Posted on 07/24/2024 10:26:20 AM PDT by NohSpinZone
On July 13, during a heavy rainstorm in Yosemite National Park, an Arizona State University student slipped and fell to her death from the Half Dome cables.
Park officials did not issue a statement about the death and declined to comment for this story. But Jonathan Rohloff — who was descending the cables with his 20-year-old daughter Grace when she slipped — confirmed that she did not survive.
“Grace was such a beautiful soul,” he said in a phone interview with SFGATE. “She deserves to have her story told.”
The father-daughter duo had hiked together countless times and over thousands of miles — up to Angels Landing in Zion National Park, down into the Grand Canyon and all over mountains across their home state of Arizona. So when Grace secured a permit to hike Half Dome through the daily lottery system on July 11, they were ecstatic.
They cleared their schedules to drive from Phoenix to Yosemite the following day, and on the day after that, they set out on the strenuous 16-mile trail at about 8 a.m. A ranger told them there were storms in the forecast, and at times, they did notice clouds overhead. But when the pair reached the bottom of Half Dome’s famous cables a little after noon, the sky was perfectly clear, Rohloff said.
They proceeded with other hikers up the 400-foot stretch of the trail supported by the cable system. When they arrived at the top, the panoramic views of Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra were outstanding. As Rohloff snapped photos of his daughter, he marveled at how beautiful and fearless she was. Grace told her father she was amazed to have climbed Half Dome — an item on her bucket list — and that she loved him.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
It is. It can be slippery in the best of weather. Any type of moisture ...forget it.
I didn’t read the article, but how how come her fall didn’t take out the others below her?
Wow, the article didn't mention that she wasn't holding on to the cable. Where did you get that info?
Still, she should hold to the cable.
If the shoes were too slippery, she should take them off.
I have not read that book. Would be interesting. I’ll see if I can find it on Kindle. If you go to the very top you can see lightning strike patterns. I forget what the geologists call them. It’s pretty interesting.
Generally speaking, cable is there to hold to it.
You are supposed to hold to the cable at least with one hand.
Kind of like the three point method on ladders.
If she was not holding to the cable, than too bad.
In my prior post to you, you implied that she wasn't holding on to any of the cables.
So you never answered my question as to where you got your information that she wasn't holding on to any cables.
So I'm asking again......
Yes, and not. she complained, so she knew that the shoes are slippery. Holding to the rope, she could find some spot, like the rope poles or cracks in the rocks or the vertical steps and take the shoes off while holding on to those points.
In the worst case, just discard the shoes!
And/or she could hang on in that safe space until the rock would dry.
Monday morning quarterbacking, I am sorry for her death, but maybe she was not that experienced.
I do not know, if she was holding to the cable. No info.
But the article mentions that she was really strong. So if she was so strong and holding to the cable, she could slip and still hold with one hand (or both) on the cable and help herself out of it. so she was either not holding to the cable for a moment or not holding enough.
I did that in 2017 at the age of 60. I am a very experienced hiker who knows that on something like that slow and careful does it. If she wasn’t bypassing the slow folks then what did she do to fall?
That said, when I was there some were rather middle aged and unfit trying to climb up. One too-heavy woman of a group of middle-aged siblings literally had to be pushed up from below by her brother. I was the next one down and was waiting for her to tumble down and make me the first of a long line of falling dominoes. At least the unfortunate young woman didn’t take anyone with her.
I’m actually surprised the gov’t still allows people to do this inherently dangerous activity.
It’s not as steep as that photo angle
More people fall at Yosemite like the Grand Canyon from precipices than the half dome cables
Half dome is more a deathly tumble from the cables path than actual fall into oblivion
No, she was not in leather soled dress shoes ....
“Grace was in a new pair of hiking shoes that were supposed to offer good traction ....”
An example of “hiking shoes” ....
https://www.rei.com/product/202124/merrell-moab-3-waterproof-hiking-shoes-womens
I’m a big fan of Keen
My boot of choice has been LLB Crestas. I need a lot of ankle support after I jammed both ankles coming off a horse going over a fence. The Crestas are ‘heavy’ compared to the ‘shoes’ most folks wear these days, but in all my marathon hikes, long days on the trail, backpacking, etc., I never got a blister & they were ‘grippy’. I had about 1,000 miles on my first pair before I finally, reluctantly, had to give them up. My friends all called them “The Old Faithfuls” ... pretty funny when your boots have a ‘personality’ of sorts.
Yep, Bean has quality products. After having the original bean boot in my arsenal from age 20-40, I finally went back for another pair for the sloppy months we have in the NE. Keen has good support, I have Merrill’s as well.
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