It's time to remove the Half Dome cables!

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donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 6, 2011 - 04:10pm PT
The NPS has cleaned up it's act in the last couple of decades: no more firefall or feeding Grizzlies in Yellowstone. Why, then, do they still allow the cables on Half Dome? The only Via Ferrata in the National Park System, the cables mar the landscape, create a circus like atmosphere, and enable unqualified people to get in harms way.
couchmaster

climber
pdx
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:11pm PT
Leave them be. All the buildings in the valley are marring and f*ing a beautiful ecosystem, are you advocating tearing down the lodge, the pizza deck, the stores and the Awahenne?
Gary

climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:12pm PT
enable unqualified people to get in harms way.

You mean, like, climbers?
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:16pm PT
Perhaps the upcoming federal government shutdown would be a good opportunity for donini to get started.
ron gomez

Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:17pm PT
Tear the cable down and tear down the AHWAHNEE knucklehead. If ya can't spell it prolly don't mean that much to you. But the cable are a mess. I try to take as many gloves outa there when I come down. If I left junk like that anywhere else in the park....it's a ticket for littering, the top of Half Dome is littered with waste from tourons who couldn't get there without the cables. I agree with Jim..get rid of them.
Peace

call me Jim....I'll help ya!
happiegrrrl

Trad climber
New York, NY
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:19pm PT
"Perhaps the upcoming federal government shutdown would be a good opportunity for donini to get started. "

I thought the thread WAS going to be about suggesting this was the time....hahahah
Port

Trad climber
San Diego
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:28pm PT
I dont have a dog in this fight. But I think that safety is a concern.
adrian korosec

climber
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:29pm PT
Troll! :)
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:29pm PT
It's kinda artsy....
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:32pm PT
+1 on what coz says


too many freaked out people death gripping the cables. Half expect them to reach out and latch onto you as you go buy them.


I think I asked this before, but isn't there a rap route that avoids the cables for climbers?
blahblah

Gym climber
Boulder
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:32pm PT
Man that picture makes it look like fun: nothing like standing in a good line for a slightly weird but sanitized experience. Like a Grateful Dead show in the good old days!
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 6, 2011 - 04:33pm PT
Port's picture looks like a perfect place for a demonstration of the domino effect.
atchafalaya

Boulder climber
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:38pm PT
I would support banning climbing in the park before I would support taking down the cables. The only people who would benefit would be a few elderly egotistical climbers. Cheers,
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:43pm PT
Is the domino effect similar to the donini effect?
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 6, 2011 - 04:49pm PT
Your response wasn't very well thought out boulder (climber?).
Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:54pm PT
Unless you climb butt naked without shoes or chalk it is all aid.

Jim, is this really a question of climbing style and ethics? ;-)


(In my alone private wilderness time I try to climb without aid. I'm a veritable "Never Cry Wolf" running butt naked up the rock in the wilderness. Very cool.

I'm mean it. It's really cold. Shrinkage butt cold.

Just kidding . . . lol)
wallyvirginia

Big Wall climber
Stockholm, Sweden
Apr 6, 2011 - 04:57pm PT
I had no idea it could look like that, guess I was there on a good day..


I was amazed that a system like the cables on HD would exist in the us where lawsuits seem so common and limitless..

This kind of thing would never be seen in Sweden, even though we have the unique law of "every mans right" which allows you to go anywhere you please in the wild (without permit) as long as you leave no trace, camp out of seeing or hearing distance of residential houses and change camp every 24 hours.

But something like this would have to have a ticketbox, obligatory guide and brand spanking via ferrata harness and hooks for rent..

Obviuously I didn't encounter the hords of tourists but I thought that the cables was a cool experience. Kind of like 5.zero free soloing.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 6, 2011 - 05:06pm PT
Bruce Kay, there may not be many accidents and, yes, you can find solitude over the next ridge, but do the cables belong in what is a wilderness area of a National Park? Everyone to their own opinion but I believe they are an anachronisn that should go.
GOclimb

Trad climber
Boston, MA
Apr 6, 2011 - 05:06pm PT
The only Via Ferrata in the National Park System...

Acadia Natl Park has several trails that are at least as much a via ferrata. The Precipice Trail comes to mind.

Edited to add:





GO
Gene

climber
Apr 6, 2011 - 05:10pm PT
The recent permit system for access to the cables is the first step in what will eventually be their inevitable removal.
Messages 1 - 20 of total 164 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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