Visitor Rescued From Cables On Half Dome

On the afternoon of Saturday, June 6th, Gina Bartiromo, 35, slipped while descending the Half Dome cables and slid approximately 150 feet down the east face, coming to rest on a small ledge.  Multiple 911 calls were received from hikers in the area who reported the accident and advised that Bartiromo was unresponsive.  A visitor scrambled out to Bartiromo and stayed with her until rescuers arrived.  At the time of the incident, Half Dome was socked in with clouds, with snow flurries on the summit and mist on the cables and sub-dome.  Four teams were dispatched to the scene, including rangers from Little Yosemite Valley, a hasty medical team up the slabs from Mirror Lake, and a support team up the John Muir Trail.  There was a narrow opening in the cloud cover just before 7 p.m. and Yosemite's contract helicopter, H-551, was able to land on the sub-dome and insert two rescuers. The rescuers scrambled up to Bartiromo and packaged her in a KED (Kendrick extrication device) and litter. H-551 then made two attempts to short-haul her from the site, but poor visibility caused those missions to be aborted. A final attempt to retrieve her was made after 8 p.m. and was successful. She was short-hauled to Awahnee Meadow, then transferred to a waiting air ambulance and transported to Doctor's Medical Center in Modesto. [For more information on the Half Dome cables, click on the link below]