Half Dome Cables - Now $20.00

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Messages 1 - 31 of total 31 in this topic

healyje

Trad climber

Portland, Oregon

Topic Author's Original Post - May 13, 2017 - 01:40am PT

http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-tr-california-yosemite-half-dome-permits-20170511-story.html

hobo_dan

Social climber

Minnesota

May 13, 2017 - 05:42am PT

I thought you were able to just climb them for free--Fool from the Midwest--kind of sticks in the craw but I suppose there are a boatload of people who want to do this.
You would think that if it's just a click to sign on the price should be going down?

c wilmot

climber

May 13, 2017 - 06:02am PT

The nps has a 13 Billion dollar backlog of deferred maintence. With all the new monuments Barry added to the nps budget something has got to give.

crankster

Trad climber

No. Tahoe

May 13, 2017 - 06:25am PT

Not to worry, Doofus will be putting up a gondola before he's impeached.

SC seagoat

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone

May 13, 2017 - 06:29am PT

Once again, public lands becoming the playground of only those that can afford it.

Susan

Jon Beck

Trad climber

Oceanside

May 13, 2017 - 06:32am PT

The nps has a 13 Billion dollar backlog of deferred maintence. With all the new monuments Barry added to the nps budget something has got to give.

Come on wilmot, surely you are aware that something like 80% of the gross revenues remain in the park.

I hope that the new fees do not push more crowds to the less traveled trails. Clouds Rest might see a dozen hikers while hundreds are at Half Dome. Shame to see more areas get overcrowded.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

May 13, 2017 - 06:34am PT

St. Moritz here we come.

monolith

climber

state of being

May 13, 2017 - 06:51am PT

Still possible to do the runs, just get to the base before 9am or so before the rangers, then carry climbing shoes so you can claim to have done snake dike.

Moof

Big Wall climber

Orygun

May 13, 2017 - 07:40am PT

$13B is what, 10 days of military spending? I'd rather have more parks and fewer wars.

gunsmoke

Mountain climber

Clackamas, Oregon

May 13, 2017 - 07:41am PT

Government doing what government does. Taking more control. Needing more money. In 2010 when the notion of needing a permit first came up it was supposedly for "safety." Right! 400 person max, only on weekends. Permits were ... free. Admin fee was $1.50. The next year, predictably, it extended to all seven days. Then the number of permits issued went down. I guess that was for "safety" as well. Right? Then the revenue generation kicks in. What was once $1.50, then $8, now needs $20 to cover their cost. Why am I surprised?

survival

Big Wall climber

Terrapin Station

May 13, 2017 - 07:53am PT

Hey wilmot, maybe the 1% can trickle down a little of their giant ass tax cut. Or maybe the military can kick down a few coins from their 58 billion dollar increase. This is not "Barry's" fault, not by a long shot.

How many times do you people need to hear military industrial complex?

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

May 13, 2017 - 09:07am PT

Are free gloves still included?

Matt Sarad

climber

May 13, 2017 - 09:19am PT

I first climbed the cables in 1980. It was already crowded. Carried a six pack of Heinekin with me and shared it with strangers who became close friends immediately.

Killer K

Boulder climber

Sacramento, CA

May 13, 2017 - 09:21am PT

I hope they don't start mandating climbing permits....

Gunkie

Trad climber

Valles Marineris

May 13, 2017 - 10:05am PT

The first time I ever touched the cables was on descent after climbing the RNWFHD in three days with a way too large haulbag.

rbord

Boulder climber

atlanta

May 13, 2017 - 11:30am PT

Change sucks. I prefer large bills.

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

May 13, 2017 - 12:33pm PT

The last time I used the cables, was going up about 5-6am after a night hike with a bunch of friends. Just hours before, there had been a lightning storm; the crowds scared and rushing to get off had triggered a person to fall and die. We passed people wrapped in rescue blankets and the rescue crews coming out, who were dealing with their own trauma and frustrated that we were on our way up.

So I can see with the crazy demand for usage, and a fixed supply, and the risk factors that come from not regulating usage, they need a way to manage the demand:
1. lottery system is the most fair way to allocate when a bunch of people want it
2. Charging a fee reduces the demand so there are fewer people turned away.

It is the way of our world that money gives you access to stuff when many people want it and there is not enough to go around. That's why some people choose to buckle down and do things that aren't the passion of their lives, to make more money to give them more power do get other things they want in life. We all choose our paths and live with the consequences.

The ugliness of the competition is why I stopped taking my kids to busy national parks and why we camp in the boonies on USFS and BLM lands. At least until those get sold to states who sell them to developers, miners, etc.

WBraun

climber

May 13, 2017 - 12:49pm PT

Why you climbers care?

Just climb Snake Dike or the face and it's free.

Oh wait .... none of you even climb .....

aldude

climber

Monument Manor

May 13, 2017 - 02:12pm PT

More cap and trade regulations....just strip the dome and let people experience it in it's natural state.

gunsmoke

Mountain climber

Clackamas, Oregon

May 13, 2017 - 04:18pm PT

I can see with the crazy demand for usage, and a fixed supply, and the risk factors that come from not regulating usage

The reason the permit system went into place is because the trail to Half Dome crosses into backcountry wilderness. The park service didn't want over a thousand people on weekend days concentrated in a small area of backcountry. But that's not the rationale they give, is it. They give the "safety" rationale because, although fictitious, it's easier to float. On a per-person basis, there is little if any indication that 100 persons per day is safer than 1000 persons per day. (The possible exception being a thunderstorm that causes a descent stampede.) When my son was young we waited in line to get onto the cables then proceeded up, packed like sardines. It was safer than any of my other ascents because you couldn't fall! On that day I was happy for the crowd.

My prior trip was guiding a friend who was in remission from cancer. Setting his sites to climb the iconic Half Dome became a huge motivator to get back in shape and get on with life. That was one of my most important trips into the backcountry. His cancer later recurred and he eventually passed. But I'm glad to have had the chance to guide that part of his journey. Many trips up HD may seem unnecessary or even frivolous. But who am I to judge individual motivations and outcomes? When the park takes away tens of thousands of trips up HD, they take away countless experiences that, for some, will last a lifetime. I think the trail to HD can bear the numbers. I don't support a permit system. And charging a fee that far exceeds expenses is wrong.

zBrown

Ice climber

May 13, 2017 - 04:36pm PT

Single ride SF cable car seven bucks.

One day visitor passport $21.00.

Most I can recall was $.75 and quite a few freebees .

I_swearAmerika_isgreatagain

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

May 13, 2017 - 04:58pm PT

You oughtta see the price to ride this thing! (Europe's highest telepherique)

zBrown

Ice climber

May 13, 2017 - 05:25pm PT

Do you actually own that thing? I told you real estate is a better investmrnt

Ken M

Mountain climber

Los Angeles, Ca

May 13, 2017 - 05:25pm PT

I see a little revisionist history occurring. I participated in the public scoping for the permits, and I was fully aware that there had (astonishingly) been no fatalities on this hike until about 15 years ago. And then the numbers went up, and the fatalities began.

There was a clear correlation.

It's certainly true, for those in our community, there are options to climb outside the "ranger attended" times. Better experience, anyway. Although I read somewhere that there is a check-in ranger 24/7. That seems hard to believe.

I suspect that there is also a significant "no-show" issue, although I can find no stats on that. When the cost is free or low, it is easy to just blow it off. Not sure where the cut line is that makes a difference.

Here in LA, there are executives that EACH DAY have their secretaries make dinner reservations at 20 places, so that they can go where they want when they leave the office. The hell with the other 19.

zBrown

Ice climber

May 13, 2017 - 05:35pm PT

Cost of AC/DC CONCERT, apparently priceless

Done dirt cheap

rbord

Boulder climber

atlanta

May 13, 2017 - 05:44pm PT

We think in small little self-serving potatoes. What we really need is for the US to institute China's one child rule, so I have a better shot at hiking half dome.. God I miss the way things used to be, before slavery was abolished, I mean before half dome got so crowded.

gunsmoke

Mountain climber

Clackamas, Oregon

May 13, 2017 - 06:14pm PT

I see a little revisionist history occurring.

Could there be revisionist history to revisionist history? Or is it the case that crowds were low until 15 years ago, then suddenly swelled over the next 7 years leading to fatalities and a safety concern that needed to be addressed? Not saying the latter isn't possible, but I'm skeptical. Ken, do you have data to support your rollback of "revisionist history?"