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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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whatever happens with the cables doesn't address the basic issue
rapidly growing population and limited resources
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corniss chopper
climber
breaking the speed of gravity
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Keep the HD cables but...
Why not remove the 3 foot bridges across the Merced River up to Little
Yosemite Valley and replace them with scary Amazon rope bridges.
Put some excitement into the lower sections to thin the herd!
Would sure cut down on congestion at HD cables and no need for permits anymore.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Lets enhance them. Zip line to the water park.
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim?
Why raise such political issues on what is suppose to be a climbing web site?
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aguacaliente
climber
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Leave the cables. Take out the trail signs. Take out the road to the trailhead.
Take out the village. Take out the road.
Take out the road to the park. I think it would be permissible for climbers to hire mules to pack in their haul bags from Merced, though.
Once you do this, no one will go to the park. Then it will lose all its support from the public and close, and one day it will be sold back to the sheepherders, the ones John Muir chased out so long ago.
There are a lot of people in the world, some of them want to see parks, there's no going back to the days when there was nobody on the trail. If you want to go to a national park and see hardly anybody, there are lots of parks and backcountry where that is still possible. Even in YNP I suspect. Partly because all of the people are concentrated on the Half Dome cables. Maybe that trail has to die so that the others can live.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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whatever happens with the cables doesn't address the basic issue
rapidly growing population and limited resources
True, Tom. The massive population increase drives up the costs of all fixed assets, drives down real wages over time, and leads to crowding we never imagined we'd deal with.
Unfortunately, it's also necessary to sustain the modern welfare state, so this leads to the elephant in the room. How do we do stabilize population at a sustainable level in a way that's morally just and politically possible?
John
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jbar
Mountain climber
urasymptote
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@bluering - Been gone. Where you been? And never any bad sentiment from you in the past so I question your bad attitude. A classic example of why 99% of ST readers bail or simply lurk. Peace bro. Don't freak on people you don't even know. It's not healthy.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Wow! Besides the trip reports and beta posts this post is the epitome of what the ST forum should be about. As one begins reading, looking for comments that support their preconceived notion they can't help but run into opposing views by Donini, Coz, Roger Breedlove, Piton Ron, Ed Hartouni, and others that challenge them to think more deeply. Love it guys! I wonder if the park service ever considers posting on ST as a troll before creating new policies or budgetary decisions? I don't read ST very often anymore. I'm gonna go look for a post about the Denali user fees.
Jbar, I was reacting to your post. It seemed to me as though YOU were the one being reactive on this issue. In a silly and vague manner....
Tell us what you really f*#king think!!!!
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Anastasia
climber
hanging from an ice pic and missing my mama.
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Am I the only one who seen a few over weight (normally won't even attempt a step ladder) tourists stuck on the cables? They usually have faces changing into stark contrasting colors, eyes full of fear, hands white knuckled while on the verge of a heart attack.
Last time I was up there I had to help a man get down who had frozen mid way. It wasn't pretty.
Yes, get rid of them. Please...
AFS
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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destroy the guiding monopoly enjoyed by yosemite mountaineering school and its giant parent holding company, delaware north, in a cozy, corrupt relationship spawned in the cesspool of our nation's capital. take the effing cables down and make the east face of half dome the proper, developable, moderate climbing face it was meant to be. yosemite will become the true introduction to our sport it is meant to be, realizing its potential in a far better way than it is now, and guides and climbing instructors will have proper work throughout the summer, charging competitive fees for this service from which the climbing clientele will benefit greatly.
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utahman912
Social climber
SLC, UT
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Nobody is talking about the victims of dropping the cables... guys like this:
Mr. Half Dome
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BBA
climber
OF
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"This cable route was constructed in 1919 by the Sierra Club for visitors without technical rock climbing ability." - NPS
The idea was to get people behind the parks and the club for conservation. The NPS was formed in 1916 and there was hardly anyone around visiting the mountains.
Maybe it's time for the Sierra Club to figure something out for a park problem they created.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
SoCal
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^^^^ Yes, only official Sierra Club "h" rated guides may take groups up the cables.
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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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there are lots of parks and backcountry where that is still possible. Even in YNP I suspect.
I've backpacked for days in Yosemite and seen no one. Sure didn't see any tough climbers out there on those beautiful domes at Benson Lake.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 7, 2011 - 12:12pm PT
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Cragman, I couldn't agree more with you that public lands belong to all of us, not just climbers. The NP mandate is to preserve the environment in as pristine a state as possible. This is different from the mandates for BLM or National Forest land.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Leave the cables.
1) It's a great experience for non-technical families.
2) They're historic.
3) They're awesome.
4) Nobody is bothering me on the other side.
5) Tourons have food, water and weed when you top out and you're a hero.
6) Tourist chicks dig climbers. Lots of ugly stinky guys have gotten laid.
7) I need a handy way down.
8) They're still awesome.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 7, 2011 - 12:21pm PT
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I think the visual issue is important. I also think the NPS is setting themselves up for a potential lawsuit. Tha cables entice many, many people unto terrain they are not prepared for experientially or physically.
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tarek
climber
berkeley
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I agree with others who say "let them stay." Werner--that would be fitting.
(Greg Barnes--good point.)
The cables are a climbing route that give thousands of people an experience they cherish. The same experience many of us climbers seemingly require to live. Except that we hang our asses out a bit more.
There are ways to permit the hike without charging and having phone reservation crap either. People could be encouraged to get up pre-dawn to have more time on the route, etc. It's all been hashed over in the other thread. I like the idea of having the permits be tokens at the base of the cables. When they run out, you'd have to wait for someone to come down and hand one to you.
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