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.
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
"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 even if he had the flip flop he’d still be leaving with burns when the flip flop flips and flops some sand between the shoe and his foot.
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.
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.
People need to reconsider modern indulgences. Things the people did without 100 years ago. I’m not talking about medical advancements, but this type of hyper convenient travel isn’t really necessary.
deleted by creator
Travel itself isn’t necessary. This Belgian traveled half way across the globe to burn his feet in the desert. I won’t travel an hour to hang out with friends that can’t figure out discord.
We can demand the 1% fix their shit and fix our own shit. Not reducing our own consumption only feeds more profits to the 1%.
deleted by creator
Do you also post comments on any article involving beef chastising people for eating it? Do you eat it? That has a dramatically higher carbon impact than people occasionally (or even frequently) taking a vacation.
Edit: from what I can tell, his share of the greenhouse impact of his flight to and from, is roughly equal to eating two 1/3 pound hamburgers.
~1650kg impact per flight each way / 200 passengers (low estimate) * 2 (to and from) = 16.5kg
Estimated 60kg of impact, per kg of beef produced / * 1/3 pound * 2 burgers = ~18kg of impact.
Edit2: found another source that estimated hamburger beef at 21.88kg of impact (the difference seems to be partly how they estimate the methane produced and its relative impact compared to carbon). If so, then it’d be 6 burgers for that round-trip flight.
For those of you who don’t know Fahrenheit:
123F->50.5C
170F-180F-> 77-82C
200F->93C
109F -> 43C
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.
Hmm ‘tis an American news source
The Belgian burnt his feet in °c tho
This makes me want to see someone cook steak in Death Valley by merely using the heat of the ground.
Maybe someone who used to be a huge asshole? Out there making sloppy steaks in Death Valley with the Dangerous Nights crew.
Thank you, it all makes sense now.
Also -40F = -40C
I know what -40 feels like.
I’d still take that over the other end of the spectrum.
You can always put warmer clothes on. You can’t keep taking them off.
Yea, people look at me like a deer in headlights when I tell them that.
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.”
Group of pioneers in 1849: “This place is dangerous! Let’s call it Death Valley so people know to steer clear!”
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?
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.
As a former child and current parent: no.
Not even a similar story, but a similar result. As a kid in Vegas in the summer on vacation wearing flip-flops with my feet soaking wet from the various water fountain things. I got blisters, bad. Never been into sandals or flip-flops ever since.
Belgian, so I’m surprised they were sensible enough to wear any kind of footwear
Belgian
Swamp German
I always thought of Belgians as being swamp French. It’s the Dutch who are swamp Germans.
Burn.
Like sand.
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.
I’m one of those special kinds of idiot where I pride myself on my ability to traverse any terrain in my thongs (flip flops).
The kinds of things they do and the places they go in thongs in South-East Asia. It’s humbling.
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.
Death Valley: Whatevs, I got yer shoes
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
I’m more of a croc connoisseur if you will. They provide air holes for speed and even offer rear straps for 4wd mode
What’s the melting point on those bad boys?
And not go in the summer time.
Why would any tourist want to visit Death Valley when it’s comfortable? Extreme heat is the point.
Not that I agree.
This is kind of off topic, but I want to make sure to note that Death Valley is more than just heat! It’s one of my favorite places to visit so I can’t resist soapboxing a little when it comes up. I’ve only ever visited in the colder season, which is what most people do.
When I first visited Racetrack Playa there I laughed the whole time because it’s so amazing and strange. (It’s the place with rocks that leave zigzagging trails through the desert which were unexplained until pretty recently.) You can also hike the canyon where R2D2 is kidnapped in the original Star Wars, visit abandoned mining towns, climb the sand dunes, look over the valley from mountains that stay much cooler than the lower parts of the park… The variety is incredible! Highly recommend if you ever find yourself nearby when it’s not too hot.
It’s on my list! I’d love to go visit it one day, maybe even in the heat, which I agree is not a time to screw around.
A lot of people don’t realize it’s hot far past the point that wearing light clothing is helpful, you actually need to be much more covered, like walking into an oven.
And not in fucking July.
Id go in November minimum. Id prefer winter though, I want to watch the boulders migrate.
People almost dying in “Death Valley”?
People die there every year. People aren’t too bright sometimes.
This reminds me of the story of the German family that went on a trip to Death Valley and ended up accidentally driving up an Arroyo they thought was a road, getting stuck, and dying of dehydration after they tried to walk to safety.
If you’re going to go to a new and strange environment, make sure you get some advice from a local and don’t push yourself. Many tragedies like this are caused by people making genuine mistakes, but they can be prevented. If he’d simply asked someone if walking around Death Valley in flip flops was a good idea, he’d be fine.
I live a half hour from Death Valley, and it’s not named ironically, it’s a death zone. It’s not really habitable for humans, you should never go alone, have full body covering clothes, heavy duty foot wear, lots of food and drink, and know how to get out from where you are at all times. It’s not safe, many people still die there every year. It’s just sad to me. I’m always sad to hear about anyone that dies or gets injured, we’re a little isolated out here and tourists are some of the best people we regularly deal with, I love tourists. They just aren’t always aware of the risks out there.
I just want to say I like the general tone of this comment. Compassionate, respectful, and warning.
I remember that! The write up by the guy who found their remains was pretty interesting.
One line really stuck out to me: ‘at that point they were in a survival situation, although they probably didn’t realize it yet.’ He really detailed out how, without making any obvious mistakes (from their perspective), they ended up in a deadly situation. From their point of view, it was situation normal… until it wasn’t.
The writeup is here, for anyone interested. I wholeheartedly recommend it, it’s a fascinating story.
Also it took over a decade to find their remains if memory serves me right, because all of the initial search and rescue attempts were done be folks who would know what to do in that situation. It took a dude putting his mind in “ignorant European” mode to find the skeletons, because basically no one from the south west would think to cross a desert to go to an old military base. Half those things are abandoned why would you try that, but that aint how it works in much of Europe.
Maybe don’t even go to a place called “Death Valley.”
Eh, I don’t think that’s really fair.
It is a national park, and it’s huge, something like 5000 square miles of desert.
I could see the appeal for someone who has never seen a desert to want to go and see a huge desert for the first time. I could even see why they’d pick that desert: cool name, cool history, lots of beautiful mountains. I can also see why a lot of foreign people would get a false sense of security, it’s called a park, it’s in a well developed country, and it’s “maintained” by its own government agency, so surely things can’t go too wrong out there.
I’ve travelled all over the US, and have been to a lot of national parks. I always do my research about the area, get printed maps, carry a gps, and generally follow all the rules you’re supposed to. But those are American rules because this is kind of a unique country in that you can drive from a city that has everything you need to live into true wilderness where there might not be another human or even a way to contact anyone for miles, in a matter of hours. Most developed countries are not like that. So for someone who’s come from a country like Germany, or really anywhere in Europe, it really would be a culture shock to realize that there are huge sections of this country where you are on your own.
I don’t blame people for wanting to come here and see our beautiful national parks. But the amount of people I’ve seen who either don’t carry water, or just carry a small bottle from a vending machine, is insane. And I doubt those people tell anyone what their route is, or what to do if they don’t show up at a specific time.
These Germans really made some simple mistakes that any average person could, and didn’t have the education on wilderness to truly recognize they had wound up in a fight for their life. I’ve seen it happen before even in small state parks.
deleted by creator
Wow, people really wear flipflops there? That’s crazy.
Actually, going there is crazy too.
That’s what I’m thinking. Even in flip flops you should notice the sand being hot and think, “maybe I shouldn’t do this”
I went there in December and it was a perfect 67° F. This was especially great because we had originally come from below zero temps in Minnesota only a few days prior. In truth though Death Valley was not very exciting and I don’t think I would ever bother to return.
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 his feet. It should have been a more continuous process in which he was probably already 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.
