theSheetNews.com

The cables allowing access for hikers to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park will be in place and open for the season on Friday, May 25, weather permitting.

Visitors are required to have a permit to ascend the Half Dome cables seven days per week. The majority of the permits were distributed through a lottery system that ended in March. However, approximately 50 permits per day are available through a two day in advance lottery. Visitors without a Half Dome permit wishing to hike the cables may enter the lottery by visiting www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777.  For more information regarding the lottery and the Half Dome cables, please visit www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm.

The trail to Half Dome from Yosemite Valley is an extremely strenuous hike covering over 17 miles. Hikers gain 4,800 feet of elevation along the trail that passes highlights such as Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, before reaching the cables on Half Dome’s steep granite shoulder. Metal cables and wooden planks are placed along the steep shoulder of the dome to assist hikers to the summit.

Visitors are advised to take appropriate precautions when planning a hike of this length and difficulty, and to be prepared for changing weather and trail conditions. Thunder and lightning are common occurrences in the High Sierra during the summer and fall seasons. Hikers should not attempt to summit Half Dome when rain or thunderstorms are forecasted and are advised to use extreme caution when the rocks are wet. -NPS

A chain of climbers ascend the Half Dome cables. (Photo: nps.gov)

Yosemite National Park announces the availability of the Half Dome Trail Stewardship Plan Draft Environmental Assessment for public review. Public comments on the plan will be accepted now through March 15. The Half Dome Trail Stewardship Plan was developed to address crowded conditions, visitor experience, and safety on the Half Dome Trail and encompasses the two mile section from the John Muir Trail to the summit of Half Dome.

The Preferred Alternative is to keep the cables in place with their current configuration and implement daily use limits of 300 people per day. This alternative provides the best combination of accessibility to the summit, free-flowing travel conditions on the cables, which improves safety, and low encounter rates on the trail, similar to use levels found on other high-use trails in Yosemite’s wilderness and other wilderness areas. The park implemented an Interim Half Dome Cables Permit System for the 2010 and
2011 hiking seasons. An Interim Half Dome Cables Permit System will also be implemented during the 2012 hiking season.

In 1964, Congress passed the Wilderness Act, creating the National Wilderness Preservation System. As such, approximately 95 percent of Yosemite National Park , including Half Dome and the Half Dome Trail, is designated Wilderness. Consequently, all of the action alternatives were developed to improve the wilderness character of the trail.

The Environmental Assessment (EA) presents environmental analysis of five alternatives, including the Preferred Alternative. Alternative A, the No Action Alternative, would retain the cable system and continue managing the Half Dome Trail as it was through 2009, with no permits required. This action violates National Park Service (NPS) policy and will not be considered. Under Alternative B, the park would retain the cable system and implement day-use limits through a permit system allowing 400 hikers
per day. Under Alternative C, the Preferred Alternative, the park would retain the cable system and implement day-use limits through a permit system allowing 300 hikers per day. Under Alternative D, the park would retain the cable system and implement day-use limits through a permit system allowing 140 hikers per day. Under Alternative E, the park would remove the cable system from Half Dome.

The park considers all public comments in making a decision, which will be documented in the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), if appropriate. If approved, the plan will be implemented for the 2013 hiking season. Hiking permits for Half Dome will be allocated through an online reservation system and/or a lottery.

The public review and comment period begins with release of the EA. The document is available for electronic review at
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/halfdome. Please submit written comments electronically through the website, or join attend the park’s monthly Open House at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center Auditorium on Feb. 29, from 1-4 p.m., to discuss the plan with park staff. Hard copies or CDs of the EA may be requested by emailing yose_planning@nps.gov. You may also mail your comments to P.O. Box 577 Yosemite, California 95389, c/o Superintendent, ATTN: Half Dome Plan; or send a facsimile to 209.379.1294. -NPS

Deena Kastor won the women’s division of Dodge San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon just eight short months after giving birth to her daughter, Piper. (Photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun)

Mammoth residents Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor went to San Jose to rock, and the two Olympic medalists did just that, easily winning their respective divisions on Oct. 2 in the 2011 running of the Dodge San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, one of the Bay Area’s biggest road races.

Keflezighi, who is training for next month’s New York City Marathon, won the 13.1-mile race in 1:02:17, more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Giliat Ghebray, a Cal senior from Union City, who turned in a respectable 1:03:38. Sergio Reyes of Palmdale was third, coming it at 1:04:20.

Kastor only recently returned to running after giving birth to a daughter, but handily won the women’s division in 1:12:23. Clara Peterson of Larkspur was second to Kastor with a time of 1:15:23 while Cal graduate Brooke Wells of San Francisco was third in 1:16:15. “She’s made a lot of progress in a really short period of time,” Deena’s husband Andrew recently told The Sheet. “Everything’s coming along just fine and she’s pretty much back in business.”

Both Olympic medalists live and train in Mammoth, and are preparing for the U.S. Olympic trials Jan. 14 in Houston.

Meb wins the men's division (Photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun)

Keflezighi led a lead pack of five runners through an opening mile of 4:35. At mile 3 the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist picked up the pace, running a series of sub-4:40 miles to open up a sizable lead on the rest of the field, one he held all the way to the finish line.

“It couldn’t have gone any better. A lot people were cheering, ‘Go Meb,’ and it was just awesome,” Keflezighi told Running Competitor. “My Mom is here and my brother lives here, a lot of the people are aware of what I have done and it’s nice to have the course coming back with the crowd.”

The event turned out to be a solid tune up for Keflezighi, who won the 2009 New York City Marathon–the first American do so in 27 years, and is preparing to finish at the front of the pack in the ING New York Marathon in November. “I run to win, which means challenge myself and don’t hold back. It was good today,” he added.

Equally impressive as Keflezighi’s victory was the comeback performance from Kastor, the only American woman to ever break 2:20 in the marathon.

“It was just awesome,” said Kastor, “San Jose really came out and showed their true colors today–the communities that we ran through, the neighborhoods everyone came out in their front yards cheering on all of us runners,” she told the San Jose Mercury News. “I felt good out there. It didn’t take too much out of me so it will be good to get back into training this week and use this as a stepping stone for the Olympic Trials in January.”

Runners from all 50 states and 14 countries participated in the race, including a group of California’s fastest runners, with no less than 10 athletes training to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials in January. Three-time Super Bowl Champion and race founder Roger Craig completed his sixth straight San Jose race, along with San Jose resident and soccer star Brandi Chastain. The sixth running of the half marathon was expected to attract 13,000 entrants.

This year, the race was being eyed as a proving ground on how the current crop of top U.S. runners would measure up against recent fierce competition from top runner from other countries.

Tracy Sundlun, co-founder of the Rock ‘n’ Roll racing series and a promoter and coach for 30 years, said a big factor is money. A $5,000 first-place prize, Sundlun said, does not “raise an eyebrow” in the United States, but runners from East Africa, for example, see that amount as significant and will throw themselves into the race to capture that kind of prize money.

Sports writers and analysts have lamented that the U.S. running elites might have fallen off the pace recently. But the top finishes Sunday by Kastor and Keflezighi are being viewed as indicators that U.S. distance competitors are back in top form and ready to rock in upcoming major races, including shots at Olympic medals next summer. – AG/Running Competitor/San Jose Mercury News

On July 31 Hayley LaFlamme, a 26-year-old woman from San Ramon, Calif. had climbed to the top of Half Dome and was descending when she fell 600 feet off the cables.

Yosemite National Park’s Emergency Communication Center received a 911 phone call reporting the fall of LaFlamme around noon. National Park Rangers pronounced her deceased upon arrival on scene.

A severe lightning, thunder, and rain storm was present in the area of Half Dome for several hours in the morning and early afternoon that day. This type of weather can make for hazardous trail conditions and the granite slopes become very slick. It may have been the reason for LaFlamme’s fall.

The cause of the fall is currently under investigation, according to a press release from the Park.

According to a story from the Associated Press, LaFlamme’s fall brings the number of deaths in Yosemite to 14 this year. “In 2007, seven people were killed at the park, the most in any recent year until this one,” the article added.

The last hiker who died on Half Dome was Majoj Kumar, from San Ramon, Calif., on June 13, 2009.

Additionally, on June 16, 2007, Hirofumi Nohara, slipped to his death on the cables. Two other Half Dome fatalities involved women who were hiking on Half Dome when the cables were down. These were Jennifer Bettles, who died on April 21, 2007 and Emily Sandal, who died on Nov. 8, 2006.

For Half Dome safety information visit http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm -LK

In an effort to increase visitor safety, Yosemite National Park will require Day Use Permits to climb the Half Dome cables seven days per week for the 2011 summer season.

Over the past several years, the popularity of the hike has resulted in large numbers of people using the Half Dome cables, particularly on weekends and holidays, according to a press release from the park. Saturdays and holidays averaged 840 visitors per day, while peak days saw up to 1,200 people using the cables. These large numbers of hikers generated significant safety concerns that were cemented by a fatality and serious injuries sustained by park visitors that were caused by these crowded conditions.

The park instituted an interim program for climbing the Half Dome cables this year to address these serious safety concerns. Day Use Permits were required to use the cables on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Although the interim program worked well on the permit days, visitor use on the cables during days in which permits were not required reached peak weekend levels, analogous to peak days before permits were required.

Therefore, to address the consistent crowded conditions on the Half Dome cables, Day Use Permits will be required seven days per week for the 2011 summer season. The Half Dome cables are generally in place from mid-May through mid-October, depending on snowpack and weather conditions, according to the release.

The Half Dome Day Use Permits will be available starting March 1, 2011 for climbing the cables in May and June. Subsequent permits will be available at the beginning of each month for permits three months in advance. Reservations for a permit can be made through www.recreation.gov or by calling 1.877.444.6777. Each person climbing the Half Dome cables will be required to have their own permit. Up to four permits may be obtained under one reservation. The permits are free, however, there is a non-refundable $1.50 service charge for each permit obtained.

During this interim program, visitor use and impacts are being monitored. Yosemite National Park Rangers are studying visitor use and safety, assessing the visitor experience, and compiling data that will be analyzed by park managers. An Environmental Assessment process for a long-term plan for the Half Dome cables began public scoping in spring 2010.

A visitor use study on the 2010 Half Dome Cables Day Use Permit is available at http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/half-dome-cables.htm. To learn more about the Half Dome hike please visit
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm. –NPS/LAK