The Associated Press is reporting that a 22-year-old man has died from injuries sustained after . Kyle Lee Stocking overestimated the length of rope necessary to swing through the opening of the 140-foot sandstone feature, crashing into its base.
Swinging from the arch was made popular by the YouTube video “World’s Largest Rope Swing,” which has garnered over 17 million pageviews.
The activity became so popular that authorities recently banned commercial jumps.
In 2012, we published an ϳԹ reader’s staggering photo of amateur jumpers on the arch: “The stunt was impressive but a little frightening—even for photographer Sharn Seaward, who has skydived. ‘Watching them gave me no desire to try it,’ she says.”
No word as to whether the death will affect private jumpers, but the reports that the Utah Trust Lands Administration indicated it can’t enact an outright ban on the activity. It has posted a sign warning of possible “severe injury or death even if your equipment works.”