Irony being ironic, when we went there I noticed the lack of guard rails and thought it was refreshing to not have the nanny state put up rails to ruin the beauty. I guess it is tribal land and they don’t have to.
Was at the El Tovar for four days in the fall. Nice trip. I wonder how he fell off. It is a shear drop in some spots for sure.
That would be a lot of guard rails. It is 277 miles long. And just in the most popular tourist areas, because it has an irregular shape, you are still looking at miles of rails.
It is pretty funny when somebody visits it for the first time, because it’s about a six hour trip from Phoenix, so by the time they get there, they are kind of stiff and fatigued, and in a “it’s just a canyon” attitude.
And then they see it. If you stand behind them, you can sometimes see their legs shake.
And if you really want to see people lose it, go with them on the The Hualapai Tribe Skywalk, where you stand on clear glass and look at a between 500 and 800 foot drop straight down.
El Tovar is in the heart of the South Rim Park, lots of rails - families with kids and such need rails. Almost anything not in a heavily touristed area will not have rails. The guy may well have climbed over the rail to get a picture.
In the late 90’s I was the auditor at the El Tovar.
A guest who had checked in late the night before came running to the desk the next morning screaming about the lack of fencing. (she was from NYC)
If you go east of the El Tovar about 300 yards there is an area that is pretty straight down.