A 26-year-old California woman was killed by a 600-foot fall while working her way down the cables on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, according to a park release.
The fatality on Sunday was the first since the park instituted a permit system with hopes of improving safety on the route to the top of the iconic granite dome.
According to a park release, at about noon on Sunday the park's emergency communications center received a 911 phone call reporting a fall of a hiker on the Half Dome cables. Hayley LaFlamme, from San Ramon, California, had gone to the top of Half Dome and was descending when she fell 600 feet off the cables, the release said, adding that rangers pronounced her deceased upon arrival on scene.
While an investigation into the accident was continuing Monday, the park reported a "severe lightning, thunder, and rainstorm was present in the area of Half Dome for several hours in the morning and early afternoon on Sunday."
"This type of weather can make for hazardous trail conditions and the granite slopes become very slick," the release said.
The last hiker who died on Half Dome was Majoj Kumar, from San Ramon, California, on June 13, 2009, according to park records. Before that, on June 16, 2007, Hirofumi Nohara, slipped to his death on the cables. Two other Half Dome fatalities involved women who were hiking on Half Dome when the cables were down. These were Jennifer Bettles, who died on April 21, 2007 and Emily Sandal, who died on November 8, 2006.
Comments
I cannot understand the mentality to climb half dome in severe weather. It makes no sense to me. I understand that people make extraordinary efforts to get to the mountain, and it might be intensely disappointing to be denied the opportunity to climb to the top. But a severe thunderstorm? Really? I was going down the cables in a very slight mist in relatively uncrowded conditions and it was scary. The hike is wonderful and the view spectacular, but really, if you hike it in a severe thunderstorm, or when the cables are down, if you decide to ignore trailsigns and get yourself in lethal conditions, my sympathy only goes so far.
The cables themselves are more or less permanently affixed to the rock. What's installed and removed once a year are the stanchions (that are planted into holes in the rock) that keep the cables off the rock and make for an easier ascent. Removing them doesn't take that long (maybe one work day), but it takes a lot of people to do it since the cables themselves are very heavy. It's not something that would be done on the basis of hourly weather changes.
What they have now is a ranger stationed before the cables to check for Half Dome permits. Reports are that this ranger was advising people not to make the ascent due to the conditions, but this ranger didn't have the authority to stop people who had valid permits.
I believe the reference is to either permanently removing them, or keeping them, but only laid flat against the rock. Those could be done, although the holes would still be there.
I've heard of people making the climb when the cables were down. Traffic is never a problem, and I don't think that harnessing is a bad idea in that case. I'm generally not a bit fan of harnessing there. Since not everyone is harnessed, there's a chance that a falling and harnessed climber could knock down people on the cable with any tether used.
Uh, I'd think that any falling climber/hiker could knock down people on the cable route, whether or not those falling and/or those struck were tethered to the cables. For all of the individuals involved, the consequences are comparatively minimal and likely they will not have their name in the news.
Using a seat harness with a Y-tether and 'biners allows the hiker/climber to clip to the cable and minimize the consequences of a slip or a missed hand grab on the small diameter cables. Also, being clipped in lessens the risk to those climbing or resting "outside of" (not between) the cables. A slip (or being bumped by others) results in a comparatively short fall to the next stanchion, not the base of the dome.
If the cables are down (stanchions removed), a cable grip could be used for a sliding anchorage to the cables - one type is here https://www.safetysolutions.com/retail/safety_ppe_itemdetail.asp?itemnum=40200571800
I would note that it's not just one set of cables. It's about 3 or 4, where a new set starts where the previous set is anchored to the rock.
Regardless, there were some reports that the victim wasn't actually on the cables at the time she slipped and fell.
I live in the area where this woman lived and have read all the posted comments in the local papers. Many have assigned blame to the rangers for allowing people to ascend the cables in poor conditions. This frustrates me so much! People, take responsibility for your own actions and stop expecting the government to take care of you. There are natural consequences to everything and please stop trying to assign blame to someone else. It’s a bad decision by the individual, not the fault of the Park Service. Just like those two poor backpackers that drowned tried crossing a submerged bridge just a few miles away. A bad decision = natural consequence. It’s a simple concept to me and the Park should not be responsible for poor decisions.
Looking at pictures of half dome cables, a harness and lifeline should be required at all times, not just an option. Lifelines are required by workers climbing bridges, like the golden gate bridge. The park does not require this, so they should except some of the blame for providing a structure that is not safe. If the park is in charge of putting up the cables then they are responsible to make them safe... if they can't do that, then they should take the cables down for good, the cables are not a natural part of half dome anyway...
Anonymous,
Those cables have been up in one form or another from the end of May to the end of Sept since 1919. A total of 3, count 'em, 3 people have fallen to their deaths when the cables were up, all in the last decade, out of 10's of thousands of hikers. As I said above, if you want to make it safer, sand the polished surface between the cables, get rid of the permit process that encourages recklessness, and give the rangers the authority to prohibit people from ascending the cables if they see or hear imminent danger.
The cables have been up since forever, and I don't remember their safety
being a big issue in the past (though someone has commented somewhere
that the replacement cables from some years ago are thinner and harder
to grasp). I think the issue is that many folks climbing up are
unprepared in many ways, either endurance or strength or shoes.
It's great that people are getting out in such numbers, but they have to
remember that most of Yosemite is wilderness, not Disneyland, and it
needs to be approached on its own terms.