20-year-old tells dad she’s slipping, then falls to her death from slick granite peak
A young student told her father her shoes were slipping on the slick granite rock as they descended the Half Dome cable system in Yosemite National Park.
Moments later, Grace Rohloff slipped and fell to her death, her father told multiple news outlets.
Jonathan Rohloff and his 20-year-old daughter had just crossed summiting the iconic peak in the California park off their bucket list on July 13 and were posing for photos at the top with panoramic views of Yosemite Valley behind them — when Rohloff heard an ominous crack of thunder, he told SFGATE.
Rohloff knew they had to get down as quickly as possible before rain could soak the rock formation’s granite — polished slick from years of heavy hiking traffic — and transform it into a “slip n’ slide,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.
But it would have felt rude for them to push past the slower hikers in front of them, he told the outlets. Once the rain hit, Grace told him: “Dad, my shoes are so slippery,” he told SFGATE.
He told her they’d take it one step at a time, but then both of her feet went out from under her when they were about three-quarters of the way down the cables, Rohloff told the outlet. She slid about 200 feet down the slope right before his eyes.
“She just slid off to the side, right by me, down the mountain,” he told the outlet. “It happened so fast. I tried to reach my hand up, but she was already gone.”
At least 15 people have died on the cables and at the peak of Half Dome since 1948, and several more people have had close calls, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The rock formation rises 5,000 feet above the Yosemite Valley, and hikers can summit the 16-mile trail up the slope in about 10 to 12 hours, according to the park’s website. The last 400 feet of the climb are accessed via a cable system.
Rohloff hopes his daughter’s death will result in increased safety measures for the cable system leading to the top of the Half Dome, he told KMPH.
“Adventurous doesn’t need to be dangerous; there can be some changes made to the cable system at Yosemite that would make it a lot safer, and Grace didn’t have to die in vain,” he told the station.
Yosemite National Park did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for further information on July 24.
A park representative told Rohloff that rangers would retrieve Grace’s backpack, which was carrying the last photos Rohloff took of his daughter, he told KMPH. It had fallen off as she slid and came to a stop on another part of the steep slope.
Rohloff told several outlets he would remember his daughter as a beautiful, enthusiastic, selfless soul.
“She was fearless. She was an adventurer,” Rohloff told KPNX. “We did hikes all throughout Arizona. Grace and I put on thousands of miles hiking.”
She was studying education at Arizona State University and planned to teach math at her high school alma mater, the station reported.
“She brightened up every room she was in,” he told the station. “She was an amazing human being. And you know her spirit still surrounds me.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2024 at 5:51 PM with the headline "20-year-old tells dad she’s slipping, then falls to her death from slick granite peak."
