A 13-year-old teenage girl lost her footing and fell to her death Sunday night near milepost 6 on the Humpback Rock trail. Ridge District Ranger Kurt Speers said the family and friends of the girl, who was identified as Alexandra Babaeva, were having a picnic in a designated picnic area when Babaeva and an 11-year-old boy went to climb around the rocks below the viewing area off the cliff’s edge. The young girl lost her footing and fell onto a parkway.
“In my time here this is the first sort of thing we’ve had,” Speers said. “We’ve had recreational climbing deaths, but this was just children scrambling around on the rock.”
Babaeva attended Pocahontas Middle School in Henrico, Va.
John McCall, director for outdoor recreation programs at the University, said he could see where you could easily take a wrong step looking over and fall considering it is such a steep drop. But students should not be afraid of visiting the popular hiking spot, he said.
“I’ve been up there with my kids – their ages as young as 2 and the oldest was 5 or 6 at the time,” he said. “You can do it. You just have to use caution.”
Read More
In a changed Honor system, the Honor Committee struggles to generate engagement
By Bertie Azqueta | 58 minutes agoThe Honor Committee’s public meetings have been substantially shorter this semester. This semester the Committee’s meetings have had an average length of 34 minutes compared to 50 minutes in the 2024-25 term and 47 minutes in the 2023-24 term.
Student hot-spots on the Corner raise prices in response to increased operating costs
By Lily Kostro | 1 hours agoAndy McClure, owner of The Virginian and a class of 2001 alumnus, said that the last five years have placed a strain on the restaurant business due to significant expense increases.
How does U.Va.’s agreement with the Justice Department compare to the Compact?
By Nicolas Biernacki | 23 hours agoWhile both the rejected Compact and the Justice Department agreement faced resistance from the University community and have several similarities, the agreement provides firmer protection for academic freedom.
