Rescue Helicopter at Half Dome After Fatal Fall

It was meant to be a nice Father's Day hike with my two sons. We left the valley floor at 9:00 am and there were few people on the trail until we hit the log jam of people at the base of the cables where we waited for 60 minutes before we could start up. The day was June 16, 2007. When we were half way up the cables, Hirofumi Nohara from Japan slid by us to his death. Since then, Yosemite has instituted a lottery system to limit the number of hikers allowed to ascend Half Dome each day.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Half
• Dome
• Yosemite
• accident
• cables
• fatal
• fall
• hiking
• helicopter
• rescue
• climbing

[ujayet]

I don't understand the path the victim falls.. it's no where near the cables.. did he stray away from the cable while climbing? or did he made it to the top but messed around and slipped off? sorry for my ignorant.

[running4boston]

@ujayet: A ranger from the US Forest Service interviewed me at the bottom of the trail and copied my entire video. USFS conducted an investigation, had a preliminary press release, and then I never saw a final report from them. But now the number of hikers on Half Dome is limited to 400 each day by permit. I heard different rumors about what happened to Hirofumi from other hikers. Most thought he stepped away from the cables to retrieve a dropped water bottle or camera and then slipped.

[platter1000]

the cables look like the hillary step on everest these days.

sorry for the person who died

[XmitchellX1]

Serious those cables are the worst thing to ever happen to half dome. Rock climbing to me is getting AWAY from people and conecting with nature, as well as pushing ur limits. I wouldnt wait 10 minutes to climb with those fools.

[noblinger]

What a zoo.

[YosemiteNative1]

@formerjerseygal me neither!

[formerjerseygal]

I'm sure it's beautiful BUT NO EFFIN WAY WOULD I DO THAT

[mykylc]

Too many people.



[MegaDyneSystemsExe]

Holy crap, that was a boatload of people up on those cables... Will a 400 permit limit make that much of a difference or will there still be a ton of people log jammed at the cables?

[jpm4444]

So many people die in half dome. We've learned NOT to take risks. if the weather is bad, you don't go up. You don't stray from the cables and you dont' take any chances.

[stayAU]

I do not understand the fasciantion with Half Dome it is a giant boulder, a conduit for lighting and can become slippery during rain and fog. Just go to New York find an old building with a ledge and walk around on it for christ sake. It is the ugliest thing in Yosemite.Why do people like to climb on it?Help me to understand.

[beardedswine]

metal