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Fatal geocacher accident


OZ2CPU

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A short translation from the article:

yesterday 22 oct a 40 years old male geocacher from Germany died while trying to find a geocache in Danmark,

his friend a 44 years old male, barely made it alive.

 

Danish:

http://www.bt.dk/krimi/tragedie-ved-als-familiefar-druknet-under-skattejagt

 

http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2013/10/22/1022214808.htm

 

We dont know yet what kind of problem they got into,

the cache is closed as fast as we heard about this,

 

we are many geocachers from Denmark who are very sad to hear about this,

we think about his family and friends in this hard time..

 

please take care out there..

Edited by OZ2CPU
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We dont know yet what kind of problem they got into,

the cache is closed as fast as we heard about this,

 

German newspapers write that he was not wearing warm enough clothes, just a bathing slip.

 

Regardless of the geocaching context it is a fact that Germans are more likely involved in drowing accidents in Denmark than the Danes as many of them underestimate the dangers.

Edited by cezanne
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A short translation from the article:

yesterday 22 oct a 40 years old male geocacher from Germany died while trying to find a geocache in Danmark,

his friend a 44 years old male, barely made it alive.

 

Danish:

http://www.bt.dk/krimi/tragedie-ved-als-familiefar-druknet-under-skattejagt

 

http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2013/10/22/1022214808.htm

 

We dont know yet what kind of problem they got into,

the cache is closed as fast as we heard about this,

 

we are many geocachers from Denmark who are very sad to hear about this,

we think about his family and friends in this hard time..

 

please take care out there..

 

The geocache involved was:

GC3NMG7 Hold til venstre (Cache title translates to: "Keep Left").

The cache was located in the ocean, on a green marker bouy approximately 150 meters (500 ft.) offshore, at a water depth of about 5 meters (15 ft.). The water temperature was 12 degrees Celcius (54 deg. Fahrenheit). The man who drowned attempted to swim to the bouy to retrieve the cache. He got in trouble, and his friend attempted to rescue him, but had to return to shore. He was retrieved in hypothermic condition from the shore by a Royal Danish Air Force rescue helicopter who flew him to hospital in Odense about 62 km (39 miles) away , where he subsequently recovered. On arrival at the hospital the air crew got the message that another swimmer was in the water and returned to the scene, where they spotted the first man, floating under water, and retrieved him exactly one hour after retrieving his friend. He, too, was flown to hospital, where he died. The time of the second retrieval was 15:40 UTC, late afternoon (daylight conditions).

 

This incident has shaken the Danish geocaching community. I can only agree with my good geobuddy OZ2CPU "please take care out there". And think before you act.

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>Was it against the guidelines?

 

NO off course not, and it was correctly rated, and plenty of clear explain about how to handle it,

and even also extra warnings about all details.

 

>Archived out of respect immediately by the CO when he heard of the incident. Sounds like a good enough reason to me.

 

EXACTLY !!

it is not fun for anyone to got and seek a cache, where another person lost his life,

this is not the idea about geocaching.

 

There has been a few other caches where people got killed (not in Denmark)

those caches also got archived in respect.

 

Please try to keep this thread free from dum-smart comments, we dont need them, thanks.

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Please try to keep this thread free from dum-smart comments, we dont need them, thanks.

 

I have not read any such comments in this thread.

 

What is true in any case is that there are many cachers out there that take risks when geocaching they would never have taken in their life before and they are very often not aware of what risks they are taking.

 

While such incidents are tragic for those directly involved (including family, friends etc), I do hope that more cachers will start to think about whether they really know what they are doing when going for certain caches. This will not save of the life of the man who died in this accident, but maybe someone else's life.

 

Life always involves risk and more people die in traffic accidents than in geocaching accidents, but in case of many geocaching accidents it turns out that people did things where they were not really aware of what they are doing. The greed to log a certain cache is simply too high and the average cacher often lacks the required knowledge to estimate the taken risks correctly.

Another example are tree climbing caches. Having the physical ability to climb up a tree and to use equipment is not sufficient - it also requires some experience and knowledge in order to be able to decide when something is too dangerous given the current conditions. In fact it is surprising that not more fatal geocaching accidents are happening - each one of them that could have been avoided (not by not hiding such caches that are perfectly ok for the suitable target audience!) is one too much.

 

 

Cezanne

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There has been a few other caches where people got killed (not in Denmark)

those caches also got archived in respect.

Sorry. I wasn't aware of that. I knew there were some cachers who met an untimely demise, and the respective caches were archived, however, I was under the impression that these were archived due to permission issues. My apologies if I misunderstood the process.

Please try to keep this thread free from dum-smart comments, we dont need them, thanks.

I wasn't aware there were any dum-smart comments being posted? :unsure:

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While the loss of a life is sad, I agree that some cachers are not aware of the risks they take when going after certain caches or cache ratings. If you are not comfortable camping in semi primitive conditions, then you should probably stay away from caches that out of your comfort zone till you are better prepared both mentally and physically.

 

Not trying to say that this person was not a strong swimmer, but I am trying to say that when you underestimate the environment and over estimate your abilities, something tragic is soon to follow.

 

Be safe, cache smart, and have fun. If you have to pause even for a second about retrieving a cache, don't, walk away and go find an easier one.

 

Our thought and prayers to all involved and affected.

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Hearts are heavy at Geocaching HQ today. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the cachers, the cache owner, each of the local communities affected, and the global community. Tragedies like these hit all of us hard and remind us just how fragile life is.

 

Jayme...you've been nothing but a great addition to GS. Thank you for acknowledging this tragedy. IIRC, GS was pretty quiet when the last geocacher death happened.

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It is easier than you expect to under-estimate a situation. It's not that far. The ground seems sturdy. There will be enough daylight left. The water is not that deep. And the smiley - not a "numbers" smiley, but a unique, hard-earned, legendary smiley - beckons.

 

In the summer of 2012, I came a tree branch away from dying not 500m from a mountain-top gift shop because I made careless choices while in pursuit of a cache. While I consider myself blessed to have the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, it is an experience that still haunts me. I never found the cache and I believe I need to go back and do it "right" to heal from it.

 

Ms. Incredible is right: No cache is worth your life. At the same time, for some of us, caching is our life. A few might even say it saved their life. All of these points need to be considered. I hope the family and the surviving cacher don't blame the game or themselves, but realize that living is a risky proposition at the best of times. They are in our hearts.

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Hearts are heavy at Geocaching HQ today. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the cachers, the cache owner, each of the local communities affected, and the global community. Tragedies like these hit all of us hard and remind us just how fragile life is.

 

Jayme...you've been nothing but a great addition to GS. Thank you for acknowledging this tragedy. IIRC, GS was pretty quiet when the last geocacher death happened.

 

Agree wholeheartedly!

 

Our sympathies to everyone touched by this tragedy.

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