Ithaca offers countless attractions for those who appreciate nature’s wonders. Take Taughannock Falls—the impressive waterfall carves a 400-foot gorge, being three stories taller than Niagara Falls.
As prepossessing as it is, Taughannock remains a perpetual danger zone. Having once been undersea, the Taughannock gorge carved through layers of sedimentary rocks like sandstone, shale, and limestone: soft rocks that are vulnerable to Ithaca’s unforgiving winters. Water that slides into cracks in the gorge freezes as the temperature drops, expanding and loosening rocks. When summer comes, the ice melts, meaning certain parts of the gorge could potentially break off in a rockslide.
In August 2005, Deborah Rowen of New Jersey was an unlucky victim of this case. She was standing with her family on the base of one of the falls when she was struck in the head and buried under a rockslide. The state was not at fault for her death, however; the family voluntarily walked into an off-limits area after seeing other people lingering around, ignoring warning signs. Incidents like this have occurred quite frequently in Ithaca.
Rockslides are not the only precarious features of Ithaca’s gorges and waterfalls. Numerous people have jumped off the bridges that span Ithaca’s gorges in suicide attempts. Many have simply slipped and fallen to their death, but in some instances, people have jumped for fun. 20-year-old Eric Richardson died in Ithaca’s Second Dam from an apparent diving accident just this July.
Despite Richardson’s death and various other warnings, people still continue to dive into the water. “I’m just not afraid of that kind of stuff,” one teen said. Both locals and tourists continue to risk death in these dangerous locales. What could possibly go wrong?
After all, Ithaca is gorges.