Glad somebody is discussing this. I hiked the Dome only once, but afterward I decided if I ever do it again I would wear safety gear, and I recommend it to anyone asking me about hiking Half Dome. Wearing a harness has nothing to do with a hiker's climbing ability - it is a hedge against the potential accidents that can occur when dozens of inexperienced and unqualified hikers are struggling in your midst. I doubted my own ability halfway up the cables when my hands and forearms began to fatigue from gripping the slick cable. I am surprised the Park Service doesn't require a harness with a permit. They cannot force a hiker to wear one, but if a hiker has the gear with them they are more likely to use it. I doubt it would slow traffic any more than it already is on the cables.
@@Shadowman-1960 Yeah, I got that, but it's stupid. That is like saying, anyone that needs a rope to climb El Capitan should not be climbing it. The rangers have an ulterior motive besides safety. They only want to keep traffic moving quickly. But then, they work for the government, so there you go.
@@aliensoup2420 I agree, and was somewhat shocked to hear that the park rangers are even allowed to say that. I think if someone planned on using safety gear but then didn't and got seriously injured or killed, a lawyer would have a good case proving Yosemite Park negligence contributing to the tragedy.
@@Shadowman-1960 I doubt they could press a case upon a suggestion. If a ranger prevented a hiker from using a harness with a clear ultimatum, such as "you cannot go using a harness", then maybe a case could be made.
Great vid and good advice! I did this hike about 15 yrs ago and discovered that I had a fear of heights on it! I had made a DIY carbiner system which also helped me (mostly psychologically, as you mention), but had the most fear on the steepest part of the sub-dome (which has no aids). How did you find dealing with that section?
I'm actually sitting here right now nervous because I plan to do it again (cables down!) in about two weeks. *Gulp!* :) Yeah Sub Dome is no cake walk, but fortunately I am obsessive about research and was pretty much prepared for it. I did not find it too sketchy fear-wise because I focused on the climbing and not the views (saved those for the way down). Oddly, my mindset on the cables became the opposite. I took in the views in a panorama fashion so that I did not get choked up by the heights. It was so beautiful the fear kind of took a backseat. I told myself this was a "one-and-done" and I better soak it all in because I'd never come back...that turned out to be untrue but it helped motivate me at the time haha!
You’ve done it again Doctor. Eminently prepared and delivered video-motivation for my acrophobic self to get on a stepladder and clean my gutters! Looking forward to what’s next.
I think you did the right thing using a harness ... I'm really surprised the park service doesn't make it mandatory, seems like a huge liability issue otherwise.🤔 Anyhow not using a harness would be insane, anything could happen to make you fall, somebody above you could fall and knock you over for example. Pretty sure I would personally give this hike a hard pass though, still seems like a pretty dangerous trip considering weather etc. Also not sure if I would have enough confidence in the cables themselves, or at least the attachment points.😂
Altra Lone Peaks with their big/long lug grips are not ideal for Yosemite’s smooth slippery granite. Your best bet is going to be vibram megagrip found on La Sportiva’s TX3 or TX4 approach/scramble shoes. Grippiest on the market.
I did a review on them early on. I love them but the ones I got do seem to make me blister prone if I am not careful. Could be sizing though. Otherwise I'd say they're not Altra killers but they're a good option if you want a bit more hiking boot feel without the weight penalty.
I assumed the cables were attached to the rock at several points throughout the climb. This would mean that you would still have to switch attachment points a few times with the cables "down". In fact, I talked to somebody who did it, and said the one mistake he made was not making the lines on his carabiner long enough to make this transition smoothly (he had two awkwardly squat down at each transition). Thoughts? BTW, 300 people are issued permits per day with the cables ( more correctly - "stanchions") up. I've read that in good weather, about a hundred climb the rock each day with the cables "down". So the solitude you experience, would depend on your timing and some luck!
That is correct about the cables. "Down" refers to whether they are up on posts or down on the rock. They never come "off." If you want info on cables down climbing I'd watch the video I made for that here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-POgYv78LpGo.html I've only been up once when they were down. I had the place to myself for nearly an hour and maybe saw 5 people after that. I think it's becoming more popular! :)
I assume you purchased the longer 4ft sling? This would give 2ft length for each sling attached to it's own caribiner. Do you think 2ft length for each sling is long enough or would a little longer sling such as 3ft each be easier to reach out to clip and unclip over the cable's poles?
Yes I had the 48". A longer length would help with being able to stand up on the supports if you have longer legs but it would not help with how far you have to reach over because that is a function of your height. I think another foot or so would have been good for me for this application though.
I have been looking for a video like this for MONTHS! All I could find were over dramatized influencer videos with edm music😅 Thank you SO much for sharing your wisdom and experience! I hike Yosemite weekly and have been training to do Half Dome. You answered all of my questions without me having to ask them.
At a glance those look like screw gate carabiners. Every time you clip it you need to twist it locked otherwise it won't actually support your weight the gate could pop open and you'll fall your death. Switching to auto locking is not expensive.
Not a bad idea. I don't think popping open was much of a possibility given what I was doing with them on this trip but auto locking certainly wouldn't have hurt! :-)
It was $30, and that's because it has no padding. It's CE rated to 25kn which I figured would be good enough given that with the cables up the worst that can happen is you slip and slide a few feet. ;)
