A 55-year-old man from Virginia died after he became unresponsive during a hike at the Grand Canyon, the National Park Service (NPS) reported Monday.
Ranjith Varma of Manassas was trying to hike from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the North Rim in a single day, a trek that can take between 12 to 15 hours to complete and features thousands of feet in elevation changes.
At around 2 p.m. on Saturday, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center learned of a hiker in distress on the North Kaibab Trail, toward the end of the 34-kilometre, rim-to-rim hike.
Varma had been hiking with six other people that day, park spokesperson Joelle Baird told the Arizona Daily Sun. Shortly after the distress call came in, Varma became unresponsive and members of his hiking group and other bystanders initiated CPR.
Search and rescue personnel at Grand Canyon National Park were deployed via helicopter to Varma’s location, but the steep and rocky terrain made it impossible for the helicopter to land, Baird said.
According to a release from the NPS, “specialized helicopter maneuvers were employed,” to allow emergency responders to get on the ground and assume care of Varma.
Unfortunately, attempts to resuscitate the hiker were unsuccessful.
Varma’s body was taken to Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office in Flagstaff, the Arizona Daily Sun reports, where pathologists will investigate the circumstances that led to his death.
It’s not yet clear if Varma’s death was heat-related, though Baird believes it was a likely factor.
The highest temperature recorded that day at nearby Grand Canyon Airport was 31 C, according to the National Weather Service. However, temperatures within the inner canyon were over 38 C, Baird said.
Park officials are strongly advising hikers not to trek through the inner canyon between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. due to the midday heat.
“In the summer, temperatures on exposed parts of the trail can reach over 120°F (49 °C) in the shade,” the NPS writes.
Varma is the third hiker to die within Grand Canyon National Park this year, though the park typically averages between 15 to 20 deaths each year, Baird said.
“That’s everything from people experiencing medical cardiac arrest here on the rim to these types of incidents in the Inner Canyon,” she told the Arizona Daily Sun.
“So there’s a lot that’s encompassing that statistic. I will say, on average for Inner Canyon type of fatalities, we see typically one to two per year. We typically see the highest instances as a result of heat as a contributing factor to those fatalities.”
In May, a 36-year-old woman from Indiana died while attempting to hike from the rim to the Colorado River and back in a day. She was found unconscious along the Bright Angel Trail.
In July, a 57-year-old woman died while hiking in the remote Tuweep area of the park in extreme heat. The highest temperature that day reached 46 C.