National Park After Dark - A Lightning Strike Rescue: Yosemite National Park

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

On July 27, 1985 a group of five people climbed Half Dome, one of the most prominent rock faces inside the park. A summer storm brewed over the summit, but despite the dangers, they continued on. By the end of the day, two people were dead and three were critically injured after being struck by lightning, sparking an intense nighttime helicopter rescue. For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials: Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page! Thank you to this week’s partners!Reel: Use our link or code NPAD to sign up for a subscription to automatically get 30% off of your first order and free shipping.Hatch: Use our link to get $20 off and free shipping.Lume Deodorant: Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with@lumedeodorant and get $5 off off your Starter Pack (that’s over 40% off) with promo code NPAD at LumeDeodorant.com! #lumepod For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Close your eyes. Focus. Listen to work getting done with Monday.com. Relax. As AI does the manual work, while your teams are aligned on a single source of truth. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform, so flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Notice you're limitless.

Limitless. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally. Breathe. Girl, winter is so last season. And now spring's got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress.

Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. The following are crucial to know for your own safety during a lightning storm. First, all thunderstorms produce lightning and are dangerous.

Second, the outdoors is the most dangerous place you can be during a storm. Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall and can travel sideways for up to 10 miles. If you're outdoors and the air starts buzzing and your hair bristles, it might be too late. But these next steps are important. Seek the lowest point. Do not be the tallest or the second tallest object around and avoid trees. If you're in an open area, crouch down on the balls of your feet.

Stand on top of a backpack if you can. If you're with others, stay several yards away from them. Stay away from water and do not touch anything that is metal. Stay alert and know your surroundings. It might be your only chance of survival. Welcome to National Park After Dark. Is this our third lightning episode?

I think it is. I believe so. Because we have your Spark Ranger one. Right. And then my Grand Teton one. And I can't think of... I think that's... I can't think of another one.

Yeah. Right? I don't know. I feel like we talk about it a lot. I don't know why. But there might be more in the backlog that we're just not thinking of. But I feel like this is the first major lightning story that I've done since the Grand Teton one.

Which is a fan base. I mean, still. And we did it at the very beginning of the, yeah, of doing this podcast. So yeah, your night of the grizzlies and the, sorry, which one? The Jenny Lake Rangers. Yes, that one. Fan favorites and have messed people up to this day. So are you about to do the same to all of us again? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. This is going to be a long story. And I feel like I've had a lot to live up to for storytelling for those episodes. So I hope that that. this one does as much justice. I did use a book for this one because today I'm going to be telling a story of a harrowing rescue inside of Yosemite National Park. And this story has been highly requested because there was a book based on it and I have it with me right here. It's titled Shattered Air, A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome by Bob Magic. It's M-A-D-G-I-C. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. But a lot of people recommended this book and I've had it

sitting on my shelf for months now, just kind of waiting in the back burner. Well, you brought it to Kings Canyon. Oh yeah. And that was back in June. So I've been sitting on this for almost a year now and just waiting for the right time to tell it and read it. And I do want to say, even though this episode's going to be long, because I got a lot of stuff out of this book, I will say that I'm not even close to touching on everything that this story has to offer or anything that the book really dives into. So if you're looking for a new book to read, even if you listen to this episode, buy the book, read the book, because there's just so much with the rescue, with the teams, with all the people. I mean, there's so many people that are in Yosemite and a lot of people

involved in these stories who have backstories, who I can't get into. And there's even some things that happen on the mountain that I don't dive into just because there's, There's only so much time and I kind of picked and chose what would be included in the story today. So long story short, I am recommending. Everyone go read this book. It's the new recommendation. Okay. On July 27th, 1985, a group of five people climbed Haftome, one of the most prominent and known rock faces inside

the park. While at the summit, a lightning storm came in quickly and the party had no choice but to wait it out. However, the summit of Haftome is extremely exposed with no safe places for shelter and the granite cliff also offers the perfect environment for lightning to strike. By the end of the day, two people were dead and three were critically injured after being struck by lightning, sparking an intensive nighttime helicopter rescue. And because we visited this park so frequently, I have a couple things that I want to go into about the park, but I wanted to specifically more in depth to dive into details about

half dome, since that's going to be where we're mostly located today. So first things first, Yosemite National Park was a third national park established on October 1st, 1890. Today, over three million people visit Yosemite to see some of its wonders like Yosemite Falls, which is a 2,4205-foot waterfall, which is one of the tallest in the world. The rock formations like Halfdome and El Capitan, which is the rock face that Alex Honnold free climbed and free solo, and is one of the largest granite monoliths in the United States. The park also has three groves of giant sequoia trees, which are the largest in the world. The Yosemite Valley has been a treasure for all who visit

from the indigenous people who called it home for thousands of years to presidents like Benjamin Harrison and Abraham Lincoln, people like John Muir and the famous photographer Ansel Adams, who at one point lived in the park and spent years photographing it. The park attracts all types of adventures from hikers, photographers, clip jumpers, artists, and what the park most famously attracts is by far the rock climbing community. For the climbing and hiking community,

Haftome is a famous feat that is not for beginners or for people with a huge fear of heights. The most infamous part of this hike is the cable ascent 600 feet up the side of Haftome. While that is arguably the most scary part of the climb, it is 8 plus miles just to get to that point. It's a long hike that requires a permit beforehand, which Danielle and I know because we tried to get a permit

and failed miserably. Yeah, we did the miss trail. Yeah, we did the miss trail. Yeah. And we also hopped onto the John Muir Trail, too. Yeah, but we, yeah, we missed the permit by, like, it was like the first day that they opened half dome for the season, right? Yeah. Or the permit system at least.

And yeah, we tried. We tried two days in a row, actually. Yeah, we did try two days in a row and we didn't get it both times. And we were both entering the lottery, too. Like, please, please, let us in. next time. It's okay. We found other things in the park that we really liked, but we did a lot of the trail that I'm actually going to be talking about today. So it was fun to research because I'm like, oh, I've been here before. And I'm sure a lot of people who have been to the park and these areas

can relate to that. For people who maybe aren't not familiar with Yosemite or what haftome is, half tome is a granite rock face in the shape of quite literally half of a dome that rises 5,000 feet or 1,524 meters above Yosemite Valley and is 8,000 feet above sea level or 2,682 meters. One of the most popular routes to hike up half dome is via the Mist Trail along Vernal and Nevada Falls, then onto the John Muir Trail to Little Yosemite Valley. It will eventually lead you to subdom, a large granite dome that has to be climbed prior to reaching the cables to ascend to the main half dome. The hike round trip ends up being about 16 miles, which is 25 kilometers. Some people hike it, but there have also been a lot of rock climbers who just climb right up Haftome, and there are over a dozen rock climbing routes

that lead to the summit of Haftome on the northwest face. Now, Haftome is infamously a dangerous hike in the park. There have been at least 24 confirmed deaths on the cable section and the summit. The cables are so steep that people have fallen to their deaths off of it. If you include people attempting to hike to Halfdome or just via the famous Smith Trail to the John Muir Trail, the number increases to 40 to 60 deaths from varying resources. And since 2005, there have been 291 accidents and 140 search and rescue missions in the area. I mean, when you're there and you see it, it makes a lot of sense because it's crazy. And I don't want to get this wrong, but just hearing all of these stats and stuff, it makes it even more incredible.

Do you remember the story? I think it was like a couple months ago now about the gentleman. I think he was in his 90s who summited Haftome. No, I'm not recalling. It was amazing. Like he made it that whole way. And I'm pretty sure he was in his 90s. Wow.

That's really amazing. It's a tough hike. Let's see. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Right here. Okay.

So it's from a couple months ago. It's from July last year. Same thing. Almost a year. A 93-year-old retired professor is likely the oldest. person to summit Yosemite's Hapdome. His name is Everett Colin, and he was from Oakland, California. And he trained by climbing the stairs in his apartment and walking every day. And his son and granddaughter helped him make the climb calling Colin a stubborn as a mule. But yeah,

and there's like footage of him like going through the cable section and getting to the top at 93 years old. That's incredible. It really is. I mean, not only like the physical feed of that, but also like the training that goes into it and just like the mental fortitude to do something like that. And I mean, it's a scary. I know we put ourselves into the lottery and you would have done it in a heartbeat. And I'm sure I would have done it, but I probably wouldn't ever do it again. Like I'm just, I'm afraid. Yeah. And it's like it's just a tough, tough hike. I've heard of some people when they go up the cables that they'll actually wear a harness and they'll clip in just for their own. You don't need to do that. But I've heard that some people do that just for their own, reassurance.

Their own comfort. Yeah. Yeah. Just have something that they're connected to if they do slip. So I guess maybe that's an option too. I think I thought of that. I thought of that. I mean, if you're up there and you're like, I don't need to clip in, I'm fine.

Then that's fine. At least you're prepared. But if you're up there and you're terrified to, and you freeze and get stuck or something and you don't have that or you need that, it would be nice to have. All right. Well, now I know. That's what I'm doing. Next time we're in Yosemite, I need to pack a harness.

Yes. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Well, today our story is going to be centered around a group of five people who are ultimately all struck by lightning at the summit of Halfdome. But throughout the story, there's a lot of other people in this, including other climbing parties, rescue teams, and there's a lot of people within this story.

So I tried to condense it down to the five people. But of course, there are other people who hop in and out. So let me know if you're not following some of this. And I can explain it better since I read the book. But I tried to condense it to make it easier to understand. First, I do want to talk about some statistics and general information about lightning itself before we get into the strike. And all of that will be directly related to their story of that day on Yosemite's Haftome. So this is all some information that later when I'm going to tell the story, you're going to be like, oh, I learned about this earlier.

Okay, it'll come full circle. Yeah. Thunderstorms are common during the summer months in Yosemite National Park. Summer storms are most common to develop sometime between 2 and 6 p.m., which are generally the hottest. parts of the day. Mountaineers aware of these dangers have created this saying or this rule to live by and they say up high by noon down low by two. This is especially true at high elevations in largely exposed areas like haftone because summer storms are known to generate lightning. When you hear thunder, what you're actually hearing is the shock wave resulting from the extreme heat generated

by a lightning flash. It is not possible to have thunder without lightning. Which is something I didn't know until I started researching these lightning episodes. And I think it's important for people to know that if you hear thunder, that means there is lightning. Even if you don't visually see it. I felt the same I'm pretty sure I said almost the same exact thing when I was doing the Spark Ranger episode. I'm like, I am learning about weather for the first time in my life. I feel like I need to know these things. I knew nothing. I know. You wouldn't think. I mean, when I think of lightning, you always just see the flash. You don't necessarily think about the sound. Well, I used it. What was the thing? It's like And I don't know, again, if we've had this conversation before, but or if this is even true.

But it's something that I remember learning, like, as a kid, that it's like you count the seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder. And whatever amount of seconds goes by, you translate that into miles. And that's how far away the center of the storm is. Is that true? You're so right. And I love that you said that because the next thing I have is actually that information that I wrote down. So I'm right. You're right.

Yeah. You're right. So I wrote down that sound travels at about 1,100 feet per second, which means that a lightning strike that is one mile away will take about five seconds until you hear the boom of thunder. And if you want to gouge how far lightning is away from your location, an easy way to calculate that, like you said, would actually be to just count how many seconds are between the lightning flash and the thunder. So it's basically just saying if you see lightning, clap.

Like clap or count or whatever and see how far you get until you hear the thunder. And that is how close you are. Okay. And you should always keep in mind if you can hear thunder, you are within close enough range to be struck by lightning. Oh, comforting. Okay. Yeah, I used to do like, see the flash.

And then I would do one Mississippi, two, Mississippi, three Mississippi. And that, you know, and so on and so forth. But it's just so funny that that's like verified because it's something that I never followed up on. It's like, oh, well, I'm just going to accept this as fast. It felt like one of those myths. Yeah. But it's real.

I got outside resources from outside the book as well as within the book. But this next part of information I got directly from the book, and again, that's Shattered Air by Bob Magic. And within it, it said 100 lightning bolts strike the earth every second or more than 8.6 million per day. And that's across the world. And the United States alone, 20 million lightning bolts strike the ground per year. A single bolt can contain a single bolt can contain a. an electrical potential of 100 million bolts, and the temperatures can reach up to 55,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

And to put that temperature in perspective, that is about five times hotter than the sun. It is crazy that people survive that. Being hit by a bolt of lightning has obviously potential for devastating impacts, including death. And the phenomenon of being struck by lightning might not be as rare as you think, which is also scary. In the United States, lightning is the second leading cause of death in a weather-related event just after flooding.

Between 2006 and 2021, 444 people within the United States have died from being struck by lightning. According to the CDC, on average, 28 people in the United States alone will die from a lightning strike each year. I feel unsafe. I mean, I've felt unsafe being outside ever since that. Well, because we did that episode, I think right before we went to. to Kings Canyon, Sequoia, remember? And then the storm came in. I'm like, I am not staying outside. Like, I am not messing with this right now. Yeah. We were like doing stuff for like merch photos and stuff. And like the storm came rolling in. And I was like, I am out of here. I cannot be anywhere outside.

The horrible news with that too is that while being outside is the most dangerous place you can be, you're also not safe indoors because lightning will pass through windows. It'll pass through electrical outlets. if you're showering, if you're near a TV, if you're on the phone, you can still get struck by lightning inside your house. I need an underground bunker for many reasons. Well, this next fact is also going to upset you because the most common states for these fatal incidents have historically been in Colorado. Perfect. Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Alabama. Although 59% of fatalities have taken place while people are engaged in outside activities, and weirdly enough, 80% of victims, are male. And I don't know if that's because more men recreate outside than women or if there's

something going on with men that just make them more susceptible. Lightning susceptible. Yeah, I don't know. Lightning prone. Well, like, I forget his name, but the Spark Ranger. Yeah. Was it Randy something? Roy maybe. Roy. Roy. Roy. We're both on sure. But I mean, he got struck I think it was seven or more. Yeah. Okay. I'm not going to stop talking about him because I've clearly forgotten the details of the story that I researched. Yeah. So anyway, okay, so we got the lay of the land with lightning. The lay of the land.

I also want to add, actually, no, because I have a lot more facts about lighting that I threw in here because I just thought I should scare the shit out of everyone listening, especially if you're listening. Summer's coming up, so we're about to see more of these. The most common month of the year for lightning-related deaths is July, which is also when the story takes place, with attributing all. close to twice the amount of deaths than the other months of the year. Okay.

Reports have stated that during your lifetime, you have about a one in three thousand chance of being struck by lightning in the United States. The chances that you will know someone who has been struck is about one in 300. And those who spend time recreating outdoors are at higher risk. All right. I need to know whenever you post the like poll or the Instagram for this or whatever, someone's got to like so statistically speaking someone listening right now that also follows us on social media has been or knows somebody who has been struck by lightning and I want to know I think I've been indirectly struck by lightning so maybe I'm the person that you know okay but when you say you think you may have been I know the story but and I feel like you did get struck by lightning through your car right or something yeah so I think I've mentioned it on the podcast before but I was driving down the road and it was the middle of a lightning storm and I was in a car and I was kind of high in elevation. I was going

over a little bit of a smaller mountain pass in southern New Hampshire. And suddenly there was a huge boom and a bright light and I literally thought I exploded. And I just I remember. I literally thought I exploded. Like there was nowhere, nothing else to describe it. It was just this huge flash of light and the loudest boom I've ever heard. And then I closed my eyes. I was driving the Where I was driving, it was like 50 miles per hour. I'm going probably a little slower than that because it was raining. But I remember I just shot my eyes and kept driving. And I opened my eyes and the whole car had turned off. Yeah. So, okay. So I know someone who's been struck by lightning. And you've been struck by lightning. Yeah. So there's our statistics for us. So we'll do a poll and see if anyone else listening has also been struck by lightning. Wow. I forgot that about you. And now I know. That should be one of your fun facts. I'm full of secrets. That should be one of your facts. My two truths and a lie. Yeah.

Like one of mine is I'm a gif with a wolf. Like that wolf gif that keeps going on. Like that, that's me. That's me. I'm a gift. I have a gif made of me. I guess that's not really that cool because I think anyone can do that. I don't know how one does that, but I know it's possible.

It was probably cool when you first came up with it because it was probably something that not everyone could do at that. time. Right. I'm like, I don't know who did this. I just came across it. You know, like, I typed in Wolf. Like, wait, that's me. Once and I was there. And I was like, wait. How was this done? Did you start using it? Did I use it? Yeah. No, the only time I used it on every, that's how I would sign my comments and then forward. I sent it to a couple people. I'm like, oh, look, this is cool. But then it was like, like, that was it. Okay. Every time I wrote a comment on someone's thing, I would put my gift. Okay. Sorry. I want to know the story. We're derailing because I still have. A couple more facts about lightning.

And this part's important to know. There are four ways that a person can be injured by lightning. Lightning can strike a person directly. It could strike an object that a person is in contact with. It could use the human body as a pathway to another place. Or you can be struck through ground current. It is much more likely for lightning to hit a person indirectly than it is directly. So that's what I think happened to me.

I think it was very indirect. I don't think I was struck. I think my car was struck and I was safe in the car. If you are to take refuge under a tree, for example, and the tree is struck, it is likely you too will be struck by what is considered an indirect strike or an indirect flash from the original bolt. To keep in mind for this story that I'm going to be telling, hiding in an enclosed space such as a crevice or a cave during a lightning storm is always a bad idea. If lightning strikes in the area, especially on rock, the lightning will travel. Because rock is a hard surface,

it is resistant to the electrical current, and instead it will shoot across its surface looking for a place for the electricity to go. If you are touching the rock, you will take the brunt of the electrical charge because the human body is much more permeable. The condition of your body also has a major effect on the impacts of the strike.

Dry skin tends to resist electricity. However, when wet from either sweat, rain, whatever it is, your skin can become a conductor. When struck, there are a series of medical issues that can arise. First, the strike can cause severe burns of the skin and hair and even internal organs. It can interrupt the cardiovascular and neurological systems, often causing cardiac arrest or severe seizures and muscle spasms throughout the entire body. People who survive are often affected with memory and attention deficits, chronic fatigue, irritability, depression, peripheral nerve damage, and more.

In situations where victims go into cardiac arrest, without immediate medical intervention, they will almost always die. In Yosemite National Park, there are various signs strung throughout the landscape, warning of these specific dangers, and several on the way up to Yosemite's half dome. At the base of the subdom, which I mentioned before is the smaller half dome shape that is almost as steep as half dome, but is attached on the side of it and is what you have to climb before.

You actually get onto the full dome. Has warning signs for all hikers planning to try and make it to the summit. In bold red letters, it reads, Danger. If a thunderstorm is anywhere on the horizon, do not pass this sign. Lightning has struck on half dome during every month of the year. Underneath that wording, heeds the same warning, but it's translated in Spanish. Then there is another sign right before reaching the summit on the side of half dome up the cable section. This time, because there's not a safe place to shelter on the slick granite slab, the sign gives you instructions on how you can survive if you are trapped there in a lightning

storm. And this sign reads, danger. If a thunderstorm occurs while you are here, these are the safest things to do. One, stay away from the cables. Two, get rid of any metallic objects. Three, stay away from caves, overhangs, and large cracks in the rocks. Four, go to the lowest place on top and sit on any non-metal objects you have to insulate you from the rock. Wait there until the storm has passed. And while this sign does not guarantee safety from the storm, the five men of Adrian Esteban's group would ignore it completely and would break almost every rule that day on July 27, 1985. That day, the group of nine had planned to summit half dome for Tom Rice's birthday and to sleep up at the top. Adrian Esteban, who was 24 at the time, and Tom Rice, who was 28, were more or less

the leaders of that group that day. They had met many years before and bonded over their love of the outdoors and had actually summited half dome many times prior to that. They first hiked it together in 1981 and after that it became a regular activity as they both lived a few hours driving distance from the park. It was common for one of them to call up the other and they would drop everything to go to Yosemite. Adrian always had a weird sense that he couldn't explain that one day he would know someone who would fall off of half dome. It was this uneasy feeling that he was never able to shake, but it never deterred him from hiking it and they did it for many years. Tom and Adrian were close friends.

They confided in each other and built each other up. They were known to party together and they were thrill seekers, always chasing the next adrenaline rush, not always in a good way. Tom Rice would often say, conquer it, it's all in your mind. Face your fears. Only by doing so can you achieve your full potential. They were both very athletic and challenged each other to push forward,

often bypassing concerns for safety. Adrian had invited his co-worker Bob Frith, who was 25 at the time and had recently moved to California from the East Coast. Bob brought along his best friend Bruce Weiner, who was 24 years old, who had also just moved to the West Coast. And he was originally from, it looked like I'm not positive. His parents lived in New Hampshire. So I'm not sure if they moved to New Hampshire or if he was originally from New Hampshire because then later his family is from Massachusetts. So he's kind of from the same region that we're from. Okay.

Bill Pippey, who had also joined the group, was 27 years old and was an avid backpacker who frequented Yosemite with both Tom and Adrian in previous trips. Bill brought along his two younger twin brothers, Bruce and Brian. And because there are two bruses in this story, I will call them by their last names because there's Bruce Winer and there's Bruce Jordan. And Bruce Jordan is one of the twins. The twins were only 16 years old, but they were heading down a bad path, regularly abusing some substances. and Bill hoped that exposing them to the outdoors would help reroute the path that they were on. And in addition to the group, they also had their friend Steve Elner and Carl Butchner who joined them as well. So in total, there was a group of seven of them.

The night before the hike began, they met up in Mariposa, California, a small town just outside the park's entrance. It was around midnight when they arrived. And despite how late it was, the group was full of energy and excited for the upcoming day. They drank some beers, smoked a little weed, talked about the adventure. that they were about to have, and then they settled down, bundled into their own sleeping bags, and slept under the stars that night. When they awoke, they were greeted by crystal blue, clear skies, which was a welcome site for their hiking day. They hopped all together into one vehicle and drove into Yosemite's Valley, parking at Camp Curry, and stopping in the dining hall for

a big buffet breakfast. They had about a two-mile walk through the valley from where they parked to the trailhead. Each hiker in the group carried a full backpack with the exception of whiner, who only had a book bag with him and a few food and clothing items inside. Because remember, this is his, like, first real hikes, especially on the West Coast. So he didn't really have much hiking gear. So Bob carried the bulk of Winer's gear in his own bag, which resulted in the backpack weighing about 45 pounds or 20 kilograms. And they decided that they would just switch back and forth along the trail carrying it. The group separated quickly.

Carl and Steve started the trail about 30 minutes behind the rest of the group as they decided to stopped to see the valley sites first. For the rest of them, when they first started up the mist trail, climbing the stone staircases along the edge of Vernal Falls, the sky was completely clear, minus a few cumulus clouds that had formed in the sky in the east. They had a staggered group on the trail with Tom, Adrian, Bill, and the twins ahead, and Bob and Winer several minutes behind. They all eventually came together again at Nevada Fall at 12.30 p.m., which is a 590-foot waterfall that offers sweeping views of the valley and surrounding iconic features of the park. Before the water drops over the cliff's edge, there are several spots along the river that make for

good swimming holes. And they took advantage of this beautiful weather and that day, so most of them took their clothes off and jumped into the cold waters. They were hooting and hollering and they swam and climbed on rocks in the water. They ate some lunch, drank some beers, and just enjoyed their time, nude during all of it. Not a care in the world that there were other people around, including children and families. They were just... Just, what is it? Matthew McConaughey says.

Just L-I-N. All right, all right, all right. So they were having a grand old time in the park, basically, just free, not really having consideration for other people, which later we find people weren't appreciative of. But they were having a great time. And while they were having this great time, they failed to notice that several more cumulus clouds

had formed and combined and we're now sitting over clouds rest, which is a high point in the park not too far from half dome. And this area offers sweeping views of the dome in the valley. And these storms shortly brought in the first rumbles of thunder. And it was about 1.30 p.m. by this time. So they already have a bit of a late start to not be up there until 1.30. When they heard the thunder, it caused the crew to pack up their stuff quickly, still set on summiting half dome. Both Tom and Adrian assured the group that if they got stuck in the...

the storm at the top, there was a cave that they would be able to take shelter in and waded out, which was true. There was a cave at the summit. Bill and Bruce Jordan took off first, not wanting to wait for the others. Close behind them was Tom, Adrian, and Brian Jordan, and bringing up the rear again was Bob and Winer. Carl and Steve were much farther behind and didn't reach Nevada Falls until 2 p.m. They stopped briefly, but continued on, now with dark clouds in the sky and the occasional low rumbles of thunder. Bill and Bruce Jordan had set a fast pace in attempts to outrun the storm. Tom, Adrian, and Brian Jordan were close behind, but decided that they wanted to make a quick stop at a spring Tom and Adrian knew about to enjoy that really quick. So they're not in all that big of a hurry at this point. Meanwhile, Winer and Bob were moving the slowest. They were switching carrying bags every 10 to 15 minutes, and Winer was becoming much more exhausted. His legs started cramping, partly due to exhaustion, and the other part was dehydration. Still, they carried on towards the summit. Bill and Jordan wanted to be the first to the top and were moving quickly, and it wasn't long before they were on the cables of half dome. Dark clouds had formed off the dome now, but they were determined. Halfway up, though, they stopped. Bill's stomach started twisting and turning, and he suddenly felt really bloated and had the dire need to use the bathroom. Something that he felt he could barely hold in, and in that moment he took it as the sign that he should be. not summit right then. And the two decided to rush back down off the cables and off the domes

so Bill could relieve himself. I mean, sounds like divine intervention to me, but yeah, you gotta go, you gotta go. And maybe it's the universe telling you, you gotta go. Yeah. Tom Adrian and Brian Jordan, who had fallen a short distance behind them, continued up the trail, pushing to reach the summit before the storm came in. Along the way, they ran into two young climbers who were moving quickly down the mountain away from the summit. In passing, and clearly in a rush to get off the mountain, they told the group not to go up there and said that it was just too dangerous. Instead of listening to the warning, Tom and Adrian both felt the spark of a new challenge, and instead of being deterred, they got excited and continued up. Meanwhile, Carl and Steve had been moving slowly, especially Steve. He was

holding the two up and had been apprehensive about the hike from the start. But now seeing the storm clouds, he was moving extra slowly. When he witnessed a few bolts of lightning near halftome and heard the crack of thunder, he actually dropped his pack and took off running down the trail without Carl. Carl ran down after him and convinced him to keep going up, assuring him that they would stop and camp at the base if they needed to and not summit until the storm cleared. So Steve, I just like imagine that. And I just imagine if it was like me and you on a trail and you just dropped your bag and then

just took off running down the mountain. Like, what the? Hello? Hello. Hello. What about me? Yeah. Tom's group was now approaching Subdome, the last climb before the final ascent up the cables of Halfdome.

Here they ran into another hiking group who they had seen off and on throughout the day. They had been kind of playing Leap Frog, frequently seeing each other but not interacting much. And this group had actually been at Nevada Falls during the group Skinny Dipping Excapades and found them to be very rude and rowdy previously and didn't really want. too much to do with them. It was a group of five hikers led by Mike Hoog, who happened to be an EMT, and with him was also Linda Crozier, who had wilderness-based EMT training. They had been hiking the subdom when they encountered an older gentleman who had told them that it was much too dangerous to continue and urged them to turn around. And they had listened to his advice.

They were making their way back down instead of summiting, and now they warned Tom and Adrian. And at this point, Tom and Adrian had outpaced Brian, who was with them, and Brian had kind of fallen behind. So now it was just the two of them. They ignored the warnings, almost annoyed, and Tom muttered under his breath, Someone's got to do it before the two of them just blew past them. It was 5.30 p.m. when Tom and Adrian reached the bottom of the cables. Dark clouds had now blanketed the sky, and the lightning was flashing over the ridges with thunder booming over the park. And like I said before, the two had outpaced the rest of the group, including Bruce Jordan, who they had previously been hiking with. And they were alone now and weighing their options. They knew that the two of them, with their hiking capabilities and their fitness levels, could hike the cables in 15 minutes and that it would take them just five minutes to get to the shelter once they reached the summit. And the shelter is the cave that he had mentioned before. And they had not bothered reading the sign that specifically said not to do that in the case of a storm.

They both stared up at the cables for a moment, pondering their next moves until Tom just blurted out, fuck it. This is our mountain. Let's do it. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. And Adrienne agreed. He was stoked.

Like, yeah, let's do it. They would then make the grave mistake believing that they were the only two of their group who would choose to summit. When they had outpaced everyone and gone ahead, they didn't think that anyone was following them. they thought that the rest of their group would be would be hanging back and waiting out the storm. Adrian had sensed something bad may happen up at the top and stopped before stepping onto the cables. Is he the one that had that premonition? Who had the premonition? Like beforehand. He's the one who had the premonition that he would know someone who fell off half to. Okay. All right. Just wanted to make sure. There is a lot of people like.

There's a lot of people. Yeah. In this. So totally ask. And you'll kind of see with Adrian too that he has a lot. of these six sense feelings throughout. Okay. The whole thing. And he sent something that was going to happen then, and he stopped and he called out to Tom and he said, I want you to know, I love you, man. Tom looked back, grabbed Adrian's hand and said, I love you too, before they began their climb.

What they hadn't realized was that Bridie and Jordan, the 16-year-old twin, wasn't that far behind them. He was hiking at his own pace, but he was proud of his stamina on the trail and was excited to impress the older guys, Tom and Adrian, when he reached the top two. When he saw the two of them up on the cables from below, he followed their lead without question. Behind Brian, both Bob and Winer were bringing up the rear and could see Adrian and Tom about to reach the summit. Just at that moment, rain began pouring down heavily. Winer was apprehensive, but Bob had it set in his heart on summiting, and after some convincing, they put on their ponchos and began climbing up themselves. And are these the two that one of them

bailed and then was convinced. No, that's Steve and Carl. Steve took off down there. Because then there's the other two that are like way, way behind there and basically not even in this group at this point. They're the ones that are switching backpack, so they're moving really slowly. Gotcha. Tom and Adrian made it to the top and took off running in the rain, aware that the dome

could be struck by lightning at any given moment. They reached the cave at 6 p.m. and went inside for shelter. Just moments later, they heard someone shouting Adrian's name. To their surprise, Brathe was. Ryan was standing on the summit searching for them with a very worried look on his face. They called to him urgently motioning for him to get in the cave. Just as he was running over to them, they were surprised again to see both Bob and Winer reached the summit.

They ushered them over, adrenaline and excitement filled them, as one of the members of the group yelled, Bring on the Lightning Show. Bill and Bruce Jordan had attempted to summit Halfdome again, but when they saw the lightning, they hastily turned around. The rain became colder and turned to hail, rattling on the night. the rocks. They all took shelter in the cave, which was small and forced them to huddled together. They took out snacks and chatted amongst each other. And after several moments, the hail stopped and the rain slowed down. Adrian slid out of the cave and called back, come see the greatest scene in the

world before hopping onto what is known as King's chair. It's an outcropping of the rocks that allows for a place to sit on the very edge of the dome and dangle your feet over the edge. And it kind of extends off of that nearby cave that they were sitting in. Like you could kind of crawl to both. I could fucking never. I have like, I'm not even kidding you right now. Like I'm anxious, even imagining myself in that position. Like I could literally never. Like you couldn't pay me to do that. I love, I like the thrill of heights and like looking down in that stomach drop. I actually kind of enjoy it. But I agree with you. I would never hang my feet off of half dome. Especially in weather, any sort of weather condition or like I don't know and what granite rocks I know I know what are you doing

I mean I know a lot of people do it like obviously it has a name for a reason you know this is like maybe the chair is actually it sits you down really well and you're not you don't I've never been there it doesn't matter I don't care I would do it but I don't think so I don't care it's it's still far too close to any sort of if my feet even if my fucking pinky toe is dangling off. It's too much. I mean, I agree. I don't love getting close to edges in that capacity. But this was a really exciting and thrilling moment for them. And Bob joined him. And he at first was pretty hesitant to be so close to the edge, but he eventually inched himself and his legs over. And shortly after, he described how he had never experienced anything like that before.

And Adrian responded by saying, we're on top of the world, man. The gods are smiling on us. The time now was 6.25 p.m. While Bob and Adrian sat in the chair, the rest of the group stayed huddled inside the cave. While the rain had let up a little, the storm was not over, and dark ominous clouds filled the sky directly above them. Adrian felt a sudden buzz in the air and asked Bob if he felt it too. At first he hadn't, but then again, the buzzing sounded again, and he noticed it too. Their hairs stood on edge, and the air seemed to crackle. Bob began saying how amazing it was to be there and that this was the best experience he had ever had, ignoring the buzzing.

But Adrian had a horrible feeling, and he was distracted by the buzz and turned to seek shelter back in the cave. He had his left hand on the rock for balance, and he pushed off with his left leg, his right leg not touching the rock at all, or his right hand. And it was in that exact moment when it happened. An enormous blast shattered the air, lighting up the sky followed by a boom. Another flash arrived seconds later. A bolt of lightning shot across the summit of Haftome and struck the lip of the overhang by the cave, where the group had been. In the flash, Adrian was slammed against a rock wall and pinned there.

He felt like he was imploding. He screamed, but no sound came out. Then suddenly, he was out of his body looking at himself from above. Then in the next moment, he was back in his body. but this time he thought he was dead. Adrian had been lucky, though. Because he wasn't touching the rock with all of his extremities, the bolt had only passed through him.

It entered through a single knuckle that had been touching the rock and then went through his body before leaving down his left heel. Only the left side of his body had been struck. But even though only the left side of his body had been struck, he could not move either of his legs at all. Weiner had also been lucky. At that exact moment the bolt hit, he had been bending over to tie his shoelaces.

He was touching the rock wall with only his butt and thighs. When the bolt whipped through the cave, it only affected him in those two places. But still the lightning made a devastating boom that made the cave feel like it was exploding. Weiner felt as if he was being sucked into a vacuum while simultaneously being ripped apart. When he regained consciousness, he had no feeling from the waist down. It was then that he realized they had been struck by lightning. Looking around the cave, he saw Brian Jordan next to him. the 16-year-old who had pushed himself to the summit.

He was slumped over, charred, with vacant eyes, and it was apparent that he was most likely dead. Tom had been in the cave and was slumped over in a fetal position, convulsing uncontrollably and did not seem to be conscious. His legs were badly burned, and so was his hair. The lightning had shot straight through his back. Adrian turned to look back at Bob. He was uncontrollably convulsing towards the edge of the cliff.

Unable to move his legs, he dragged himself closer to Bob with as much effort as he could gather. He tried to pull Bob back over the boulder and back into the chamber of the cave, but the weight was too much for him. He yelled for Winer to come and help him, and that Bob was about to fall off the ledge. Winer's legs were still numb, but he managed to get there and grabbed a piece of Bob's sweater. Together, they tried to hoist him up over the boulder, but with both of their legs useless, they were lacking the strength, and Bob continued to convulse. They screamed at him in attempts to wake him up, but it was useless. And suddenly, Adrian was overcome with the sixth sense of fear that another bolt of lightning was about to strike and that he was in grave danger.

He liked go of Bob's arm, hoping that he would just stay in one spot as he retreated to what he thought would be safety. Winer was still holding on to Bob and using all his strength he could muster to pull him up. But suddenly, Bob went into a convulsion that was so violent it propelled his legs over the edge of the cliff. Winer was now desperately holding on to him. him, but he was sliding closer to the edge. With his own life on the line, he let go. In horror, both Winer and Adrian watched as Bob slipped off the edge and disappeared to the rocks 200 feet below. Winer screamed and began to sob. When Adrian re-entered the cave, he found Tom unconscious and regurgitating food he had been eating before the lightning struck. He cleared his mouth of food and

shook him to try and wake him up, but it didn't work. Then the buzz in the air returned. that same buzz that happened right before the strike. Adrian convinced he would die in that cave, used his upper body strength to pull himself out and drag himself across the summit. He was heading to a crevice in the rock called the Outhouse, which was a place that campers used for a toilet usually, but now looked to be like his only refuge. He scrunched himself down into the crevice,

at the same time another blast shattered the air. His intuition had saved him. This time, his body absorbed some of the charge from the moist rocks, but it was a light shock, something similar that you might get from an outlet in your home. Realizing he was alive, he let out a laugh of relief. Before remembering, his friends were still in the cave. Weiner had not been as lucky this time. When the second bolt of lightning struck, he heard a boom and saw a flash,

and next he was hovering over his body in a way, watching himself convulse on the cave floor. He had a sense that he needed to return to his body or he would die, and in the next moment he was back again. This time, he was in much worse shape than he had been before. He had excruciating pain throughout his entire body, and his body was now burnt. His ribs felt broken and it was hard to breathe. The hiking boot on his left leg had been completely blown off. And as if the bolt had somehow restarted Tom's brain, he began regaining consciousness, and he stopped convulsing. After a few moments, Winer and Tom used each other to help lift each other up into a sitting position.

Next to them was still Brian Jordan. Now his face blue and his body was slumped over. The gravity of what had just happened washed over them. Brian was dead and Bob had fallen to his death off the cliff. Meanwhile, while all of this was happening, Mike Hoog's group who had warned them not to summit, originally and they had kind of blown past him, had taken shelter under a tent at the bottom of subdom.

The skies were now clearing and the storm was over and he wanted to get a sunset picture at the top. He invited the rest of the group but they were in no rush, So Mike, who was a trail runner, decided to just run ahead. As he approached the summit, he saw a man frantically waving his arms at him and screaming for help. And it was Adrian. At first, Mike was suspicious because of their previous interaction and seeing how rowdy him and his friends had been earlier. He thought that maybe he was on drugs or he had been drinking, and he approached him very cautiously.

Adrian told him that his friends were injured and that they needed help. When he looked into the cave, he found whiner screaming for help. Tom was in horrible condition Brian looked to be dead and it smelled of burnt skin and hair Mike was a trained EMT but this was his very first time that he would be using his skills in a real life scenario

he assessed the scene deciding that Winer and Tom were the first priorities it was quite clear that Brian was dead and Adrian had a regain feeling in his legs and was walking now Mike checked to make sure that the other two had feelings in their legs and they both did but Tom was slightly pinned under a rock

that had fallen on his leg. And Tom was so much more alert now and in excruciating pain. When Adrian entered the cave to try and help the two, Tom screamed at him and told him to get him out of there and not leave like he had before, like he had left him there to die. This made Adrian deeply upset,

and his first reaction was he stormed out of the cave and started stomping around violently. For Adrian, he felt like he had done everything right. He felt that he couldn't have done anything differently or he would have died. He had an intuition that if he was where he was, then he would surely have died and he felt this urgent need to get out of there. And he was right. If he had stayed in the cave, instead of going to the crevice, he would have likely been directly struck as he was sitting in the same place that the lightning had hit.

He most likely would have died. Adrian put his feelings aside and came back into the cave to help. They were able to get Winer and Tom out of the cave and lay them flat on top of the rock. Then, because of the concern of each of them going into shock, they wrap them in any excess clothing and sleeping bags that they had. When a body goes into shock, it's the downward spiral of a body's circulatory system and affects the adequate supply of blood tissues, severe injury, infections, heart attacks, rapid blood loss, or something like being struck by lightning, can trigger the body to go into shock. Without medical treatment, it can be fatal. Body temperatures can drop and be erratic, mental function deteriorates, and organs can shut down. Mike checked on Brian to search for her pulse before officially confirming that he was dead.

Linda Crozier, one of the people in Mike's group, the one who was also an EMT, had rushed to the summit when a person alerted her to the situation on top. When she arrived, she assessed them as well, and took the main lead in caring for them as she had much more experience than Mike. Shortly after, two more hikers arrived at the summit, who happened to be EMTs as well and offered to help. As nighttime was approaching, one of the hikers at the top had the idea to use their flashlights to campers in the valley to sign SOS and Morse code. But at first, no one seemed to notice. But they kept trying every hour until someone did. Mike was a trail runner and in great physical shape, and he offered to run back down to Little Yosemite to the rangers station to alert Rangers as to what happened. As of right now, as far as they knew, no one knew what had happened at the summit except for the people who were still on top of half dome.

When he took off, he ran into the rest of Tom and Adrian's group who had taken shelter below subdom. Mike told them what had happened. With this news, their last thought was that he was talking about someone in their group. Carl, Steve, and Bruce Jordan, Brian's twin brother, began their ascent to the top knowing that something had happened. Oh, so they thought it was from the other group. Like not their group? At first they're just like, it can't be our group. You know, something happened up there.

And at first they weren't even sure of the timeline. They were like, did this happen a few hours ago? Did this just happen? They were kind of confused. It seemed like it was kind of a frenzy of an encounter because he was just like running by like, hey, this happened group. And they're like, oh, something's going on. It can't be our.

It can't be our group. He had told Carl, Steve and Bruce Jordan, Brian's twin brother. And Steve had decided to stay behind not wanting to summit at all anymore. He wasn't really keen on it from the get-go, and then he heard stuff was going down up there, and he was like, no, I'll just stay here. So instead, just Carl and Bruce Jordan, Bryant's twin, started to hike up to the top. Along the way, they ran into another hiker, her told them that two people had died at the top, one a young kid and the others were injured. Realizing now that they were most likely talking about Brian, they sped up their pace and height and silence to the summit, fearful of what they were about to discover. They were greeted by Tom laying on the ground and screaming to them.

He yelled, the kid's dead man, the kid's dead. Bob fell over the edge. Fully absorbing the news, Carl couldn't take it and left down the cables. He rejoined Steve and told him the news as well. Brian's brother, Bruce, was numb to it all. Like he hadn't been able to process it and he just stood there completely silent, staring blankly, like into the void. It seemed like he just was disassociating as soon as it began when he found out it was his brother. It was 8.45 p.m. by this time and Linda had been tending to Tom and Winer. Winer had

significantly declined over the passing hours and was less alert. Still, she knew that it would be devastating consequences if either of them fell asleep and she asked Adrian to keep talking to them to keep them awake. And he did that. The three EMTs that happened to be on scene were constantly checking their vitals, talking to both Tom and Winer and checking their pain levels. But with no medical equipment on site, there was little that they could do. Both of their feet had become more numb, and now they were detecting no pulse in their feet, indicating there was no blood flow. In attempts to keep the circulation going, they were aggressively massaging their feet, and they noticed that their legs and feet were becoming severely swollen. Tom was begging for water to drink, but Linda wouldn't

allow it. With the state they were in, she wasn't sure if their bodies would absorb the water properly, and they were at a high risk of choking if they drank water. Instead, she wet some t-shirts with water and allowed them to suck on them to kind of relieve like a dry mouth. Weiner was in the worst shape, though. He had to pee really badly, but he was unable to. This indicated that there was something most likely severely wrong with his kidneys. He was struggling to breathe, and Linda could hear fluid in his lungs. Eventually, their SOS signals had been seen, and Park Rangers were notified. John Dill, a park search and rescue technician, was dispatched to look into the distressed signal.

He didn't know what the emergency was, but he knew he needed to find out. He drove to a parking lot near Mirror Lake that had a good view of half dome. He brought with him a bullhorn, which would allow him to shout up to the top and ask questions. The people on top could then shine their flashlights back down to them in response. One flashlight blink for yes, two for no. This was a tactic used for rock climbers who also found themselves in need of help and were on the wall. It was 9.25 p.m. when John Dill made contact with them. In their exchange, he discovered that two people had died. Three were injured, and without rescue that night,

some of them may die. But a rescue would take a long time, and it would be several more hours before anyone would be able to reach them. While John Dill had been in first communication with the summit, Mike had reached the Ranger station and alerted Ranger Colin Campbell to what had happened. The Ranger wasn't originally supposed to be up there that night. The Ranger wasn't originally supposed to be up there that night, the Ranger on duty had fallen sick and he was uncomfortable with the station being unmanned for the night during the storm because of the possible trouble on the mountain. Now he was glad that he had made that choice. Colin and a trail maintenance employee named Steve Jackson left in a rush to the summit with the

news. They were the first park staff on site. It was sometime around midnight when they finally arrived. Also dispatch from the valley on horseback were a team of Rangers, Dan Horner, Mike Mayer, and Paul Duques, each with advanced medical. training. John Dill had considered sending in an air rescue but was hesitant. Helicopter rescues were fairly new at this point in time and very difficult to accomplish in Yosemite. They were still clouds in the sky and in recent years there had been several deaths caused by helicopter crashes and rescue

attempts. So he wanted to wait. When the clouds cleared, he made the call to Memorial Hospital in Modesto, California, who frequently flew into Yosemite, although nighttime rescues were far less common. They were hesitant but agreed to the job and prepared to head to the park. When Ranger Colin Campbell and Steve Jackson had made it to the summit, the sight of them was a huge morale boost for the group. The men had been injured for five and a half hours at this point and they were this huge welcome sign that rescue was really on their way and that someone knew of their circumstance. They had brought medical supplies with them as well. He came over and evaluated the situation and he found that Linda had been a crucial part of the men's survival and she had been doing everything right.

He administered oxygen to Weiner and instructed Linda to continue care while he established a makeshift helicopter pad for a possible air evacuation. The time went on with still no sign of rescue. Just as they were beginning to wonder if they would be there all night, around 12.40 a.m., a rescue helicopter came into sight. The pilot, Al Major, had made a previous landing in the Awani Meadow to be debrief. on the plan before leaving at 1235 to the summit of Halfdome. In his debrief, it was decided that he would not fly once the moonlight was gone, because it would be too dangerous, which gave him until 142 a.m. to rescue everyone at the top. With him was paramedic Bill Bryant and a nurse Maggie Newman.

He lowered the craft to the rock before Bill Bryant hopped out and began directing him. A safe landing right now was crucial. A few moments later, the skids touched the rock. and he turned the engine off. He had successfully landed on the top of Halfdome. It was immediately clear that Weiner was the first who needed to go. He was loaded onto a stretcher and into the aircraft. The pilot took off and touched down in Awani Meadows

where rescue services were waiting for them at 107 a.m. He was transported to the ambulance where Maggie Newman took over for his care. First, she inserted an IV and then a urinary catheter to relieve the blockage and drain the urine from his bladder. By 1.15 a.m., Al Major had the helicopter back up and in the air and was headed for the summit again. Tom Rice was next in line to be rescued. While he seemed relatively stable at this point, the EMTs knew that often lightning caused issues that weren't seen or known immediately, and they knew that it was crucial to get him out of there as soon as possible. They loaded him up on a stretcher and into the helicopter as soon as it landed. Al was back in the Wani Meadow and landed by 125 a.m. So these are like 10 minutes stints. He's up, down, up, down. Right, yeah. Amazing. Maggie Newman, again, was there waiting to treat him.

At 1.30 a.m., Al Major was back up in the air with 12 minutes left for a rescue attempt for Adrian before the moon would disappear and the valley would offer no light for the helicopter. If he didn't get there in enough time to leave, they would all be stuck on the dome until morning. As soon as he landed, Adrian and Ranger Colin Campbell hopped into the aircraft. Adrian at this point was feeling better and did not need assistance. With only a few minutes to spare, they took off from the summit of Halfdome and back into the valley, the moon moving behind the mountains and offering almost no light at all. Ranger Collin would later say that it was the scariest helicopter ride of his life,

but they successfully landed in the meadow. Meanwhile, the park service had engaged another helicopter from an air ambulance service at St. Rose Hospital who had already picked up Winer and had him transported. He was brought to Memorial Hospital in Sacramento, where they dropped off Winer, refueled, and went back for Tom before bringing him to the same hospital. And this all happened before Adrian was even down yet. Yeah, like quick work.

And like go, go, go, get them out of here, get them to safety. The other parties in the mountain were mentally exhausted but otherwise okay. And many of them chose to save for the night before having to hike back down to the valley. And not at the top of half dome, like further down. Okay. And at this point, the deceased twin is still in the cave? Yeah. So at this point, they have decided that Brian Jordan's body has to be left for the night because the moon's gone.

There's no, there's no rescue that's going to, or recovery that's going to happen. It's too dangerous. So they have to wait until the morning. And they do the next morning. It's their first priority. They retrieved to the bodies of both Brian and Bob at 630 the following morning. The next several months were difficult recovery for both Tom and Winer. The electrical current to both of their legs had caused severe damage to both the muscles and nerves in their lower extremities, which caused their leg muscles to swell.

The swelling blocked the transmission of nerve impulses and blood to their lower legs, a condition known as compartment syndrome. It can cause necrosis or death of the tissue and requires amputation. After multiple surgeries for both of them and skin grafts for their burns and round the clock care, Neither of them had to have their legs amputated, but doctors questioned how much mobility Tom would have in his legs. They did expect Winer to have full use of his, with some possible muscle loss. That would be permanent. Winer dealt with a bout of kidney failure when he lost 90% of his kidney function due to the toxic compound that is released into the bloodstream with severe burns. They both had kidney damage, but Winer's was much worse, and at one point they were considering a possible kidney transplant for him.

Luckily, both men's kidneys eventually recovered. Weiner's family had him transported to Mass General in Boston when he was stable. He was in the hospital for a total of six weeks, while Tom was in the hospital for three months. Adrian had been repeatedly asked by news outlets to comment on the story, which he eventually did. He spoke to several news stations while Tom and Weiner were still in the hospital recovering. He did not attend the funerals of Brian or Bob, although later he said he couldn't place why he didn't go. He struggled and felt lonely and speaking to news outlets angered his friends. Tom and Adrian drifted and it took Adrian two weeks before he would go visit him in the hospital.

Their friendship was never the same after that. However, a year later, after they had recovered, he did summit half to him again with Bill and Tom. Adrian did? Yeah. Okay. Today, Winer still does not have much feeling in his feet and gets pains that shoot up and travel through his legs. Although now he is in more appreciation of his life since the event, he has had to live with lifelong ailments from it. He switched up careers in 2000 and he became a veterinarian.

Adrian has since accepted his role of the happenings that day where previously he had not. And there's some conflicting interviews because when he did some of the interviews, he basically told the interviewers that he was in Winer's position where he was holding on to Bob's sweater. and trying to pull him back up. And then he eventually had to let go because he fell over when in reality he turned around. So that was some information that other people later said that that's not how it happened. But since then, he has accepted his role in the happenings of that day. And he recognizes that a lot of it was his bad decision making as the leader of the group. And that him and he also says with Tom, if they had both not attempted to summit that day because they were the leaders of the group,

that no one else in the group would have either and they would have all listened. And he was also the person who told them to shelter in the cave, which later in retrospect he learned was a really bad decision as well. So he has now accepted that he feels that he's at fault for a lot of what happened. I mean, that is so hard though. Like you said they were in their 20s at this time. Yeah, they're kids. And it's like basically. I don't know. Like everything obviously in retrospect, you know. Hindsight's 2020. Yeah, you see so much more clearly and it's just so difficult because going through the could of should have what-ofs and especially after something's so traumatic and losing two friends and especially like, I mean, obviously I know the twin was, sorry, I keep forgetting his name. There's so many people. I'm just kind of getting them straight. But the young man that was killed instantaneously, it seems like, in the cave. Yeah. Like that's traumatic in and of itself just to see the aftermath of. But especially like having to let go, whether or not you were the person to let go and release last. I know you said there was kind of some like discrepancy over that. You were still involved and it's still an awful. Traumatic. Like I can't even imagine. Like that is so, so sad. And to have to go through your whole life thinking that you could have made a different call that could have prevented. did all of that. Like that is, that's really difficult to deal with. And just being like, yes, you people did look to you for leadership and they kind of followed what you did and said. And yes, there is signage and things like that. But if I'm 20 something years old and I'm having

like the best day of my life, like going skinny dipping and drinking and, you know, just like living it up with my friends, like I can only imagine not stopping to be like, okay, let's read this very carefully and let's make an informed decision together. And like, it just didn't seem like that was the trajectory of that day. And it's really, it's just sad that he and I'm sure others had to deal with the guilt of a different, like an alternative outcome if they would have done other things. But in reality, how many of us have lived a day similar to that and nothing bad has happened when it could have very well have? You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, I think that's definitely a valid point. I also do think it's important that he did, that he has kind of accepted his role in that

day because there were so many things that could have been done differently. He was an avid outdoors person. He had hiked this many times. He was with people who hadn't. They had received warnings from people who had been to the summit or had heard warnings from other people who had and they still attempted even when there was lightning and thunder happening around them. And his own intuition and like, I mean, the signs were everywhere, like both seen and unseen. Yeah. And I totally get that. And I mean, that's something to like, reflecting back like, like, goddamn. Like I was being, the universe was essentially like holding up a giant stop sign and I just blew past it. So there is something to be said about taking accountability and reflecting, but at the same time,

like to beat yourself up your whole life. I mean, you're already going through enough. Like you lost two friends and it was. Yeah, and I think that there's something, the other people, they made their own decisions too. Like, yes, you were the influence and the leader, but the other people had their own decisions to make and they actively chose to go up as well. So I don't think that he can put all of it on himself, but I think taking accountability for some of that is important with keeping in mind that the people who went up there, minus Brian who died, who was a child, who went up. I mean, that I think, I mean, they're the adults. They're the one who are supposed to be looking after him. I think that you have to put someone kind of at fault for that. But for the other people who were there, they were adults.

They made their own decisions. They saw what was happening outside. They knew. And they still went out. They chose to continue. Yeah. Yeah. It's hard because there's so much.

I imagine there's so much Survivor's guilt. And he says, I was in the book. It mentions that he has repeated. nightmares about the instance where he's holding onto Bob and he wakes up as he's falling as he lets go and like looks at him before he falls off God God that is just and then he's awake falling off though yeah so I like he obviously has dealt with his own demons and I mean they all have they've all have nightmares it's ruined friendships it's torn people apart and it's changed the trajectory of their entire lives I do think that the fact that some of them went back up

Half dome is amazing. And hopefully it was a clearer day when they went up. I'm imagining it was. I'm sure they considered everything. Yeah, that time. But what a last day. You know, like how you painted that of like everyone having just like such a good time. And up to a certain point, obviously, until, you know, people started bailing. And you like, yeah, no, no. It was like the best. You're in Yosemite, which is magical. You're skinny dipping. You're drinking. You're hanging out with friends. You're in some of the most beautiful high. in the world and I mean yeah what the last day and and I think that this isn't a really important story to tell because there are so many lessons in it and especially because this is such a big national park I think that it's just so important to think about these things and to heed these warnings and to read those signs and to know what you're getting yourself into and really listen to yourself because throughout this book I think a resounding theme was that each person in here

had second guesses of whether or not they should go to the summit. Yeah. And that affected everything. Everyone knew that it wasn't the best idea. And I think just keeping that in mind and listening to your intuition and listening to yourself that that's important. Agreed. Well, I have one last thing.

It's really short that I added at the end because they went up there originally to sleep to celebrate Tom Rice's birthday. And they went up there to sleep overnight on the top of Halfdome. I just want to mention that that is no longer allowed. In 1993, Yosemite National Park put a ban on overnight camping on the dome. And a lot of that was because of, I had mentioned before, they had a specific spot where all campers would use the bathroom. Yeah. And that was like piling up and becoming disgusting.

And people were like forming their own little like rock shelters and things on top of the dome. And it was just getting a mess. And the reason that they officially shut it down was it was affecting the salamander population. that lived up there. So they had to protect the species that lived up there. And that was the official save the salamanders. Well, that I think we can file under episodes that mess people up for sure. Yeah. Like it profoundly sad, but again, like a very good reminder for reading signage and speaking up, even if you're the only person to do so in your group, you never know how many other people are feeling a similar way. or maybe you just need to be the person to, you know, say something and it could change the tides

or, you know, listen to your gut. And we just totally skipped over that two people had near-death experiences. I know. They had out-of-body experiences like after being struck by lightning. I thought that was so interesting. Does that, but do you remember if the book like goes into any further detail on that or? No, not that I, not that I read. So it, Kind of is a brief thing that it talks about where they had these out-of-body experiences, which it sounds like they were really quick. It's like out of my body, saw what was happening back in my body. Gotcha. Like it was very quick separation.

But I also thought that was really interesting. I'd be curious if anyone listening who has been struck by lightning and survived has also had that experience. Had an out-of-body experience. I've been, I mean, I obviously, you know, I have a ton of spirituality books and things like that. And one of those books that I, I said this the last night on the live episode that we did, that I have like, I'm being chaotic right now and I have like five books that I'm partially through, which is very unlike me. But one of these, I actually picked it up immediately after Ian passed away and I am still only partially through it. But it's called after a doctor explores what near death experiences reveal about life and beyond. And it's like the beginning of it.

He describes his first encounter with somebody who makes him kind of go down this line of study and about near death experiences and stuff. And he describes how this woman came in. I think it was from an overdose. But long story short, she was like, I was out of my body and I was floating around this hospital. I know that you have a stain under your button shirt. I know what you were talking about over there. I know this, that, the other thing. And he's like, what the fuck?

like you are in a coma and she knew all this stuff and she was out of her body floating around and yeah so I'm just so so fascinated for so many reasons about near death experiences but that was just like a quick you're like oh yeah he was out of his body he was out of his body and moving on like well hold on a minute I'm not going to say anything it's not the front of the story but it is an important mention it's just really interesting um I know there was more important things going on in the story but yeah wow good job and I know that this is going to be a very intriguing episode for a lot of people and um just so sad god it is really sad and as far as as far as i know the people who are involved that day are still live and because this is the story isn't that old i mean they were in

their 20s and 85 so they're what in their 50s now so right math wait they were 20 and 80s so they're in their 60s yeah they're like 60s yeah they're like 60s yeah 60s. Yeah. Oh, yeah. God, do you have anything like to say that's like a little more uplifting to end this on? Oh, man. So you recommend the book. Add it to the list. I recommend the book. Yeah. The book is really good and it goes into so much detail. Again, for people listening, the book is called Shattered Air by Bob Magic. And there's so much more to this story. Just because like Mike Huke's party, they have a whole story behind their day climbing up. There's a group of climbers that almost. go up half dome at the same time. They also go in depth of another rescue story that was happening at the same time this was. So there was actually- On Hap dome as well or somewhere else? No, another part in the park. They were in Tenaya Canyon. There were three, they go in depth in the story, but there were three women out there. Two of them had epilepsy and they had gotten lost in Tenaya Canyon, and one of them

had a seizure while she was out there. And they were in dire need of medication and they didn't have enough water or food and they needed to get out there. So they ended up having like 59 search and rescue personnel out at the same exact time. And this was all happening like together. So the park was just going insane this day on July 27th, 1985. Wow. And surrounding this time like a couple days before this, I believe, or recently before this. In Kings Canyon, there was another rescue and death that had happened in the park right before that. So everything was, there's a lot of of other details and stories within this book that I think are that people really like and find interesting. And there's also just a lot of information on each of the characters in the book.

And, you know, books just, you can, books always do it better. They always have, like, all the details and everything. And I know everyone listening are book nerds. So, and I got most of my research from this book. I mean, minus a couple details and some stuff about lightning and the park and stuff. Most of it I got from this book. So highly recommend. commend. Well, I needed to get like a visual of the chair. Oh my God. Yes. Look up the chair. I'll post it up and I can't even. There's like so many pictures of people taking like a point of view shot of like their legs dangling over. Over half dome. Yeah. It's crazy. I bet you. I bet you they didn't know what happened where they're sitting. Well, that's the thing too is I just think about it. You can,

anyone who hikes up half dome can walk over to the cave, you know, and to know that this happened. It's still there. Like that one? Yeah. It's like you don't even know what happened to Bob there. Right there. Oh, God. Like, don't go near the edge, please.

You don't know if anything happens. You're very close. Yikes. Okay. All right. Well, I tried to end it positively, but then I just like went back by accident. Reverted back. It's a tough episode and maybe that's just it today.

It's a tough episode with a lot of lessons. And I know that people love survival stories and there is survival. And there's just there's a lot of lessons. in this story and I think it's so interesting and I think it also highlights how incredible rescue teams are in pilots helicopter pilots they are out there risking their lives and this guy he goes up to rescue Adrian at the last final minutes and then he's basically in the dark coming down and still maneuvers he maneuvers he lands on half dome which I personally think I mean I know it's huge and everything but it's still incredible too I mean it's it's incredible and these people

who are risking their lives to save other people. I think it's important to one, give them credit, two, appreciate them. And three, educate yourself and learn how to not be in these situations because if you put yourself in a situation that is avoidable and people have to come get you, keep in mind that they might be risking their safety as well. And let's end on that because that was beautifully said. Thank you. All right.

Well, we'll see you guys next week. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye, everyone. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale or story suggestion, send us an email at Stories at npaddpodcast.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at National Park After Dark and on Twitter at NPAD podcast.

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