There is no wifi at Curry….. I need to find a spot to download blog…at the Yosem Lodge now – I give at talk at 8 pm tonight….Got a lot of upated Yosemite Park info to share…tune in Sunday for the beef. Hint – LOTS of water flowing!
Rick
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MrHalfDome's Blog 
May 22, 2011 at 7:01 pm |
What’s a bolg? 🙂
Heading up there June 7, 8. Probably no cables but can’t wait to the the falls.
May 22, 2011 at 10:09 pm |
Didn’t you read Lord Of The Rings?! 😉
Lucky you. I’v seen many recent pics and videos from Yosemite and It’ll be fantastic. I’m more than keen to hear Rick’s report too.
May 23, 2011 at 3:49 am
Please post the best pics and videos, or links!
May 22, 2011 at 9:23 pm |
Bolg? Wasn’t that the scary monster in Alice in Wonderland? LOL! As for the erection of the cables, well, I was going to recommend viagra but……
May 23, 2011 at 12:26 pm |
please post some info on the trail conditions to HD or Clouds Rest
May 23, 2011 at 1:19 pm |
I found this today:
Supposedly the hike did take place on the 21st (Saturday) so this is as “fresh” as it gets. Looks real to me. I’m also surprised how many people hiked to Sub Dome.
Hiker said the trail was ok till about half a mile before Sub Dome. He reported “several feet of snow” on the Sub Dome.
NOTE: I DO NOT ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO UP THE CABLES WHILE THE CABLES ARE NOT OFFICIALLY “OPEN”. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS. I REPEAT: DO NOT USE THE CABLES WHILE THE BOARDS AND POSTS ARE NOT INSTALLED.
May 23, 2011 at 2:50 pm |
Insanity. Dawin: Culling the herd.
May 23, 2011 at 3:41 pm |
Of the people that do go up the bare cables, the success rate of getting up and down without death or injury is nearly 100%. If you have a harness, carabiners, straps, rope, etc. you can clip in where the rings for the cables are drilled into the granite?
May 23, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Roberto,
Few get killed drivng cars. But we still use seatbelts for the one time we need them…. going up HD without the cable system in place is sheer folly.
Read my accidents page on the website about the 2 women in 2006/7 who bought the big one going using just the cable..
Yes , it’s in the wilderness and you can do what you what within bounds, but that doesn;t make it a good idea. Assess the risk then act accordingly. Or be a statistic.
Rick
May 23, 2011 at 2:04 pm |
Wow, that picture is crazy. Cables down, running shoes and no gloves.
Great photo though.
May 23, 2011 at 2:15 pm |
Yes, it’s crazy. In the meantime I’ve seen more pics to confirm it’s authentic. Lots of snow on Sub Dome. Bear tracks in the snow…scary. The good news: the poles and boards seem to be in good shape after a long winter. 🙂
May 23, 2011 at 2:46 pm
HUH?? The boards and poles are taken down during the winter….. explain….
May 23, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Bears do not go up on top of the subdome, do they? Do you mean by poles and boards being in good shape, the park service checked the, and they are “high & dry”?
May 23, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Poles and boards:
http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg844/scaled.php?tn=0&server=844&filename=polesboards.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640
Tracks approx. 45 minutes before Sub Dome:
http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg534/scaled.php?tn=0&server=534&filename=tracksm.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640
Roberto, I have no idea if the NPS already checked the boards and poles but I’m sure they know where they are. 😉 They look in good shape to me. My previous post was a bit misleading. The bear tracks were not ON Sub Dome but on the trail before Sub Dome (approx. 45 mins. away according to the EXIFs).
May 23, 2011 at 8:26 pm |
I’ve uploaded the two pics to a different site for those of you having trouble with the previous links:
May 24, 2011 at 9:27 am |
It would be funny if a group of professional mountaineers snatched up those poles and boards and installed the cables under cover of darkness.
May 24, 2011 at 1:43 pm |
That’s why they keep the location secret.
May 24, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Roberto,
I was thinking the same funny thought. Apparently, they aren’t too secret or hidden because this guy got a great picture of them.
I’m kind of siding with the folks who say this isn’t too crazy after all. The message board at Yosemite Forums has several regulars who have climbed the non-set up chains. It certainly is no more dangerous than rock climbing in general and certainly not as crazy as the nutcase who free soloed the face.
May 24, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Chris,
You’ve probably seen the whole photo story then. And yes…there are several regulars doing this all the time.
I’m quoting a poster from one of the Yosemite forums you mentioned:
“Rock climbers by the very nature of the sport have a clue of what they are getting into. The average joe who wants to go up Half Dome..not so much. Gung ho typical male youth… snow on subdome, cables down. just my opinion…”
THAT exactly was my first thought when I saw the pictures (as much as I enjoyed watching the pictures ;)).
I’m not saying this applies to the guy who has posted the pictures as I don’t know him. Obviously he’s a regular and has a good idea what he’s doing. But stories like this might encourage the average joe to try the same. Just think of 300 people on Sub Dome with the current conditions. I don’t think that would be a good idea.
As of Alex Honnold: if he would be participate in another sport he would be celebrated just like a rockstar. He’s in the Michael Jordan-league and beyond. A once in a century athlete.
May 24, 2011 at 8:17 pm |
Obviously, the only way I would go up the downed cables is in optimal dry, warm weather. I’ll bring my leather gloves with rubber grips, excellent hiking shoes, and some climbing gear. It is not getting up that scares me. When I climbed up last year, I was fine coming down with the boards and poles in place, and stopped to rest at many of the poles. It is only the short really steep area about two thirds up that makes me anxious.
May 25, 2011 at 4:46 am |
Yes, Alex Honnold was well-prepared for his solo climb, and it was not a crazy endeavor. By the same token, not everybody who goes up the downed cables is crazy. Again, if and when I do it, I will be well-prepared, and not even try if the weather is any less than excellent. Nearly everyone who falls does so in bad weather. What would be really useful is some short metal tubing the same circumference as the Halfdome poles. You could screw them in as you go up and link equipment into them, and use them in key support areas. Then, when coming down, you would screw them out.
May 25, 2011 at 7:58 am |
Alex Honnold isn’t the first free soloer to make crazy climbs. I don’t mean to disparage him personally but a missed free throw didn’t kill Michael Jordan. A lesser mistake and Alex will be gone. Rock climbing history is strewn with these super athletes who eventually miss a free throw and then they die young.
The National Geographic article explained how Alex practiced the climb a day or two ahead of his free solo with ropes. He confidently made the climb with no mistakes with ropes and proved to himself he could do it without ropes.
May 26, 2011 at 6:01 pm |
Yes, I read the National Geographic. Indeed, he probably should have practiced over a range of time, as well as immediately before. He also should have had some people on top, who could have helped him if he had remained “Frozen” on that tricky lump on the ledge. Noone was paying any attention to his climb. How are these climbs confirmed as free solo when nobody witnesses a climb , but the solo climber? Nobody congratulated him on the summit either, he is an unknown entity to most. He is not crazy, though. If he was, he would be free solving the hardest El Cap routes, and then he would fall.
May 26, 2011 at 6:51 pm |
It was filmed.
May 26, 2011 at 7:51 pm
You sure the actual climb was filmed? Most of the pictures you see are enactments he made later? So, if he’d gotten himself stuck long enough, people would have called for help?
May 27, 2011 at 12:12 am |
Roberto,
You can buy it on DVD as part of the First Ascent-Series. The “Alone On The Wall” episode features Alex’s incredible achievement. He is the REAL deal. No doubt about it whatsoever.
I really like him for not being an “attention whore”. He just does his thing. As I said before: he’s playing in his own league (although Chris is right about missing a free throw would be more costly for him as it was for MJ).
May 27, 2011 at 3:19 am |
What amazes me most is he has a steady girlfriend!