Woman killed in fall from Yosemite's Half Dome
The granite Half Dome rises 4,800 feet above eastern California's Yosemite Valley, and about 8,800 feet above sea level.
August 1st, 2011
09:21 PM ET

Woman killed in fall from Yosemite's Half Dome

A California woman fell 600 feet to her death Sunday while trying to descend a landmark rock formation at Yosemite National Park, according to park officials.

Hayley LaFlamme, 26, of San Ramon, had hiked with three other people to the peak of Half Dome, a granite formation that rises about 4,800 feet above Yosemite Valley in eastern California. She was descending the cables area - the dome's highest 400 feet, where hikers hold onto fixed metal cables - when she fell, park officials said Monday.

One of her companions called 911 about noon to report the fall, park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said. Park rangers pronounced LaFlamme dead when they found her body, the park said.

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soundoff (37 Responses)
  1. RUFFNUTT

    it wasn't the fall!!!! it was the sudden stop,,,,

    August 2, 2011 at 4:18 pm | Report abuse |
  2. banasy

    *Facepalm*™

    August 2, 2011 at 5:40 pm | Report abuse |
  3. CNN Wire

    Let this accident serve as a warning to others! The lesson here is, we should all "respect" nature, if we fail to...we pay, at times with our lives.

    August 2, 2011 at 6:03 pm | Report abuse |
    • FOX Wire

      Could you enlighten us with an example of how to "respect nature" as you refer on your nonsense comment above??

      August 3, 2011 at 11:07 am | Report abuse |
    • MSNBC Wire

      Life is like a box of chocolates....

      August 31, 2011 at 1:33 pm | Report abuse |
  4. hiker

    People are all the time tripping over those stupid cables the park service installed so that everyone could make these sorts of decents. The cables are made safe for the rock but not for the people who trip on them. And any climber can tell you that it's a lot safer climbing-up than it is climbing down...it has something to do with eyes being in your head rather than your feet. Anything for a buck and the park service will do it nowadays. It wasn't always that way ya know.

    August 2, 2011 at 6:40 pm | Report abuse |
    • Burbank

      Second person that was killed that way this summer.

      August 24, 2011 at 2:17 pm | Report abuse |
  5. truth

    This is very sad. But Park Rangers and politicians please,please do not make knee jerk reactions to these kinds of situations and try to make the national parks "safer" by putting railings all over the place. Hiking and walking around rivers and mountains can be dangerous, that is part of the deal you sign up for when you go to into natural environments. We love the wild places because they are just that, wild. People take risks and sometimes make mistakes, but that is no reason to treat the public like toddlers and try to make mountains and forests safe.

    August 2, 2011 at 6:47 pm | Report abuse |
    • Burbank

      I agree, it's not Disneyland, it's the real thing. If people want to give themselves Darwin awards like the people that climbed over the rail and went over the falls that's improving the gene pool. 16 people have gotten themselves killed so far this year.

      August 24, 2011 at 2:23 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Liz T

    She didn't fall she was hit by lightning.

    August 2, 2011 at 7:30 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Thinks2010

    The most common death on Half Dome is slipping and falling off the cables when the granite is wet following a storm or from snow melt. The cables were installed on the steepest part of the shoulder of Half Dome in 1919. The handrails of the cable system are taken down during the winter, but the remaining part of the system is in place year round.

    August 2, 2011 at 8:43 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Janice Holt

    Ifitsdangerousthenmakeit"SAFER"forppltonjoyitherfamilyisverysadandbeyondthemselvesGODblessthem

    August 2, 2011 at 9:19 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Janice Holt

    If it dangerous for ppl then they should make it "SAFER" so u can njoy it her fam is in pain and r hurt by this GOD bless them Ipray

    August 2, 2011 at 9:24 pm | Report abuse |
    • Burbank

      This is NATURE NOT DISNEYLAND!

      August 24, 2011 at 2:20 pm | Report abuse |
    • Burbank

      This is NATURE NOT DISNEYLAND! They should ban climbing it altogether, all those people swarming half dome are an eyesore for the rest of us that want to enjoy it as it is.

      August 24, 2011 at 2:22 pm | Report abuse |
  10. HonLincoln

    Lawyers are on the way.

    August 3, 2011 at 6:12 am | Report abuse |
  11. Gunslinger

    Now I know why it's called "Half Dome" ...

    August 23, 2011 at 2:48 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Burbank

    I wish they would ban all climbing on half dome. I am sick of goiing to Yosemite to enjoy the beauty of nature as she made it and having to look at dozens of people crawling all over it. There are other places to climb, it doesn't have to be on one of our national treasures. All those people swarming all over it are an eyesore!

    August 24, 2011 at 2:20 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Mark

    Don't you just love Susan Sarandon? She's the best!

    August 25, 2011 at 8:55 am | Report abuse |
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