あるカメラマンの運命

―― Daredevil Grand Canyon Photographr ――

 グランドキャニオンの中で屹立した岩の天辺に立っている写真家を見て、私は驚愕の余り声も出なかった。下を見れば千尋の谷。右手には峡谷を挟んでもう一つの岩が天を突き刺すように立っている。

 革ひものついたサンダルばきの男は、カメラと三脚を据えている。その様子を見て疑問がわいてきた。どうやって岩によじ登ったのか、どうやって戻るのか。

I was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on this solitary rock in the Grand Canyon.

The canyon's depth is 900 meters here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe.

Watching this guy on his thong sandals, with a camera and a tripod I asked myself questions :

How did he climb that rock?
How will he get back?

 やがて太陽が谷の向に沈むと、男は空いているほうの片手で道具類をまとめ、身づくろいをした。そして、この姿勢、もう後にはひけない。

After the sun set behind the canyon's horizon he packed his things (having only one hand available) and prepared himself for the jump. This took about 2 minutes. At that point he had the full attention of the crowd. This is the point of no return.

 その直後、男は跳んだ。サンダル履きのまま……。

 下を見れば、900メートルの深い谷。

 跳び移る先の岩の方が高い。男は低い位置の急斜面に跳び移り、片手で岩の突起に手を懸けようとしている。

After that, he jumped on his thong sandals...

The canyon's depth is 900 meter s (3,000 feet) here.

Now you can see that the adjacent rock is higher so he tried to land lower, which is quite steep and tried to use his one hand to grab the rock.

 しかし岩に手を懸けられるのは右手しかない。その上、左手にかかえた持ち物はカメラや三脚など、重くてじゃまだ。

 このあと、男は岩の上によじ登ることができるだろうか、それとも奈落の底に落ちて行くのか……。

Only his right hand is available to grab the rock and the weight of his stuff is a problem. He has a camera, a tripod and also a plastic bag, all on his shoulder or in his left hand.

He lands low on his flip flops, both his right hand and right foot slip away...

(山野 豊、2010.12.26)

(ホームページへ戻る)