To the editor: My suggestion for making Half Dome safer is to remove the cables. Not just part of the year, as is done now, but all year round. (“After young woman dies in Yosemite fall, Half Dome risks are on everyone’s mind,” August 8)
Nailing more wooden battens into the rock only makes the situation worse and makes the rock look uglier. It would also give climbers a false sense of security.
Half Dome is dangerous. And it should be. National parks are not Disneyland; they are part of nature. Nature includes dangers. Visitors cannot expect to be completely safe, especially when climbing a nearly vertical rock face.
It's tragic that a young girl fell to her death while climbing Half Dome and that her father watched her die. My heart goes out to him. But we shouldn't commemorate her death by trying to take over Half Dome and national parks in general. Wild places, even semi-wild ones, are good for the soul.
To make Half Dome safer, remove the cables.
Connie Stewart, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Your article seems to indicate that Yosemite National Park is responsible for making it safer to climb to the summit of Half Dome.
In my opinion, adding additional wooden slats to the route would not eliminate the significant inherent risk of the climb, especially when the steep granite gets wet.
Having climbed the cables of Half Dome twice, I join thousands of other successful climbers who completed the excursion safely. All experienced outdoor enthusiasts know that there are significant inherent risks in climbing and proceed with extreme caution when the weather threatens.
I can understand why Yosemite officials did not respond to your request for comment on the review of the cables. The only effective solution is to remove them permanently, as the park does for much of the year. If your article generates a significant response, that could, unfortunately, be the outcome.
I say all this with great sadness for Grace Rohloff's father and her entire family. What a tragic loss!
Robert James Riewerts, Los Angeles
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To the editor: In 1978, at age 27, I was an experienced climber and wilderness guide. I was wearing Vibram-soled climbing boots, without a harness or gloves, when I easily ascended the cables of Half Dome.
Nowadays I don't see any problems with cables. Climbing them is not dangerous at all. The danger is that inexperienced people try to climb something that is way beyond their capabilities.
Two inviolable rules when climbing any peak are to be prepared and to know when to turn back. The problem with cables is that people break these rules.
People who do not follow these rules represent a danger to themselves and to other climbers. People who do not turn around when they are unprepared, scared, exhausted and obviously at the limit of their abilities are the real danger at Half Dome.
Leave the cables alone. Examine permit applicants more carefully, as the danger lies in some of them, not in the cables.
Bill Smart, Santa Barbara
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To the editor: The death of anyone at Half Dome is a tragedy.
Climbing the last quarter mile of the quartz monzonite batholith is dangerous. Anyone considering doing so is warned that it is a long, difficult hike that ends with a challenging and, yes, somewhat dangerous quarter-mile final climb.
Adding more footholds wouldn't make it particularly safe. Leave Half Dome as is.
Williams GP, Pasadena
