Struck by Lightning…

[Paul Wagner]

This certainly got my attention: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/half-dome-storm-lightning-strikes/3327580/

And yes, there is a jumble of rocks on the east summit of Half Dome known as the Cave.

[Arthur]

From the CDC:  “Small caves, overhangs, and wet stream beds are likely to be more dangerous than open areas because water conducts electricity and electricity can jump gaps between rocks.

[Paul Wagner]

True enough.  But the other option was to head down the steel cables…

The real solution was to avoid the top of Half Dome in a thunderstorm.

[Matthew / BPL]

I’m sure we could come up with worse places to be in a thunderstorm but Half Dome seems like a really bad place to experience lightning.

[Bruce Tolley]

hmmm.  Did they not check the weather report?

Sounds like they got burned by the splash of a strike.  My understanding from my hazardous weather training is that if you are struck my lightening, the evidence is very serious burns and or cardiac arrest.

[Paul S]

As Bruce said:

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/lightning.htm

 

NPS has had recurring problems w/ hikers going up there when they shouldn’t. Not stuck by lightning. Maybe ground current.

[jscott]

The cables are metal. You definitely don’t want to be using them in a thunderstorm; nor do you want to be on Half Dome. It’s the definition of “exposed”.

yes, thunderstorms come on quickly. But not that quickly. Being aware of this primary hazard was uppermost in my mind whenever visiting Half Dome. Happily I never had to scoot the hell out of there.

[David Thomas]

With the great difficulty of scoring a permit, I suspect many people are trying to summit regardless of the weather.

Even with the quotas, as the popularity has increased, I’ve noted a marked decrease in the average experience and fitness of those on the cables of the last 45 years.  So it still takes a long time to go up or down the cables since many people are going very slowly.  You can’t just get off the summit at your own pace.  It takes 45 minutes normally to go down due to the crowds and if everyone left at once, it would worse.  So I go down on the outside of the cables which weirdly freaks out the newbies.

[jscott]

“So I go down on the outside of the cables which weirdly freaks out the newbies.”

Or not so weirdly. You need to post a photo. Newbies find themselves suddenly scaling the near equivalent of El Capitan. They can grasp that intellectually beforehand; it’s another matter finding yourself on the face of a cliff that means death if you slip.

In early spring, before the cables “are up”, people will climb Half Dome using the cables left on the rock. They haul themselves up, no problem. Not me! guess who’s not a climber.

[Author]

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