Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Fatal Fall from Half Dome cables

Harvey, there are always too many people in the way these days. And actually walking forward downward works where the slope is gentle, but where it is steep, backing is better. When I go down the outside, I walk semi-backwards so I can watch the cable over my shoulder, watching for bare places (without any hands) to grab. I can only use the sliding glove method when there is a gap.

My son was going down the outside this year, and told about another guy who was fearful and semi-frozen in place, also on the outside. He just told the guy to hold still, and in a "hugging" position, held the cable above him, reached around and grabbed a spot below him, then continued down. Poor guy didn't like it, but the entire move only took a couple of seconds.

For anyone doing Half Dome, consider hiking out of (and back in to) Glacier Point, and overnighting in Little Yosemite Valley. Yes, it's a longer walk, but you will be rewarded with very few people on the trail. And overnighting in LYV means you can be the first (or one of the first) people to summit Half Dome in the morning.

On the cables, any way you slice it the difficulty of them is underestimated by many. There is serious risk involved. Accidents happen. And any fall will surely be serious and very possibly fatal. If you can't handle that level of risk, hike to the saddle and admire the dome from afar.

Yes, better info in Yosemite Village might help keep some people who have no business being there away. But, at the end of the day, it's an individual's responsibility when going into the backcountry to be prepared and know what he/she is getting into. There's plenty of info out there. It's not the Park Service's job to save you from yourself. That's why I don't like the idea of stationing a ranger at the base of the cables, as though HD were an amusement park ride. Is that why we go into the backcountry? Not me.

When I did HD last Memorial Day (via Glacier Point), I saw some people on the cables with harnesses and others without. My take: a harness system should be explored by the Park Service. But who will teach people to use it? Who will provide the gear? I fear harnesses may just provide a false sense of security for many.

And many climbers will choose not to use harnesses at any rate. I'd just say to remember that the backcountry is no place for hubris. You can get the cables right a thousand times. But you'll probably only have the luxury of getting them wrong once.

Food for thought:

1. Low Risk - Only 1 fatality has occurred on the cables during the hiking season when the cables are proped up since the cables were installed. I would estimate that well over 100K people have climbed the cables to the top during this period.

2. Crowds Not The Cause - Crowds did not cause any of the three fatalities that have occurred. The two other fatalities that were due to slips on very slippery rain-drenched slabs in the off season when the cables are down.

3. Access - If we're going to regulate/restrict access to HD due to risk of injury/death, then, by the same token, we should also shut down access to Yosemite in its entirety. There have been numerous injuries and deaths on the trails and near all watercourses over the years. God only knows how many people have been injured by the sun! I don't even want to think about all the auto accidents that have occurred in and around the park.

4. Climbing - should we ban/regulate free solos? Aid climbing? Shut down El Cap? Several noobs have died on Manure Pile Buttress, should we shut it down? Should we insist that climbers be saftey-certified and must obtain a climbing permit before being allowed on the rock?

5. Mountaineering - Mt. Shasta and Mt. Whitney averge at least 1 death per year and many accidents. Should we deny access?

M

How about an escalator going to the top?

This hike is not a wilderness experience. It is a tourist experience.

There are an unlimited number of hikes in the Yosemite area that are more remote, and just as beautiful, without having to deal with the hordes of recreational tourists.

No quota system, please!!!! There will always be accidents on a trail like this, since inexperienced "hikers" are using the trail. It's a tragedy, yes, but shouldn't change the current system......

How about having permits required without a quota?

Instead of a god awful quota system, permits, and regulations by the feds how about re-doing the cables so that you can have safe up/down sides where you can safely clip in somehow. Accidents do happen but the freedom of the outdoors must prevail.

Regarding permits, the ranger could explain the danger and note the people that have died and have the permit applicant acknowledge and sign the warning. Maybe more people would be scared away instead of stopping, frozen in fear, on the cables.

It's not a whole lot of freedom of the outdoors when you're stuck in a traffic jam on the cables even with those modifications of "...safe up/down sides where you can safely clip in somehow." If you don't camp up there so that you get an early start and avoid the crowds, the "wilderness experience" on the cables of Half Dome would not be much better than standing in a long line at Disneyland.

In response to Steve C's technique remarks:

"Leaning back and pulling on the cables gives you all the traction necessary! I've rappelled only a few times in my life, but the idea of trusting the rope and leaning back over the top of a cliff is a fear-factor event the you must overcome. If you don't lean out, your feet will slip, and you would fall and get hurt. The same issue comes into play on the cables."

You're absolutely right. I'll tell you when this doesn't work though, when you are overweight. It may not sound like much but the first time I used the cables I was about 20 pounds overweight and it was enough that I didn't have the strength to employ this proper technique over the full course of the cables in either direction. On the descent I slipped and had a near vomit experience. The next time I hiked HD I'd taken the 20#'s off and it was a BREAZE. All that to say that, along with fitness and skill, weight and strength are part of the equation when educating hikers.

This hike is not a wilderness experience. It is a tourist experience.


I do not agree with this statement at all. Half Dome in a day is one of California's extreme dayhikes, along with Whitney and Cactus to Clouds, and therefore should not be attempted by everyone. I have seen people at the base of the cables who should not have been there, having improper gear, shoes, and gloves.

My viewpoint on if a person should do the cables or not comes from a Dirty Harry movie - "Every man has to know his limitations". Do not attempt them if you do not feel comfortable, it is not worth the risk.

Leave early to get to the base by 10:30am, and there should be no crowds. It seems that early afternoon, especially on the weekends, is the worse time to do them. That is why I prefer a weekday. Remember, be safe and use common sense.

Whitney Mike

I'm with this guy, some sort of clip in system would be best. Thats what I meant earlier by harnesses. As far as that causing one person slipping to take out everybody, thats why on most fall protections systems they put "stops" in the line(or what would be the cable in this case). Its basically like having a rope with a knot ever few feet so once the clip is between the two knots it can't slip below the lower knot. Then when you reach the top knot, you snap your next line and detach the lower line. Totally easy system to use, if someone can't figure it out, its a reason they shouldn't go up. Again, you have to realize the people who your dealing with up there, most are the Weekend Adventurers/Tourists with no experience at anything outdoors and will lucky yo be able to figure out they need to pull themselves into the mountain to get traction, or in this guys case, let the water bottle fall. I hate to say it but people probably won't figure things out unless they are instructed. Which again, comes down to the staff at Yosemite who are supposed to make sure everyone has a safe experience, where were they but 45 mins away when this guy fell!

Actually, I agree with almost all of the last half a dozen or so comments. Like the Beach Boys' song "Wouldn't it be nice ..." if everyone clipped in and there were up and down cables. What's the chance of that happening? And this would require the involvement of the dreaded "feds". Ooooooo, scary.

On a side note, Anyone know if they were still letting people go up the cables after this guy fell? I've heard both ways. If they were thats just stupid, you don't shut em down for a lil while to check em and make sure everythings cool?!?!

A double prusik wrapped around a rope or cable hooked to a harness would provide plenty of protection...

Good grief snowboarder, go find some snow! The guy let go of the cables -- what good would clearing the cables do?

You want feds everywhere? How about a ski patrol at every jump to make sure you wait until all is clear? How about one to check your bindings before you stand up? How about your mama holding a kleenex to wipe your nose? This is NOT a Mother Hen society yet, but if you keep it up...

...I'm deleting this in a few...

I am saddened for the man, friends and family. I am also sickened at the idea of so many witnesses of all ages experiencing this first hand. It is not a good thing to have to experience this in any way.

Will precedence and current behaviors/reactions cause the closure or limitations of hiking HD? I hope not. But it seems that the park has closed other trials to prevent the masses from access. From my experiences in Yosemite most of the valley trail heads are visited or used by the tourist types with general skills, goals, preparations, etc.

The masses will dominate the discussion of safety. And my experience there shows a great deal of people lack respect of the dangers involved of not being prepared, or not acting within reason. Dying for a water bottle is an extreme and sad example.

Starting late or early helps one’s own experience, yes. But I’ve hiked it late and had to escort people with my headlamp as they either didn’t have a light or their 5 year old D cells faded after 15 minutes. The rangers there are continuously getting calls from people who lost each other and about someone who is still on the trail somewhere late at night. And on most occasions that I have hiked that particular hike, there is nearly always a ranger administrating or on their way to administrating some first aid.

I just don’t know that this is an issue of permit system or limitations. It definitely is an issue of safety and behavior based on knowledge and respect of the outdoors. Education seems to have an impact and may help mitigate calls to regulate, but listening is always an option exercised by many and often not understood until experienced.

I beleive away from the general tourist activity of Yosemite Valley Trail heads like this the education and experience of hikers greatly improve the safety of the activity wether it be on the trail or on the side of a granite wall somewhere. Dito the general Whitney population.

I believe there will be more signage along this trail and including the HD area, but I think little can be done in the way of education to dissuade people from exercising their choice to risk their own lives short of preventing participation on this trail.

Guided tours?

Rick Deutsch just came out with a new guidebook for the Half Dome hike, One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome . He gave a nice presentation at the Santa Monica REI a few weeks ago which gave a nice overview of the hike. While he said the rangers initally didn't want the book written b/c they felt it would popularize the already stressed-to-the-max route further, they also agreed that educating the public about the hike and it's rigors would be a good start. I know it's available thru Amazon, but maybe the NPS should pick it up and advertise it through their site.

I would also suggest, continuing with the education plan, that the NPS begin talks with HikeAlongPete to either link to his vid clips or offer the video thru their site. He has some great footage not only of the trail, but of the final ascent up the cables. It helped get me ready for that climb, that's for sure.

It's been discussed on this board in the past about various horror stories of "tourists" up on the trail. All hours of the day, how little water is being carried, proper equipment (or lack thereof), and overall lack of knowledge about what they are getting themselves into. Quotas are probably not the answer, but better education is a must.

Just a few cent's worth.

-Laura

I was probably one of those amateur hikers up halfdome since this was my first time up anything like that. I did have two things going for me, however, one is that I'm quite used to high altitude climbs and secondly I'm not as squeamish about heights as some people. I did just fine by it because I came prepared and ran into relatively few problems

Part of the problem is that this is a national park and a wilderness. At some point you're going to have to acknowledge that there are risks involved to climbing a mountain or doing the class 4 section of Half Dome. At some point, you need to leave it to the people's better judgement or lack thereof. I don't want someone trying to protect me from myself, nor should it be the government's job. If I wanted something overbearing like that I'd live in China.

Part of the thrill, the allure, the attraction of the wilderness is the flight from society and the risks that go along with being in a wilderness. You climb Mt Whitney or you climb Half Dome, you need to plan for possible weather changes, and what if the weather changes. You plan for water, and if you run out, you gotta know where to tap it. It's all part of being a wilderness, and I dont want a ranger telling me there's a chance of Thunderstorms, I'm not allowed on the trail.

God, when I attempted Whitney the first time last year and failed, I had the good sense to turn around and head back down when I felt as though I was in trouble. Not to mention if I kept going up, I would've bumped against a deadline I set with friends to start calling for help if I didn't contact them. I didn't need a ranger to tell me that I should turn around. I figured out for myself I had been beaten and that the better course was to turn tail, cut my loses, and at least go home rather than risk going to the hospital or the grave. But in the end *I* made that decision, not a ranger.

When I talked to Ken during the research project of his, I thought it was maybe altitude sickness and he didn't think it was. Turns out it was actually dehydration. After learning my lesson, 3 weeks later, I would return to make a successful summit August of last year.

Point is, this kind of thing is risky and accidents will happen. Shoot, alot more people lose their lives on Longs Peak than here and I don't see them belly aching about it.

Sorry for the rambling, but I cannot stand it when people are so quick to go "omg omg omg, if I do this I might die" and pull this bubble routine.

SeanB

I pretty much agree that they shouldn't meddle with a system that has worked well until recently (the two other fatalities were with the cables down, so caveat climber, I figure)

I think the permit without a quota might be OK, and could be effective if done right. Perhaps issuing them in the visitor center for an individual (not just for a single ascent, for the person) and requiring them to attend a short (maybe 1/2 hour) educational presentation at the center before the permit is issued.

Those that think it would be too much trouble, well, that cuts down on the number of people going up the cables. And if the presentation were done right, it may help weed out some of the serious problems, such as people going up who freeze, or so afraid that they clog up the line for everyone. They could also be educated about loose objects like water bottles, and told to turn around early if they find it bothers them (DO look down once you get up a bit; if it bothers you, get off). And at least be prepared enough to bring your own gloves, adequate clothing, a flashlight, water and basic first aid.

On the busier days, a ranger at the base of the cables may be useful. I noticed that quite often large groups will all try to go up at once, all together, and it wreaks havoc with anyone coming down. The ranger could 'feed' them 2-3 at a time to give space between, besides checking for permits.

I'm really against any quota idea unless nothing else can be made to work. You know it will be misused and people will get permits they don't use, while others will miss out because of it. Also, the idea that "they" need to do something to provide a safe environment for this climb is wrong; this IS wilderness, not Disneyland.

Another idea that sounded decent was to have a second set of cables, making both one-way. I'd rather see them try to cut down the congestion by education first, and if that doesn't work, maybe consider the second cable idea.

The view from, and hike to Quarter Dome is fantastic; there's no reason people with issues need to try to go to the top of Half Dome, particularly when that last part is so crowded, and seems to be getting a lot more popular lately.

Actually, it kind of amazes me when people complain about crowding, yet they go up on July 4th and leave after an 8AM breakfast...what do they expect? Kind of like going to the desert in midsummer and complaining about the heat..8^)

Steve I'm just sayin that for how many people are up there with no idea about anything outdoors a little guidance wouldn't be such a bad thing. The other guys are right, its a tourist trap, everybody thinks they can do it, some just don't know when to say No to themselves and need intervention. The cables are a joke as far as fall protection goes. To me the park is admitting that its unsafe to climb HD w/o assistance from gear by putting it up even. If the original intention of the cables was Fall protection its the most shoddily rigged attempt I've ever seen. If your going to put it up to serve a purpose, do it right and employ a better system! I'm sure they did what they could with the funds they had but this is one of those cases where nothing would have been better then something. They shouldn't have done anything at all and left if it for climbers with right gear and knowledge instead of putting that up and giving people with no experience a false sense of security. All and all, it needs to be better if thats its intended purpose. Yeah its one death in probably millions of visitors, but what if it were your family member?

Requiring people to clip into the cables is a bad idea in my opinion and it has been discussed in detail before elsewhere. It sounds good, but it brings up a whole slew of problems. First, assuming they have or can rent a harness most people won't know how to properly use it. Do they know to double-back the straps? Does the harness fit? Do they know where to clip into the harness? Most people will be perplexed just trying to put one on. Will they use climbing rated carabiners? Will they even use a harness? I can see people clipping into a belt loop on their shorts which would rip right out in any kind of a fall.

The protection used to attach oneself to the cable may not be sufficient. A sling or thin cord clipped to the cable with a carabiner may easily exceed its breaking point if one takes a 30+ foot fall before the carabiner hits one of the posts. Keep in mind this would be a fall onto STATIC gear. Also, as you go up or down you'll have to unclip to get around each post. This generally would require taking one hand off the cables. The posts are also why a prussic won't work. You'd have to redo the prussic to get around each post. With the proper gear and knowledge you do gain some protection by clipping in but to make it required may just make things worse.

Perhaps an overly scary warning sign down at Happy Isles and at the start of the cables would scare enough people away to reduce the crowds. It probably wouldn't help much but it would be the easiest thing the park could do and still show that they put some thought into the situation.

Although I'm a bit uncomfortable with changing things an additional cable to allow for 2-way traffic would certainly go a long way toward relieving the bottleneck on busy days.

-Rick