Haley LaFlamme (26) fell 600 feet while climbing Half Dome in Yosemite National Park
Published: Aug 15, 2011 @ 3:49 PM
Haley LaFlamme (26)
Date: Jul 31, 2011
Cause of Death: Fall
Location: Yosemite National Park, CA
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A 26-year-old San Ramon woman died Sunday when she fell 600 feet while climbing Half Dome, Yosemite National Park officials said.
Hayley LaFlamme was hiking with a group of family members and friends about noon Sunday when she slipped in the rain while descending the enormous granite dome, said park spokeswoman Kari Cobb. She fell to the shoulder of the dome where the cables end that help hikers make their final ascent.
An investigation is under way but Cobb said it had rained earlier that day and weather likely played a factor by making the granite slippery.
It was the first falling death on Half Dome since 2009, when another San Ramon resident was killed. Manoj Kumar, 40, slipped on June
13, 2009, as he was using the system of cables to descend. He fell about 100 feet.
Weather may have been a factor in Kumar's fall as well, a park spokesperson said at the time. Park officials received a 911 call reporting Kumar's fall about 3:40 p.m. and received other distress calls about the same time reporting that climbers on the summit were caught in a hailstorm and were unable to descend.
This year Yosemite has had 14 deaths, Cobb said. In July, three people were swept to their deaths when they entered the Merced River above the 317-foot Vernal Falls. In late June, two hikers were swept away while crossing a rain-swollen creek that spilled over a bridge.
On average, the park has about 12 to 15 deaths a year, Cobb said. Not all the deaths are from accidents. The number includes cardiac arrests and other natural causes, Cobb said.
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 April 21, 2007, and Emily Sandal, who died Nov. 8, 2006.
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