Japanese climber dies in Yosemite fall

[Cy Kaicener]

I am sad to report another fatality on Half Dome.
There is also a thread on summitpost.com
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ ... 620b1.html

[zippetydude]

The article says he did not appear to be engaging in unsafe activities - I'm wondering how he slipped and fell. I went up Halfdome for the first time last summer. I have a fear of heights, and I was terrified by the cables, but it seemed that if you held on and went slow there was little chance of falling. Did something unusual happen? His death is tragic, and I want to make sure that I understand how to avoid a similar accident. Also, if many of us know, then we could advise people on the way up if they are taking a chance that is seemingly innocuous but is unexpectedly risky.

z

[Cy Kaicener]

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=29699

[zippetydude]

Wow. That's rough. Anyone can slip - I found that section slippery myself.

It sounds like it was horrific for the others witnessing the tragedy as well. The discussion on Summitpost seems to cover most of the points pretty well, though, so I guess there's not a lot to be done.

I'll bring some very good gloves next time I go, and I may clip in like they mentioned. A lady ahead of me did so when I went up, and it didn't slow her down or cause any problems as far as I could see.

Have you been up Halfdome?

z

[Cy Kaicener]

Yes it was very enjoyable but you have to be very careful coming down even with climbing shoes. Clouds Rest was also a good hike.

[Hikin_Jim]

When I did Half Dome, I think I'd been warned so much about how scary it was that I actually found it anticlimactic. However, I did it as a backpack, staying in little Yosemite, so we were on the Dome first thing in the AM and didn't have serious crowds. It's the bunching up that scares me. When the body is in dynamic motion, a fall is less likely in my experience. When stopped, the chances generally increase (well, maybe not if you stop on a ledge and clip in, but you know what I mean).

(said while ducking behind a bullet proof shield...) maybe quotas or a "traffic cop" ranger are in order. With something like that where there are scads of people, maybe it's called for.

[magikwalt]

Sometimes bad stuff happens to good people. You can't go around placing safety shields to protect everyone from everything.