Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.
fishmonger wrote:outside the cables is one thing - completely free of them, about 10 feet over to the side is what I was refering to, and I have seen a lot of that.
Wow... I can't imagine going down Half Dome without at least ONE cable, even in perfect weather. That's crazy!
... then I remembered the first time I went up Half Dome - there was a younger man who started heading up when we did, and he was also the distance from the cables that you described. He was obviously is great shape - he was practically running up the side, but it made me really nervous. If he would have had a miss-step, he would have been another statistic. I didn't see if he did the same coming down.
Last time I climbed up the cables it was a so congested I did go up and down the outside of the cables. I definitly clipped in with a short lenth of rope.
The week before this two people fell, sliding 150 feet or so down the cables. Fortunately they survived, but were still Medivaced(sp?) It was raining at the time and had been most of the day. While the rest of the family spent the night an LYV a bear did some damage at their camp in Upper Pines. I know this because I was staying with the camp host at the time. I also know that the ranger had to breakup their party at 3 AM the night before the accident. All this is to say that some people do not have a clue, yet think that they can do this hike. This is what gets people into trouble.
1 - A simple harness, runner and carabiner "via ferrata" setup will not impede anyone who would like to pass you on the cables because they will not pass between you and the cable you are clipped to. They will pass around you backside as you face the cable you are clipped too. This setup in common on all the fixed cable climbs in Europe and only saves life and limb.
2 - Regardng the scenario coined as the "domino effect" ... has it ever happened? If it were to happen... the harnessed climber's fall would be arrested by the 1st pole encountered, lessing the number of unharnessed climbers that could be directly knocked of their feet. Also, the harnesssed climber is no more likely to fall... so how could having fewer harnessed climbers on the cables mitigate any risk whatsoever?
