearing a bikini to Antarctica.
I’ll say it. This dumbass deserves to lose his feet. Hell, he earned it.
Literally burned it
Though they wanted a helicopter to fly him out, helicopters can’t generate enough lift to fly in the heat-thinned air over the hottest parts of Death Valley, officials said. So park rangers summoned an ambulance that took him to higher ground, where it was a cooler 109 degrees and he could then be flown out.
TIL.
Death Valley: We mean it.
Legit, I did not know this until I read this article, either.
For those of you who don’t know Fahrenheit:
123F->50.5C
170F-180F-> 77-82C
200F->93C
109F -> 43C
Also -40F = -40C
I know what -40 feels like.
I’d still take that over the other end of the spectrum.
Yea, people look at me like a deer in headlights when I tell them that.
For those of you who only know temperatures based on internal temperature of cooked meats:
123F-danger zone of most meats, some bacteria will continue to grow at these temperatures
170F- all meats including ground poultry are safe to eat at this temperature, but most people would call steak way overdone at this temperature
200F- start of 6 pack number 2 for cooking brisket, depending on what texture you’re going for you might be able to pull it or drink another beer
109F- you trying to kill someone with that burger?
And for those of you who only know temperatures based on brewing tea or coffee:
123F: Probably insufficient for even fairly delicate teas. You could probably make “sun tea” at this temperature by leaving tea in room temperature water to be heated by the sun, but this is not recommended as anything below ~130F is considered the danger zone for bacterial growth.
170F: This is the appropriate temperature for delicate or green teas to preserve flavor, antioxidants, and prevent bitterness.
200F: An acceptable temperature below boiling (212F) for black teas and coffee where overextraction is minimal.
109F: Unacceptable for tea brewing, barely above body temperature.
We make sun tea by leaving it outside (90’s, 35c). In the sun. It’s a bit like cold brew, it takes longer to extract the flavors.
It’s also bitter so generally sweetened with lemon juice. And some form of sugar. (Honey preferred.)
Correct, I should clarify, you are likely safe brewing sun tea at those ambient temperatures because the glass of the brewing vessel will trap the sun and heat the tea higher than that, like a car traps heat on a hot day. You’ll likely hit 130F+ easily and be out of the danger zone!
Thanks for translating. It is so frustrating when people only use their weird localized temperature scale.
Thank you, it all makes sense now.
This makes me want to see someone cook steak in Death Valley by merely using the heat of the ground.
So, basically it’s like checking how close the water in a pot on the stove is to boiling by putting your hand in it, then falling and putting all your weight on that hand as it sits on the bottom of the pot, and being unable to lift it again for a few minutes.
Something like that.
Death Valley
To be fair, it is right there in the name.
“I thought that was like, ironic, bruh.”
“Irony didn’t get you into this mess, son.”
Who the f enters Death Valley on flipflops?
Tourists
I wonder how much CO2 was released getting the Belgian tourist to Death Valley.
No one should ever do anything.
Who wears flip flops to the desert?!
Have you ever even met a Belgian?!?
There’s a good reason their car numberplates are red, it’s so you can avoid the daft cunts 😂
Red number plates? Didn’t notice that, however they seem incapable of navigating roundabouts
Level of observation achieved - BELGIAN
“sand? so it’s just like the beach!”
was he German? they love going hiking in sandals, and then need to get rescued from mountains.
why does anyone go into the desert with flip flops?
No, the Belgian man was not German.
But he may have spoke German. I’ll allow it.
Are you sure?
Humans seem to have a special mental gap when it comes to mountains. It’s warm and sunny so they go up in flip-flops and tiny short shorts, but on the actual mountain it’s freezing cold and often raining and they require rescuing because at some point they either fall over due to trying to wander around in what are essentially plastic slippers, or they’re too cold and they can’t carry on.
We know that the temperature drops as you go up and yet somehow that seems to fail to register for people.
As an American scout, it’s also been funny talking to my friends years after the kind of things you take for granted. I had a friend that took a bunch of people up a moderate hike, but they wound up in what could have very easily turned into a not moderate fuck up. I’ve never really considered myself a “survivalist”, but I was seriously in error in assuming people knew the basics.
In the 80s, and I was 7, we went to Italy and my parents and I went up Mount Etna and I was wearing flip-flops, making it pretty much impossible to walk up a bunch of lava rocks without them slipping off and cutting my feet. My parents only thought I was complaining about the walk until my mother looked down and saw my feet bleeding.
I haven’t been a big fan of them since.
Don’t you think it’s time to forgive your parents?
Never.
Belgian, so I’m surprised they were sensible enough to wear any kind of footwear
Belgian
Swamp German
Burn.
Sandals and flip flops are very different things for walking.
There are awesome hiking sandals that provide excellent support, grip, and all. But flip flops? Oof.
I’ve had the misadventure of having to do a small jungle trek with flip flops (my super duper fancy hiking shoes were soaking wet). I managed but it wasn’t ideal. The Australian rainforest is not exactly flip flop friendly.
Sand = beach
Hah! Total failure!
The guy is still alive. Nice try Death Valley!
More like ouchie feet valley.
“Slightly Risky Valley” just doesn’t have the same bite.
I feel like better temporary solutions could be found (than flaying your own skin on hot sand) like ripping your shirt off and tying it to your feet?
The burns probably happened in seconds.
So that is roughly 80-90 C, makes wonder if you can in a couple seconds burn your feet to a level where its skin falls off?
Scenario: You’re barefoot on a hot 90C surface that extends as far as the eye can see. Pain, panic, confusion sets in. How long before you gain the clarity of mind to dump your backpack, yank off your shirt and wrap your feet? With no assistance, because nobody else has any idea why you’re screaming in pain.
Yes, your skin could absolutely fall off in that time.
It is not like someone magically transported the sandals out of your feet. It should have been a more continuous process in which you were already probably long made aware how fucking scorching hot the sand is.
So do we just need to close death valley or require permits in the summer or something? The safety issues seem to be compounding with the extreme heat.
I assume you have to pay a fee to enter Death Valley National Park, and like every National Park I assume the rangers at the entrance and signage all throughout warn you of potential dangers. You can easily get yourself in trouble at Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, or Big Bend National Parks, for example, if you don’t take the risks seriously and make poor decisions.
Sure but those other parks… they aren’t called “Deathstone” or “Death Mountain” or “Big Death”…
I feel like Death Valley is being very frank with you on the matter.
A group of European-American pioneers got lost here in the winter of 1849-1850, while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, giving Death Valley its grim name. Although only one of the group members died here, they all assumed that the valley would be their grave.
I bet more people have died at each of the other 3 parks than at Death Valley NP. Maybe there’s data out there on that somewhere
Interestingly, the park service have a very nice dashboard to look at this:
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/mortality-data.htm
However, it doesn’t give you the deaths per count of visitors.
This article claims Denali, to be the top park in deaths per capita.
https://www.backpacker.com/survival/the-10-most-dangerous-national-parks-in-america/
It looks like Death Valley is up there, but not the highest, due to motor vehicle accidents. This makes sense since going to death valley ends up just being a lot of time in the car.
There are no entrance stations in Death Valley. There’s a fee, but they sorta “trust you” to have paid in advance.
Rangers can do their best to inform visitors and provide necessary services for survival, but at the end of the day, safety is one’s own responsibility.
If i was ever going to hike in death valley I’d probably want to go on like a guided group hike, I’d have plenty of sunscreen, snacks and a camelbak filled with ice water.
And hopefully wise enough to not wear flippin flip flops
Wym flip flops are the hikers ideal choice
Might seem like a stupid question but that’s Fahrenheit right not Celsius? I like how in the article they unnecessarily clarify that he’s talking about temperature in degrees, (a concussed duckling would be able to work that one out) but not the unit of temperature.
Correct
120f = 48c
200f = 93c
Terrible fates that I’d never considered for $100.
That’s the kind of shit i expect to happen in a place called death valley. I will only go if escorted by hokuto no ken
I went to Death Valley once on a tour and the minibus fell off the road. We had to open the door so that we could get some leverage so we could push it out of the small hole that it had fallen in and in the time that we had the door open the plastics on the door completely melted. We were all very hungover as well so it wasn’t really a very good experience.
The best part is no matter what health insurance he has (or doesn’t have), that’s gonna be expensive as fuck by the end of the year.
Belgian. So probably no freedumb buck based medical system. Wouldn’t be surprised if those systems also cover citizens while abroad.
