Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board How about educating hikers on half dome?

Gary R seemed to make sense. But I think a 5 minute video instead of 1/2 hour would do the job. However, I suspect nothing will be done since an occasional death in Yosemite (e.g. going over the falls, drowning, etc.) has been accepted for many years and the Park service budget is limited. One thing they do is put an account of some deaths in the Park newspaper that they hand out when you enter the Park. (I haven't been there in a long time, I assume they still have this.) This might warn people. But if the current uptick in cable deaths isn't just a glitch and the rate of cable deaths is on the rise for some reason, then something might be done. If there's a story about it on the national TV evening news, then a change in policy may follow.

I'm really undecided on the question of requiring permits for Half Dome.

Last summer was my 6th (I think) trip up Half Dome. I was sickened by the amount of trash on the trail and horrified by the number of people that we passed that were obviously unprepared. My immediate reaction was that this could be corrected by requiring permits, which would involve some type of education before being issued.

What concerned me, though, is that it could be opening a "Pandora's Box". Gary R made a good suggestion - "they should NOT limit the number of permits though, that can just keep some responsible people who planned the trip from doing it, and let some last-minute "I know, let's..." folks up instead." But once the permitting process is in place there's no going back. Look what happened on Whitney. it wasn't that long ago that day-hike permits on the Main Trail were not required.

On the other hand, the numbers going up Half Dome, especially on weedends, are staggering. I've always timed my trips to go up mid-week and was on the trail before light. Possibly requiring permits would cut down on the numbers of tourists who decide to climb just so they can go home and say they did it. Every time I've picked up a permit to do the JMT, or segments of it, I still have to listen to the Ranger explain food storage, where to camp, "pack it out", etc. It's OK.

Yup...I'm still undecided.

And even with the permit process on Whitney, you can read today how the current process does not weed out the people going up unprepared and uneducated! --   ( Trip report from a first timer )

So permits for Half Dome would just cut back the numbers, and that's about it.

In the "official" Yosemite website, the park service should have an easy to find Half Dome page that covers more of the dangers, safety tips and hiking FAQs that you find on the "official" Grand Canyon website. Unless you use the search option, you might not even find the Half Dome page because it is slightly hidden on the Yosemite website: Plan Your Visit // Things To Do // in this menu select Places To Go, not Hiking // Rock Formations // Half Dome // hike. Seems that the park service has not promoted the Half Dome hike, maybe they wanted to keep it more like an item on the In-N-Out Burger secret menu.

saddenedone,

I'm sorry you had to see this happen. But, in a sad and disturbing way, you and your family learned an important lesson of the outdoors: There is inherent risk each and every time people go into the backcountry. People get hurt and people do die. On every trip? Of course not. But it does happen. These inherent risks can be mitigated and minimized trough education, planning, practice, etc. -- and most trips will be awesome, enjoyable, and incident free. But there is no such thing as a risk-free trip into the backcountry. Period.

Your suggestion of a "full blown education" program on this hike before people begin it highlights what is probably the single biggest problem occuring in the outdoors today. I'm not disrespecting your intelligence here. Just speaking the truth. We live in an age when people expect others to take responsibility for their safety. Injured, stuck, or otherwise in need of assistance on Half Dome? No problem, flip open your cell phone and a helicopter will come and rescue you, right? Technology is a double-edged sword. It at once encourages more people to go into the backcountry and yet, at the same time, creates the expectation that safety can be guaranteed.

The truth is this: It is your responsibility to educate yourself before going into the backcountry. Period. It's not the Park Service's job, it's not the Forest Service's job, it's not the Bureau of Land Management's job. It is your job.

There is tons and tons of information available, for free and for purchase, on Half Dome -- books, online trip reports, online photos, online sample itineraries, chat rooms with people talking about how to prepare and plan for the hike, best time of year to do it, etc.

Here's an idea: Simply walk up to a ranger in Yosemite Village and ask him/her what to expect.

This stuff isn't rocket science. Intelligence can help in the outdoors. But even the smartest guys in the room can get into trouble. Just ask the execs at Enron. In the backcountry, experience means more than education. Until you gain some experience, assume you know nothing. When I'm going somewhere I've never been, I assume I know nothing about what to expect. I'm an educated guy. But I wouldn't just go out and build a bridge. Why? I'm not an engineer.

I hope your boys catch a bug for the outdoors. I caught it at a young age and it has brought loads joy to my life, taken me to amazing places, and helped define who I am as a person. But the simple rule of thumb is this: If you don't know, don't go.

Bravo, Dryfly... well said.

Dryfly
Extremely well said, I have been alarmed by some of the comments and suggestions I have read regarding this topic.

A Half Dome article in today's SF paper:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/07/HALFDOME.TMP

I don't think that a third cable would make the cables any safer. What if the park service instead added two more cables stretched along the bottom of the poles with shorter vertical cables spaced at one foot intervals? At least that way anyone who slipped and fell would have a chance to grab onto something before he picked up speed, lost control and started tumbling. Experienced mountaineers (which I am not) carry ice axes to self arrest; inexperienced hikers hiking up Half Dome, in just as dangerous an environment, should have some means to self arrest.

I can tell you that this kind of issue is a constant source of debate within the ranger community. I work as a volunteer backcountry ranger in Yellowstone and there are many natural risks, including thermal features, cold water that rapidly incapacitates people, deep and fast running streams, bears, etc. etc. The rangers try hard to educate people and answer questions, but the sad fact is that most people don't want to take the time because they either think they already know or aren't interested in learning. It is not unusual after a rescue to hear a ranger say that they had concerns about that person. An extreme example is the climbing rangers on Rainier who actively try to talk every climber out of climbing the mountain because they don't want to be hauling them out in body bags the next day.

However, it is usually not possible for a ranger to stop someone from taking on more than they think they can handle. At the end of the day, it is about personal responsibility and I don't think we really want the government telling us everything that we can and can't do in the wilderness to the point where there is zero risk.

My friends and I did Half Dome five days after the Japanese hiker fell to his death. It was my second time up to the summit, but the first time for both my friend and his daughter. We all made it, but we did plenty of preparation for the hike. Many people think that Half Dome is a casual "walk in the park" that almost anyone can do, but believe me Half Dome, especially if you do it in a single day, is one of the most extreme day hikes in California. This means that you must have the proper training and equipment to do it.

On both the way up and down the cables, I saw people wearing tennis shoes and sandels. not being properly dressed, having little water or food, or just not being in shape. There were four small children going up while we were going down, two were tethered to the mother, and two were tethered to the father. Both adults were hooked to the cables, which were becoming crowded. The one little boy, who was probably no more than six, was afraid, and did not want to continue on, but his mother wanted him to continue.

I think that there should be a sign posted at the base of the cables, stating that the granite is slippery, and that people have died after slipping, or loosing their grip.

One of the best training regiments for Half Dome is stadium stairs. My friend and I go to our local City College and do stadium stairs for an hour or two almost every Sunday morning. Believe me, you will see the benefits when you climb the granite stairs on the Mist Trail, and also on Quarter Dome.

I also recommend that people do the hike mid-week if possible, and leave Curry Village by 6:00am. That way, you have the best chance of doing the cables with the least amount of people. Last June, I started up the cables at 10:40am on a Thursday, and there were only seven people ahead of me. In other words, no traffic jam at all. It only took me about 15 minutes to get to the top. It took a bit longer going down, as the crowds were beginning to form, but nowhere near as crowded as a Saturday afternoon.

People need to be safe on the cables, know their limitations, and be respectful of other hikers that may be a bit fearful of what they are doing. When I was there last month, the majority of people were not in a rush to get up, and were corteous to those that were hesitant. There were a couple of loud-mouthed hikers that kept yelling for people to keep moving, and not to hold things up. It is these people that can make the tricky climb or descent even more dangerous.

Whitney Mike

I hiked Half Dome the Wednesday after the accident. You would think that such an accident would make people look more closely at this hike and how to prepare for it, but it's just not gonna happen. Inexperienced people see hiking as an easy activity, just going for a walk. Together with today's "no common sense required" attitude and the tendency for people to ignore a problem until someone else takes care of it, we are stuck with unprepared hikers. On the way down from Half Dome, I told two different people they were going to need a lot more water than they had. Both gave me a blank look and continued on. They have to learn the hard way.

Recently I went on a moderately hard hike which was attended by many new hikers. At the start, I announced if anyone ran low on water, they just had to speak up because we had a water filter and could resupply them from one of several streams we would cross. I also repeated this at the stream crossings. At about mile 6 of 8, one woman stopped, started crying and said she couldn't continue. She had muscle cramps, felt nauseous and was out of water. I asked her why she hadn't asked for more water. She replied that she just kept hoping the hike would be over soon. A good example of just trying to ignore a problem and hoping it will go away.

Moondust

Whitney Mike wrote: " There were four small children going up while we were going down, two were tethered to the mother, and two were tethered to the father. Both adults were hooked to the cables, which were becoming crowded. The one little boy, who was probably no more than six, was afraid, and did not want to continue on, but his mother wanted him to continue."

This is crazy! As parents we've all had to push our kids to do things that were a little scarey to them (i.e. jumping in the deep water for the first time) but taking a 6-year old up the cables is nuts! The last time I was up there, I ran into a teenage girl on the lower part of the cables. She was huddled on one of the slats, clinging to a pole, and really frightened. It only took a minute to convince her that she should go back down.... her relief was tangible as she descended. I think she just needed someone to tell her it was OK.

But what do you do when there are small children being "escorted" by parents. I don't think a 6-year old would have the upper-body strength to hold the cables if they started to slip on the granite... even if they WEREN'T scared. The cables are too high for them to get an efficient grip. CRAZY!

Some have suggested expanding the cables. Here is my thought of the result:

Before:


After:

Ugh... Just looking at that line-up makes me nauseaus.

-L

Or, how about a new requirement that you do it like this:

Ken -- you're on a roll!

i just viewed hike-along pete's video on half-dome, the first tape anyway, and was blown away by the natural rock stairs at vernal and nevada falls -- and the number and magnitude of the rocks on the trail in general -- making it much more work than i imagined. i can now see how doing stadium stairs or a real stair-stepper machine would be far more beneficial than doing treadmill or elliptical cardio. i intend to ramp it up the last two weeks before we leave for half-dome. my thinking had always been that the trail was just a warmup for the cables but now i see the trail is an a-kicker. thank you pete, too bad yosemite can't license his highlights and make it required viewing before newbies ascend. i've yet to see part two where pete films his descent of the cables but looking forward to it.

Reminds me of the father barking out "march! march!" to his two very young kids heading up toward Trail Crest. Very annoying and shameful on the switchbacks. These kids had obviously peaked halfway up the switchbacks and were now nearing TC with no more energy to move toward the summit.

Norweejunwood, in my opinion the last hump just before the cables is WAY harder than the cables themselves. It's so steep, and some of those steps HAVE to be almost two feet high! (Or at least they sure feel like it ) I also feel way more exposed there than on the cables.

Plus, when you get to the cables, you know you're almost there, and the excitement gives you that extra boost.

PS Ken... love the pictures!

rosabella - Thanks for sharing my sentiment that small children do not belong on the cables, and should not be forced by their parents. You are correct in your statement, and I whole-heartedly agree with you, that small children just do not have the needed upper body strength in case they slip. Also, there are several places along the granite where one has to actually "step-up", sometimes up to eight inches. I wonder how these kids handled these sections, especially on the way down, while also trying to keep from slipping on the slick granite. It just amazes me how some parents will put the lives of their children at risk.

I also agree with you that the climb up Quarter Dome is actually more demanding than the cables. At least that is the opinion of myself, my friend Gary, and his 24 year-old daugther, who both successfully completed their first summit. I still say that stadium stairs is one of the best ways to prepare for this intense climb.

I just hope that people begin to realize that Half Dome is no walk in the park. It requires one to be in good physical shape, with the proper conditioning and training. Like attempting Whitney, there is no shame in turning around short of the summit. As I tell my friends before we do a big hike, "The mountain will always be there next year".

Whitney Mike