Learning from the recent tragedy...

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Cloudy
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by Cloudy »

Hmmmm, doesn't look like a good time to be laying down and peering over the edge at the valley below...
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DoyleWDonehoo
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by DoyleWDonehoo »

There was yet another death in Yosemite yesterday. I think that brings up the Yosemite total deaths to 15 this year. Climbers say they saw the guy falling 4,000 feet down the face of Half Dome. That will be hard for them to get out of their head. I feel for the victims family. Whatever the circumstances (a freak accident?), I am not surprised. I have been to the top of Half Dome only a few times, but every time I saw someone doing something stupid or careless. I thought it was bad enough people were sitting in the prow window or on that ledge below the prow with their feet dangling over nothing or people sitting on a rocky finger, but I saw one guy do a head-stand on a rock finger over the edge! Thinking about it still freaks me out. It is dangerous enough up there without pushing your luck. There will probably more rules, but for better or worse you can't legislate stupid (or fate or nature for that matter).
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yosehiker
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by yosehiker »

I heard that this latest death could have been a suicide. I doubt we'll get any official word on that from the park, I bet they would be loathe to 'encourage' anyone else if you will. One might think suicide's would be rare after taking the effort to hike all the way up there, but Death in Yosemite documents at least one such case. Don't have the book with me at the moment so can't say exactly when, but there has been one off of Half Dome and number of other at different locations. Anyway, always sad for the family regardless of what happened.
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by rlown »

the news tonight said it was an accident. Also said 17 for the total this year. Not sure where the numbers are; seems that Yose better advertises dead bears than dead visitors.

Doyle, I can't even look at your pictures.. I cannot get close to an edge anymore. Scary stuff.
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by ERIC »

rlown wrote:Doyle, I can't even look at your pictures..
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rlown
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by rlown »

Eric, you appear to have too much time on your hands this week! :)

Seriously, good-bye steep and deep. Unless securely roped; then I'm ok with it. Now I just need to wire that into my cliff nightmares.. how does one do that?
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markskor
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by markskor »

rlown wrote:the news tonight said it was an accident. Also said 17 for the total this year...Yosemite.
Found on Backpacker forum:
TRIP REPORT
Death on the NW Face of Half Dome

by howie doin'
Tuesday August 23, 2011 8:05pm

My friend Jed and I went to go climb the Regular NW Face yesterday and today. For those interested, the spring is still running and the fixed lines on the death slabs are in decent shape. Yesterday we approached and fixed the first pitch for fun. There were no other parties there or up on the wall. We sat down to make dinner and discussed how excited we were to be in such a beautiful place by ourselves, gunning for a classic Yosemite route.

Then around 7pm we had an unwelcome visitor drop in. It started with loud shouting from high above, then turned into numerous, short, high-pitched screams. After we figured out that it was not likely to hit us, we were able to see a human form. Arms and legs flailing out of control, body twisting and turning in the air. The sound of a human body freefalling down a 2000 foot face is like the sound of a commercial jet near landing. After what seemed like a very long 5-6 seconds the body collided with the lower face about 300 feet from our vantage point and literally exploded. The pieces came to rest in the bushes downslope of the central bivouac site.

We called in the emergency and then tried to contemplate what we had just witnessed. After a fitful night sleep and some vivid dreams, we awoke at 4:30am and decided that we had definitely lost our mojo for the climb. We assisted the SAR crew who came to clean up and hiked up to the Subdome where we met with a Park special agent. The cables were closed and the rangers had been there overnight. The investigation as of this morning was inconclusive, but it was suspected as a suicide. We hiked down the Mist Trail. This was a surreal and crazy Yosemite experience for a couple of Eastside Sierra climbers.

The clean up at the base by SAR was likely very thorough, but the body impacted very close to the Direct Northwest Face route, approximately 2-3 pitches up. Use caution as I would not be surprised if some remains are found on this route for a while.
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rlown
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by rlown »

Not to be callous, but what we learned is don't fall or put yourself somewhere where you might! We also learned don't jump over obviously signed gates saying, this is dangerous! not sure the public learns much of what we mull over here anyway. It's their vacation.
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Re: Learning from the recent tragedy...

Post by Carne_DelMuerto »

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but here's a final, sad footnote to the story:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/05/us/califo ... ?hpt=hp_t2
Wonder is rock and water and the life that lives in-between.
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