Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Half Dome death

Seems that a hiker has fallen to his death on the cables earlier today. Apparently there was some hail falling at the time which made the granite slick. Sad.

I have been backpacking in Yosemite 4 out of the last five weekends, and I will say that the weather has been anything but predictable. Last week on Watkins we were snowed on, rained on, socked by clouds, and yet, the throngs continued up the Dome (we could hear the helicopter making numerous attempts at last weeks successful rescue.) This week, there were huge thunderheads, wind and hail...and the throngs continued. I won't begin to speculate (Hear Ye!, Hear Ye!) on what happened, but I will say that the hike to Half Dome is no walk in the park even in the best of weather conditions.

Bee

wasnt there an article posted a few weeks ago about how slippery the cable route has become and how the park service was going to close it to make repairs ?

a clip with SAR helicopters and Half Dome
http://g.imagehost.org/download/0543/Rescue_Hero_s

Very Sad,
Here is a link to blog desription of the fall. click on "comments" for description from a live witness:

http://www.hikehalfdome.com/blog.html

from that report, a pretty good description of a banner cloud or a lenticular.

"we were on the Visor, a cloud danced in and back. We even had 15 minutes of clear sky overhead then it would move back in - just touching the visor and stopping. It was as if the sheer size of Half Dome was a barrier to the cloud’s progress. There was even a line of white “cloud” to the north of Tenaya Canyon clear towards the south of it. We descended about 12:15 and watched the cloud continue its in/out dance."

It is easy from here to be critical, but the time to start down is before those seemingly innocent warning clouds "solidify" and quickly so. The survivors did start down soon enough, although not at the first warning, and the the fatality started down too late. How many of us still standing have been in the same shoes of making that choice? Can be very subjective.
Harvey

I turned around at Trail Camp twice, once because I thought I was going to die from AMS (summited three weeks later tho) and the other due to T-storms. In the latter case, people had summited that day. I sat at switchback #12 on a nice flat rock, rested the puppies and listened to stories from people saying their hair was standing up. No thanks.

I made it better in '05 summiting despite that big snow year.

2 years ago on a Saturday I waited 2 hours in line just to get on the cables because of the crowds. The following Saturday the Japanese hiker fell to his death. It was my daughter's 1st time up and I vowed never to expose her to that zoo again. So the next year we left earlier and not on a Saturday. Very enjoyable and way less crowded. We chose to do it this year on a Sunday with an early start.

I was unaware of the accident on Saturday as my daughter and I approached quarter dome on Sunday morning. When I heard the chopper my fears of the previous days weather and the Saturday crowds was confirmed. Another hiker had fallen off the cables. I saw that cloud hovering around the visor/diving board on Saturday. We were at mirror lake and I was frustrated I couldn't see all of half dome for a picture. This was around 1:00 and I remember thinking how many of the usual Saturday throngs were still on top. It was very cloudy and sprinkling at the time. If anyone had checked the weather reports it was clear it was expected to rain after around 11:00. At around 4 I started hearing the chopper activity and hoped it was a training exercise. I stopped by the visitor center to confirm the weather for our Sunday attempt up the cables and it was iffy after 12 as it had been everyday for a week. The Rangers working the desk said they knew nothing of an accident. By now it was raining steady and I just hoped everyone got off half dome safely but for some reason I knew they hadn't. We went to bed that night with the plan to hike up Yosemite falls if it was unstable weather in the morning. We arose at 4am and the weather was beautiful so we made our way up the mist trail. Around 9 we heard the chopper and then we "got" to see the body removed. My daughter decided that she was not going to go to the top and vowed to not go again until she was old like me and had got to live a life first. But her boyfriend hadn't done the cables yet so we pressed on. At the top of quarter dome we encountered a ranger who told us the cables were closed until the investigation and gear left on top from the day before were removed and it would be a couple of hours. There were 50 or so people waiting. The ranger told us that the chance of thunderstorms was high and the clouds were building up as they usually do around 11 am. So after eating we decided not to wait the 2 hours and headed back. Sure enough 1/2 hour later they finished up sooner than expected and opened up the cables. We watched the cables fill up with hikers and the weather hold out all day as we hiked down. We had some regrets but I live pretty close to Yosemite and can do it anytime and it was a great day anyway. Now if I came from afar I could see pushing the envelope a bit to attain the summit. After all hundreds do it everyday and many in Tevas no less. Besides those reservations in the valley take a years' planning.

OK so despite my ramblings I still don't think the park service should change a thing. People should have heard about the fall the previous Saturday. They should have been aware of the weather reports. The only thing I'd like to see is a sign at the trailhead in happy isles about the slippery conditions when it rains. There is one about lightning near the cables but nothing about rain. And maybe a 3rd cable could be added so they could have an up side and a down side. Maybe add a safety tip in the park brochure. But people should be free to make the decision themselves. Let natural selection do its' thing.

A guy asked me yesterday at the top of Nevada falls where the next drinking fountain was. I told him where to fill up in the river and to filter. He said running water was fine to drink so him and his 4 kids continued on. We saw them make it to the top of quarter dome and I'm sure they made it to the top. Hope the stomach problems aren't too severe. I always worry about the people I see coming up late in the afternoon as we are coming down. People from all walks of life, from all over the world and in various stages of poor fitness. Still most make it somehow and it will be the thrill of a lifetime for a lot of people. To me the crazy people and their determination is half the fun of this hike. Until the last couple of years it had all worked out.

OK one last simple idea. I know this is a bad word but... A free permit requirement with a steep fine for non compliance. No quotas, just one last opportunity to educate the people and give them a weather forecast.

We were up there on Saturday when the guy fell. We probably passed him on the way down. We were heading down at about 10:30 or so and the cables were already filling up. We passed many hikers on the way down who were unprepared. This was my first time out to Yosemite, but I had done tons of research before leaving home. The only surprise to me out there was how many steps were cut out of rock. Even on the back trails near Tenaya lake. I don't want the park to change anything with the cables, but I'm betting that if they never put in all of those nice steps on the trail, then most people would never make it that far to begin with. I do beleive that things should be left as they are though, with maybe just a few more warning signs about cloths and water and actual time and distance.

My heart goes out to the climbers family!