A hiker slipped from the Half Dome cables and fell to his death during a thunderstorm Monday afternoon in Yosemite National Park.
Park Rangers were notified that a hiker had slipped and fell off the iconic trail at 4:30 p.m., the park said in a release. The rangers arrived on the scene and provided assistance to the second hiker.
Rangers recovered the deceased man's body at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The identity of the deceased hiker will be released pending family notification. The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
This is the first fatality on the Half Dome cables since 2010 and the first visitor fatality in Yosemite in 2018.
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Comments
Why take such a risk during a thunderstorm?
Assuimng they were descending, maybe they thought the risk of getting struck by lightning up on top was too great.
Maybe those cables are unsafe and the NPS should either remove them or perhaps recommend that people use a harness and caribiners as they go up or down?
It's not really a technical climb. I don't know if it's any worse than Angels Landing, which has seen several fatalities. However, the one issue is that it's granite, and it's noticeably different in between the cables than outside of them. It's been made somewhat slick by way of all the people using that specific path. I've even heard of some people claiming that there's better traction outside the cables than in between.
I did it once and I wore the backpacking boots that I had for the trip. However, I think perhaps anyone visiting should consider wearing something with climbing style rubber such as approach shoes.