Tourist divides opinion with ‘stupid’ leg-dangling stunt in Yosemite

Viral video was reposted by the TouronsOfYellowstone account - dedicated to ‘moron tourists’

The infamous ledge on Half Dome, Yosemite National Park (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A tourist and father of two has split opinion with a viral video of him dangling his legs from a slender ledge on a 2,600-metre peak in Yellowstone National Park.

Aaron Eveland, a filmmaker from Hawaii, posted the video taken on Half Dome, a towering peak in the Californian park, with a slim ledge jutting from the top.

In the video, which was posted to Mr Eveland’s Instagram account, his small children are visible behind him on the rocks as he dangles his legs either side of the inches-wide ledge.

Filmed with a selfie stick held above him, the tourist’s knee-trembling video was picked up by the viral account @TouronsofYellowstone, where it has split opinion with travellers.

@TouronsofYellowstone uses the portmanteau “tourons” to combine “tourists” and “morons”, often posting video of social media users engaging in risky behaviour in the US national park. Its bio reads: “It never ceases to AMAZE me how stupid people are!”

Followers of the account were divided between awe and horror at the viral video.

“Dude my hands and feet are sweating from watching that. I go on hikes with my kids and there’s no way in hell I’d l let them stand that close with nobody near them,” wrote one user, Cody.

“No child endangerment here... I cannot believe he had his kids right there,” replied another.

“This made my stomach hurt. those kids watching 3ft from the ledge. Just no,” wrote a third.

“Bro my kids would not be anywhere near that edge… why even take that risk of them tripping or falling to their death?” wrote @gza31.

Meanwhile, another user defended Mr Eveland, saying: “I take my daughter travelling and have climbed in volcanoes, dangled off of cliffs, went fast, and played hard. Yes there are risks involved.

“I’ve explained to my child if something were to happen to us while taking risk then we went out doing what we love. Experience the world. Living is a risk.”

Half Dome and its precarious ledge is a magnet for social media influencers and adrenaline junkies.

The peak had cables installed along its steep climb in 1920, but there have been around 300 deaths in total from people falling from the summit or the climb.

In August 2022, New Zealander Anna Parsons survived an 80-foot fall from the peak, saying it was “nothing short of a miracle” that she’d survived.

The Independent has approached Mr Eveland for comment.