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

I have been searching the internet and watching the news, and I can't understand why I have found no news reports of this incident. Right now, if I hadn't actually seen it, I don't know if I'd believe it happened.

Last Saturday, June 16, 2007, I was in the process of climbing Half Dome, along with several hundred other people, when we witnessed a man slide from the top of the cables down the left side. My party's vantage point was at the very beginning of the cables. He tried to stop on a small ledge on the way, but flipped when he hit it. Then he was completely out of control, flying through the air. Some people started running towards the edge of the saddle, but he was out of sight before they got there and I don't think they could have gotten anywhere close enough to him to help anyway. Someone in the group climbed down the side and found him on a ledge below the saddle between Half Dome and Quarter Dome.

There were a couple of people in the crowd with medical experience who climbed down and tried to help him. They reported that he had broken both legs but had a pulse and was breathing. It wasn't long before they asked if anyone had a CPR mask. In the meanwhile, the Rangers were radioed and hikers were asked to clear Quarter Dome for a helicopter. Unfortunately, the injured man died before help could possibly have arrived.

My party decided to head down, as there was nothing we could really do to help except get out of the way. Many other people were of the same mind, and there was something of a quiet exodus; but there were actually people still hiking up that intended to do the climb, despite the tragedy. On our way out we saw several helicopter landings on Quarter Dome and met a Ranger taking names, etc. of people who were there...and Rangers at Happy Isles taking written statements.

Obviously there are going to be accidents, but I always assumed that statistically they were so unlikely that I would never actually witness one. I have climbed various Fourteeners, as well as Half Dome 8 times. I certainly never thought of Half Dome as particularly risky, despite the cables. But I must say I have never seen it so crowded and, in my opinion, it was too crowded to be safe. My husband and I wouldn't even have started up except that we were accompanied by two friends that had never done it and would have been very disappointed if we abandoned them.

I can't get the images out of my mind.

I believe this would be the first fatality on the cables since they were first installed.

Yosemite discussion forum I visit also has no news. Perhaps too early yet for info, thanks for the headsup.

Sorry to hear about that tragic fall.

Another slip (Oct 2006) where a man miraculously survived:
http://www.hikehalfdome.com/images/fall_best.JPG

It's being discussed on supertopo.com, a site where the Yosemite climbing crowd hangs out....

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=400512

Apparently there have been other similar deaths in the last year, for the first time.

I was there when this accident happened. Here is my side of story with some photos.

http://www.bayareadragon.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=12553

Judith your right, the cables were WAY too busy to be safe. Honestly for the majority of people visting half dome, I think there should be req's to have a harness on the cables and some sort of limiting system where only a certain amount are allowed on the cables at a time. Besides, harnesses are cheap, maybe $50 for harness and carabiners to tie on with? Pretty cheap insurance when you consider the alternative if you ask me!
I was on my way down short of the 2 mile marker when a lady stopped me and told me to call 911 (I was ahead of my buddies and we were setting a meet up point when she saw I was on the phone). I turned on my FRS radio and hit scan to try and pick somethin up for details and not just make some no detail call to 911 and heard the "we stopped CPR after 5 mins, there's no pulse" transmission. Talk about having your stomach drop.
There have been others- Dayhiker, yours is in this link as well... http://www.hikehalfdome.com/Accidents.html

Check out this link of Yosemite S&R-specifically 4/19/07. Cables were't up but still....

http://www.friendsofyosar.org/rescues/rescues1.html

What happened was tragic, and shows just how careful people need to be on the cables. I will be there with a few friends this Thursday, and know that we will pause for a few seconds as we approach the top section of the cables.

Whitney Mike

I would be cautious about considering changes to the procedures in Yosemite. I'm profoundly impressed that there had been NO fatalities on these cables until last year.

In this case, apparently the hiker dropped their water bottle, and left the safety of the cables to attempt a retrieval. NO harness and tether will work if people release them, eh?

There is NO DOUBT that if people were required to wear harnesses, it would slow the pace to less than half---far too many people who will not be facile in using them. The more time of exposure, the more risk, I'd think.

According to an article in tomorrow's San Francisco paper:

"Since 1971 there have been nine falls, including Nohara, but only three of them were fatal, all within the past year. She said Nohara's death was the first on Half Dome where other factors, such as bad weather, did not play a part."

"...park officials will be asking visitors for suggestions on what measures, if any, they would like to see taken on Half Dome, whether it be quotas on how many people can use the cables at a time or a public information campaign about the rigorous and dangerous nature of the hike. Freeman said Yosemite's wild bear education project cut human versus bear conflicts 80 percent between 1998 and 1999, showing that it is possible through education to improve safety without direct intervention."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/19/YOSEMITE.TMP

I was also there with a group of Scouts and adults. We left early but found the trail packed and reached the cables to find a massive amount of people. The line was solid all the way to the top and moving extremely slowly - it took us over an hour to move 20 feet. We could see that several people had frozen in place, the line was stopped, with many climbing and descending on the outside of the cables. I couldn't help but think that this was a disaster waiting to happen - so we pulled out and headed down. An hour down the trail we heard the news.

This was an extremely sad story - but with crowds like this, inevitable. There had to be well over 1000 people on the mountain - many with no experience with exposure - including a five year old girl in tennis shoes and several other very young children. The problem was compounded by a single group of 150 people hiking and climbing together. It was a circus. I heard that this was the fourth serious incident in four days - with one other fall arrested somehow by his sweat shirt.

The Park Service can no longer consider this hike as "climb at your own risk" - the carnival like atmosphere adds to the problem - and the crowded conditions likely contributed to this fall. Other National Parks make an effort to reduce the risks of inexperience - Grand Canyon and heat, Glacier and Grizzlies, Yellowstone and buffalo. Yosemite needs to do something about Half Dome.

Put in a Quota System or Take down the Cables. With crowds like this, this is no wilderness experience.

Marisa and I hiked up Half Dome a few years back..great trip..great experience. We came down from Glacier Point and back up the same way..sure glad we did. We also did it in late Sept. so the crowds weren't quite as bad. Photo of people on the cables:

http://www.mudspike.com/adventure/california/cal06.jpg

http://www.mudspike.com/adventure/california/cal10.jpg

It sounds to me like this is just a bad year. I'm always leery of swatting flies with a sledgehammer..and overreacting is common in this kind of situation. I do think a quota system might be a good idea. I don't think that having people hook up with harnesses and carabiners is a good idea because you might then have more accidents from people taking their hands off and futzing with the equipment instead of just hanging on. I dunno..maybe not. Seems like the current system has worked for many, many years...but the overcrowding is obviously getting worse and worse.

Shame about the guy though..tragic accident..and for all those that had to witness it..

Chris

I hike Yosemite nearly every weekend and have already done Half Dome twice this year. Please, people back off on cry for the use of harnesses or a quota system. Most sensible people that climb to the saddle will know at that point whether they should go up the cables or not. You cannot protect people from exercising poor judgement and putting restrictions on all to protect a few seems an overeaction. Perhaps a flyer at the gate and warning signs on the trail would be more appropriate. The huge volume of traffic can be avoided by an early start. The huge amounts of people on the Half Dome trail has a positive affect as it leaves the rest of the trails virtually traffic free. The last two weekends including last Saturday I hiked the Snow Creek trail and the Yosemite falls trails as a loop and saw only a couple of people both times.

Dan, I think I hung out with you at Quarter dome, or at least someone in your troop. I was quite impressed with how you handled the group and the behavior of the kids. It was a nice change to prior groups I've seen.
I know when I got up there about 12n it was a mad house, there must've been 15-20 people outside the cables at any given time. Something does need to change, bad year or not. I know its "at your risk" but when the cables are provided that to me is saying there is an inherent danger. Maybe one set of cables for up and another for down? Now I know somebody is gonna come in with the "but it'll mess up the aesthetics of the mountain...." You already have one set, whats another? Maybe a Ranger keepin an eye on things and checking the cable system instead of waiting for a 911 call would help too. Specifically the poles that came out as some people were going up! Maybe even to keep people in the cables and show them how to properly use them and kick em off if they can't do it right. You have to remember the majority of people doing this hike are weekend adventurers having little to no experience in the outdoors. Be it their own negligence of not knowing their own limits/where to draw the line or just seeing everyone else doin it and assuming they'll be fine, there still needs to be soemthing to protect these people from themselves. The cable/2x system they have isn't cuttin it. Nobody has a 15' reach, there need to be more 2x's at reach/step intervals. If you look around there's been 60 total deaths on that trail including suicides, stunt attempts, lightning strikes, etc. Dang good number statistically but I think its just that they've been lucky. With the number of people that were up there last weekend, I'd say its only going to get worse. For the time it took to get up, minimum of 45 mins in the base and then more then an hour on the cables, whats another 20 mins for tying off? I know from construction experience those systems are easy to use, doesn't take long to figure em out and I believe there are like "trolleys" made to grip the cables so those could even be used to limit the amount of people. I know if I tried setting that system up on any of my sites OSHA would laugh and I'd be paying huge fines. Again though, there's no substitute for common sense and knowing where to draw your line, accidents are going to happen but if you ask me there's negligence involved when there isn't anyone keepin an eye on the cables, especially with poles pulling out!

When my friends and I do Half Dome on Thursday, we plan on leaving Curry Village by 5:45am. That should put us at the base of the cables by 10:15am. At that time of day, there should be very few people on the cables, a key factor in ascending safely. We want to be off of Half Dome by no later than 11:30am. By the afternoon, there will be the usual traffic jam with a solid line of people, something that we want to avoid.

Last year, I did Half Dome for the first time, and started up the cables at 10:45am. At that time of the morning, there were only about a dozen people ahead of me, and it took only about 15 minutes to summit. The descent took about 35 minutes, as the crowds were starting to form.

This year, my friend and his daughter will be using a harness as an added safety factor, as neither has done Half Dome before. I do not think that making harnesses mandatory is a good idea, as many people do not know how to properly use them, and this might cause more problems.

I think that an early start is a good idea for anyone wanting to do Half Dome. It makes the trip much more enjoyable, you avoid the heat this time of year, and the cables are definitely not crowded if you are off of them before noon.

Whitney Mike

I hate to sound cruel but, don't go if you are not prepared physically or mentally for what is a challenging climb. If the cables are removed that would eliminate all but the most skilled rock climbers from ever reaching the top. Common sense should be everyones guide.

I cannot believe people are even thinking about harnesses! With several hundred people on the cable, and one slips, how many is he going to take out? It is an unbelievably stupid idea.

As for the pole coming out of the hole, there is one near the top where the curve of the granite is concave, so when the cable is pulled tight, it lifts the pole out of the hole. They should probably just remove that one support.

I can't believe people spend an hour in the cables -- going on the outside takes just a few minutes.

Unfortunately, I smell a quota system brewing.

The one hopeful thing, from the article, is that it looks like they will try an education program first. I'm not entirely clear what education there is to do, though, as it seems like the mountain is simply being overwhelmed by numbers. I guess spreading the hordes out over the daylight hours would be the major thing.

This fellows' fall is apparently the only fatality that has happened when there was no aggravating factor (wet rock), so is particularly troubling.

I do remember that the rock is quite slick, from all the traffic over the years. Perhaps recommending approach shoes, or climbing shoes for the last part, would help with the slippery factor? I imagine that you can rent climbing shoes in the mountain shop. If not, perhaps they are missing a market....

No amount of mother-hen rules can prevent that sort of accident.


There is a fear factor that comes into play here. On the polished granite with a light coating of dust, even the best rock-climbing shoes will slip if the person tries to stand upright.

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 can spot the most frightened people on the cables by watching their stance -- They're the ones who are upright!

Agree with you Steve.

The whole reason to use gloves (especially leather) on the cables is not for the way up, but for the way down . Just lean forward, slide your gloved hands along the cable, and "lower" yourself.

Unfortunately, this does not work if
(A) too many people in the way
(B) too short of height
(C) too short of arms to grip both sides.
(D) weak grip
(E) off to the side
(F) other Murphys

Harvey

I guess here's the thing: People are now dying, three fatalities in a year, when none in the last ~80 years. This coincides with the huge increase in usage. So:

-accept deaths with no action
-set a quota, to cut the numbers
-educate people to do something different.

I favor the latter, at least as a first step, but what should they do different? It seems like an early start for some would help, but I suspect that most won't do that. (By the way, late works too, hiking down the trail in the dark.....but few will choose this, either) When I climbed it a few years ago (from Mammoth), we timed it so we climbed it at 6pm from the base of the rock, and camped there when we got down. We had the top to ourselves. I can't imagine that many would do that, certainly not enough to alter the dynamics of what is going on.