The Story of a Mountain Climbing Accident in Yosemite Park

EnFuego · Post by **EnFuego** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:12 pm

I ran across the email below when I ws searching most dangerous trails in the world. I don't know if anyone has ever heard of Mount Huashan, but this trail is incredible. Check it out. When you travel on this mountain, it's called Mountain Hiking, not Mountain Climbing.

Anyway, I found this email below and thought you all might be interested to read it and see the picture. I edited it down in size. You can read the full email in the link above.

-----Original Message-----
From: Allen
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: huashan trail

Rick,

I came across your website after googling "most dangerous trails". .........

Last June, I was in Yosemite. I've been up the Half Dome a couple of times and decided to go up for a third time. While I was on the cables, I saw someone slip from above and slide to his death. It was the most frantic and shocking thing I have ever been a part of. People suddenly started screaming, I looked up and saw a guy sliding off the mountain with no way to stop his momentum. I can still see the look on his face, petrified, he was kicking his feet, he bounced on the rock a couple of times. He slid by me, and when I looked back, his feet hit a divot which unfortunately caused him to somersault out of view. Someone below yelled that he was "airborne", falling 4000 feet to the Valley floor. Lot of good that warning did him.

The poor fellow didn't go airborne for long. He landed on a ledge about a hundred feet below the "saddle" section where the cables begin. A couple of hikers had the courage to go down there for a rescue attempt. His heart was actually still beating for a few minutes but he succumbed to his injuries. All of this happened so fast.

About a year before, another person lost his grip on the cables and slid down the other side of the mountain. He lucked out when his pants caught a piece of rock that prevent him from sliding 4000 feet to his death. The poor guy was stuck there for 6-8 hours before someone rescued him. Unreal, huh?

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:17 pm

Weird how there have been several recent fatal accidents on Half Dome. There was also one seriously close call where a man was saved, literally, by the seat of his pants.

So when is the SGMDF group trip to Huashan?

Nicely formatted Mt. Huashan link by the way.

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:33 pm

We will be meeting in South Vietnam, hiking the Ho Chi Minh trail, then cutting up through Manchuria, then we will do Mount Haushan, which is considered "'The Number One Precipitous Mountain under Heaven'", so bring rain gear, we can bag 2,356 peaks along the way, and it will be a two day'er, so bring lots of water or a filter.

EnFuego will be the leader, he has better Topo's than I do

Maybe a parachute would come in handy as well

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:22 pm

Yeah. And life insurance. Don't forget the life insurance.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:28 pm

I hear that the trek leader is really first rate.

Zach · Post by **Zach** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:21 pm

will there be poison oak?

EnFuego · Post by **EnFuego** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:23 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote:So when is the SGMDF group trip to Huashan?

I think we should do it during the annual Loon migration.

Hikin_Jim wrote:Nicely formatted Mt. Huashan link by the way.

Thanks HJ for your help on that. Works like a charm.

lilbitmo wrote:We will be meeting in South Vietnam, hiking the Ho Chi Minh trail, then cutting up through Manchuria, then we will do Mount Haushan, which is considered "'The Number One Precipitous Mountain under Heaven'", so bring rain gear, we can bag 2,356 peaks along the way, and it will be a two day'er, so bring lots of water or a filter.

EnFuego will be the leader, he has better Topo's than I do Maybe a parachute would come in handy as well

I don't mind being the trip leader. I trip quite a bit, so no prob there. And we should probably avoid the Ho Chi Minh trail. I heard there was a jack knife water buffalo en route to Cho' Mae. It's a mess. We'll probably be better off taking the high route through Le'She Man Po' and save a little time. Need to be careful of flies carrying shing shing lo ding disease.

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:26 pm

Only Poison "Death" Darts left over from the "Policing Action" Nixon had us doing over there, they hurt slighty more but you won't feel it after 2 minutes

and TECHNU won't cure it

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:11 pm

lilbitmo wrote:so bring rain gear, we can bag 2,356 peaks along the way, and it will be a two day'er, so bring lots of water or a filter.

"Remember to bring your 10 essentials, and please - no tigers"

hikehigh · Post by **hikehigh** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:56 pm

seems like every year 1 or 2 people tumble off of half dome.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:35 pm

cougarmagic wrote:and please - no tigers

Oh fine. You're a lot of fun. Party pooper.

Post by **Taco** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:46 am

http://ssqq.com/archive/vinlin27c.htm

Near the bottom...
"A damsel in distress. Such a pretty girl and such a pretty car. What a pity."

One must make a great many errors in judgement to come to her point.

1. She's in SIBERIA.
2. She's in high heels.
3. She's driving (or boating) a Nissan 350Z.

Maybe this shot wasn't actually from Siberia...

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:30 am

TacoDelRio wrote:http://ssqq.com/archive/vinlin27c.htm

Near the bottom...
"A damsel in distress. Such a pretty girl and such a pretty car. What a pity."

One must make a great many errors in judgement to come to her point.

1. She's in SIBERIA.
2. She's in high heels.
3. She's driving (or boating) a Nissan 350Z.

Maybe this shot wasn't actually from Siberia...

City street on the outskirts of Moscow. It's what stopped the Germans.

EnFuego · Post by **EnFuego** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:03 am

TacoDelRio wrote:http://ssqq.com/archive/vinlin27c.htm

Near the bottom...
"A damsel in distress. Such a pretty girl and such a pretty car. What a pity."

One must make a great many errors in judgement to come to her point.

1. She's in SIBERIA.
2. She's in high heels.
3. She's driving (or boating) a Nissan 350Z.

Maybe this shot wasn't actually from Siberia...

Thats what I need. A Siberian Woman in high heels that doesn't know how to drive a 350Z in the mud. I'd just keep her at home, doing ........ um, well you know.

Post by **Taco** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:36 pm

AlanK wrote:
TacoDelRio wrote:http://ssqq.com/archive/vinlin27c.htm

Near the bottom...
"A damsel in distress. Such a pretty girl and such a pretty car. What a pity."

One must make a great many errors in judgement to come to her point.

1. She's in SIBERIA.
2. She's in high heels.
3. She's driving (or boating) a Nissan 350Z.

Maybe this shot wasn't actually from Siberia...
City street on the outskirts of Moscow. It's what stopped the Germans.

IN SPRING, WATER FROM SNOWMELT TURN PRIPYET ROAD INTO MUD OCEAN.

EnFuego...