Posted on 09/06/2019 12:37:10 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Danielle Burnett, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was scaling the steepest part of the trail Thursday when she fell more than 500 feet (150 meters) down the steep, rocky terrain.
Gediman says Burnett was dead when Park Rangers arrived on the scene.
Rangers installed cables to help hikers get to the top of the 8,800-foot rock face.
The cables are installed each summer to assist the climbs of thousands of hikers who make the popular 14-mile round trip.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
It varies from piece-of-cake to holy-sh!t. It's truly scary. The near 90-degree part is slippery granite even when dry. Theoretically, with gloves and good upper body strength, it's doable by your average Joe. When I was there, an older gentleman had a heart episode at the very top. So yes, there are different ways back but it's either a helicopter or a litter.
Once.
She only fell 500 feet.
Seems like she could have bounced back from that...
She did not stick the landing...
After hearing of the story, AOC has called for Strict Gravity Control.
I did it...once. I was in my 20s. We did a round trip hike from Curry Village to the top of Half Dome and it was a killer day. My legs were rubber at the end of the 16 miles and 5,000 vertical feet. Back then (late 70s), you didn’t need a reservation and there were no crowds. Now you don’t get on the cables unless you have a reservation and those are now hard to get. A close family friend is doing HD next week with some girlfriends. She is about 60 and in excellent shape.
I know, right? Thank
You are a lot more adventurous than I am. I went backpacking with a couple of friends many years ago in Yosemite National Park—from White Wolf to Pate Valley and back up. We had meant it to be a 7-day trip but scaled it back to 3 after bears got into our food. Seeing a couple of brown bears up close was enough excitement. Since then I have been against arming bears.
You enjoy being a dick.
It is not a cliff. It is a really steep slope with treads bolted into the rock to climb up. A ladder of sorts bolted onto the steep rock surface. She would have rolled and bounced all the way down but the force she would hit with would indeed be deadly.
We went up with backpacks on. You just have to go slowly and carefully at your own pace, and wear good shoes or boots. I wonder if she took a selfie and let go with one hand?
Going back down is the hard part. I can’t remember how they controlled the flow so you don’t run into somebody coming up on your way back down. I don’t remember Park Rangers being at the top and bottom making the direction take turns. I think you just step to the side and give right of way to somebody passing you. I can’t remember.
It is not a brutal climb. The picture looks steeper than it really is. It is doable for anybody in above average shape. Below that, you shouldn’t attempt it. You don’t need to be a rock climber to do it. It is not THAT bad a hike, just very unforgiving if you are stupid or have a medical issue like epilepsy or something. Not a good place to have a seizure.
The last 400 feet is just about a 45 degree slope. Much steeper than that and it would start to get sketchy for your feet to find support on the wood treads bolted to the rock face. I mean, maybe it is 50 degrees or something. It isn’t nearly as steep as the sheer drop it looks like in the picture.
yes it is. I should know, as i have climbed every face except the South Face of Half Dome. I have only used the cables, pictured here, for descending. Most times I descended the cables were down. Have you ever visited Yosemite? Have you even seen the cables ?
Yosemite is awesome.
Except for the fact you have to share it with 10 million tourists, and half the state of California.
Bumper to bumper traffic.
That’s an illusion angle photo
Steepest part is 50% grade
You could sure lose control in slippery condition and slide and tumble down that especially to the sides since the trail is up a saddle side
Then you should. It's a documentary of the only person to actually free climb the face of El Capitan without any assistance whatsoever. It was all by hand and feet...........no ropes, no nothing.
So,
Where is The
Other Half?
After I got to the top on the cables once, a team of rope climbers came up to the top from the other side. I said to one, wow, I can’t believe you guys do that. He said, I can’t believe you use those cables..
And, if you can't travel to the real location, you can hire a stand-in wearing a face mask with your avatar, so people won't realize it isn't really you, except those who are at the big Half Dome vaping party at your home, celebrating your amazing climb.
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