View Full Version : Woman falls 600 feet to death on Yosemite's Half Dome
ChinMusic
08-02-2011, 11:01
This story is a reminder for other areas on trails where conditions can be dangerous when wet/icy. I just took my 27-yr-old daughter to Half Dome 10 days ago. I told her that if the rocks were wet that we would not be making the climb even up the Sub Dome, let alone the cables. The next day we hiked past the falls where the 3 folks died several days before. He took our pictures from a safe distance and moved on, as 99.999% of the visitors do.
Be careful out there and use your head. This ain't a Disney ride.......
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43976584/ns/us_news-life/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43976584/ns/us_news-life/)
A 26-year-old California woman fell 600 feet to her death Sunday while descending Yosemite's famous Half Dome, the National Park Service said Monday.
Hayley LaFlamme, of San Ramon in the Bay Area, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after park rangers received a 911 call around noon reporting the fall of a hiker from the steps and cable system up the steep granite face.
The park service said that LaFlamme appeared to have slipped while climbing back down, accompanied by three friends.
"A severe lightning, thunder, and rainstorm was present in the area of Half Dome for several hours in the morning and early afternoon yesterday," the park service said in a statement. "This type of weather can make for hazardous trail conditions and the granite slopes become very slick."
Signs warn Half Dome hikers against using the cables during rain and lightning but the trail does not officially close, park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said, according to the Los Angeles Times (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/san-ramon-woman-falls-to-her-death-on-yosemites-half-dome.html).
LaFlamme's death is the 14th at the park this year, well above the 5-6 averaged in recent years through July.
The last hiker to die on Half Dome was a visitor, also from San Ramon, in June 2009, the park service said.
The death comes two weeks after three visitors plunged over a Yosemite waterfall (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43918378/ns/us_news-life/t/yosemite-waterfall-victims-still-missing/). While their bodies have not been recovered, they are presumed dead. It is believed the bodies are trapped under rocks.
The search for their bodies was scaled back last week. Rangers hope to be able to find the bodies in autumn when the water recedes.
Blissful
08-02-2011, 11:18
Yeah I saw this. Lots of injuries and record deaths. Glad I didn't do the JMT this July. Always another year.
ChinMusic
08-02-2011, 11:50
Yeah I saw this. Lots of injuries and record deaths. Glad I didn't do the JMT this July. Always another year.
I was out there starting on 7/15. The JMT was doable then as long as you had a GPS track for navigation and preferably with a group. Folks just using a map, with no prior knowledge of the area, were having trouble with navigation and even turning back. At times tracks were going every which direction with folks trying to find there way. Just blindly following tracks wasn't always a good plan. When I hit it the snow just made things interesting and just the right amount of challenge. I don't think I would have liked to hit the passes prior to 7/4.
Nearly all the Half Dome deaths seem to be due to wet rocks and lightning. Not that many have fallen in good weather.
It was about a month ago that a man also slid past the cables, possibly because he was trying to pass someone on the outside. The rock is like glass when it's dry and like ice when it's wet. And then I read about plans to add two more lanes, one up and one down. To double the death rate, it would appear. Maybe Half Dome needs full-time lifeguards; everyone out of the pool/off the rock when thunder is heard; stay off the rock for the next 45 minutes; and if thunder is heard before the 45-minute clock expires, then the clock is reset for another 45.
Alaska has an interesting rule: Any law enforcement officer can place anyone under 72 hours "protective custody" if that person is deemed to be a hazard to himself/herself or anyone else. The clock can be reset as often as needed.
-SEEKER-
08-02-2011, 21:35
ChinMusic,
Thanks for posting that article. I left the AT this year at Franchonia Notch because I no longer felt safe for fear of falling off the rocks after a 12 hour day of hiking from Glencliff to Beaver Brook shelter. Now that I've been home for 3 weeks I have become depressed and have become to regret my decision to leave the trail. Your post has reminded me that I made the right decision for the time and conditions I was dealing with and I will condition my mind and body over the next several months and return to the trail next year.
Trailbender
08-02-2011, 21:39
Alaska has an interesting rule: Any law enforcement officer can place anyone under 72 hours "protective custody" if that person is deemed to be a hazard to himself/herself or anyone else. The clock can be reset as often as needed.
Sounds like a way to abuse someone's rights, if a person was so inclined.
Sounds like a way to abuse someone's rights, if a person was so inclined.
It sounds that way, but there's a catch: no crime is alleged, and therefore doesn't fall under 4th or 5th amendment protections. Last summer, the rule was used to stop a guy who was trying to get his hang-glider gear up Denali/Mt. McKinley, with the intention of taking off from the peak. He was in Talkeetna with a ticket to fly up to the base camp area. People said he wasn't talking sense and his gear wasn't squared away. The NPS ranger didn't trust him and gave him a warning to not try and fly up to the base camp. The guy was up there the next day, saying he was going to solo to the summit with his gear and fly off the top. The NPS ranger went after him, brought him back to Talkeetna, and transferred him to town, where he as kept under observation for 72 hours. Other than ignoring the NPS warning, he hadn't broken any laws and wasn't under any restraining orders. Just a dangerous guy with a bad plan that could have resulted in a huge rescue mission.
A few summers ago, I saw hundreds of tourists hiking up to Panorama Point, at 8000 feet up Mt. Rainier, above Paradise. Ladies in sundresses and Manolo sling-back sandals, toddlers, guys carrying coolers of beer. If the weather had turned, just like at Half Dome, the results would have been disastrous.
Sometimes even adults need chaperones. And sometimes they shouldn't be allowed through the door.
Blissful
08-03-2011, 20:41
ChinMusic,
Thanks for posting that article. I left the AT this year at Franchonia Notch because I no longer felt safe for fear of falling off the rocks after a 12 hour day of hiking from Glencliff to Beaver Brook shelter. Now that I've been home for 3 weeks I have become depressed and have become to regret my decision to leave the trail. Your post has reminded me that I made the right decision for the time and conditions I was dealing with and I will condition my mind and body over the next several months and return to the trail next year.
I do know what you are talking about - but I'll have to say it gets much worse farther north. Esp the Mahoosuc area of NH and ME which one almost needs rock climbing skills. The Carter Moriah range is tough too. On my NOBO hike, I got so tired of being fearful I wanted to quit in Maine of all places (nearly threw my pack over a cliff). I calmed it down and channeled the fear into something positive and kept going. Its a mental thing one must work through. On my SOBO hike I had no problem. So you learn what to do, at least AT-wise. I am in no means speaking for this Half DOme tragedy though. Another kind of hiking entirely (which I still need to face).
ChinMusic
08-24-2011, 19:31
Yet another death on Half Dome. This one appears to be suicide.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_18747779?source=rss
A 23-year-old Los Gatos man has been identified as the hiker who died after falling about 2,500 feet off Half Dome on Monday night, according to Yosemite National Park officials.
The body of Ryan Leeder was spotted by park rangers on Tuesday and recovered from the base of Half Dome, according to officials. Reached by telephone, a family member who did not give her name would only say "we're on our way to Yosemite now to pick up his stuff. We can't talk. We're just really sad."
At 6:30 p.m. Monday, the Yosemite Emergency Communication Center received a report of a person falling down the sheer face of Half Dome. Because it was getting late, park rangers couldn't take a helicopter out to immediately search for the body, according to park spokeswoman Kari Cobb.
Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said a group of rock climbers reported seeing what happened: Leeder had reached the summit of Half Dome just before falling.
"At that point, there is nothing we could safely do, knowing a fall like that you can't survive," he said.
Rangers located Leeder's body on a rocky slope early Tuesday afternoon. They also recovered some personal items on the slope and on the summit believed to have belonged to him. Park officials are assuming that Leeder ascended Half Dome by the trail and cables used by hikers, crossed the expansive summit and then fell 4,000 feet.
The following is a link to a blog from a climber who witnessed the event. Please be warned that the content on this blog is graphic and disturbing:
http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Death-on-the-NW-Face-of-Half-Dome/t11134n.html
mateozzz
08-24-2011, 20:47
If it is that steep is there any sort of guide wire to clip on to? I would think if a fall means you die vs just breaking a couple of bones, it would be a good option.
ChinMusic
08-24-2011, 21:17
If it is that steep is there any sort of guide wire to clip on to? I would think if a fall means you die vs just breaking a couple of bones, it would be a good option.
Falls are nearly certain death. You have the option of clipping onto the cables. This guy fell/jumped from the top. It's about 4000' down.
Here are a couple pics. The first is my daughter at the bottom of the cables. The second is her doing her signature "jump" on the Visor on top of Half Dome. I had no idea she was gonna do that.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b186/ChinMusicIHSS/Backpacking/Yosemite%202011/Yosemite2011_2425.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b186/ChinMusicIHSS/Backpacking/Yosemite%202011/Yosemite2011_2349.jpg
Different Socks
08-26-2011, 00:54
Did 1/2 Dome back in 1996 while on the PCT. Camped on the shoulder the night before then went up early to see the sunrise and beat the crowds. Had the top to myself, and still saw no one on the way down. I'd do it the same way if i ever go to Yosemite again.
When I hiked the PCT in 2008 I hiked a couple of times with a guy whose daughter had fallen from half dome and died. He was the saddest man I had ever met. When I was 16 I chickened out climbing the cables. I'm happy I did and I will never attempt it again.
We were going to go to Yellowstone & do Halfdome last month, but logistics didn't work out so we went to the Rockies instead. We hiked & climbed for 6 days and every day we saw countless people who were absolutely ill-prepared from a physical, mental and equipment standpoint. It was insane. On the last day we climbed a 14'er (Bierstadt) and I'd wager that well over half the people there didn't make the summit and by any reasonable measure had no business seriously trying. BUT in most places being stupid isn't illegal. It just comes with consequences....
We were going to go to Yellowstone Yosemite
Fixed that... =( I dunno why I confuse those two all the time...