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Full interview: ASU student remembered by father after hiking death
Grace Rohloff, 20, an experienced hiker and Arizona State University student, died on July 13, during a fall while hiking Yosemite National Park's Half Dome. Rohloff was hiking with her father, Jonathan Rohloff. He speaks with FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas about his daughter's legacy and impact on this world.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - A bucket-list climb to the top of Yosemite National Park’s Half Dome turned to tragedy for a young Arizona woman who fell to her death during a descent forced by a sudden storm that pounded the iconic granite monolith this month.
Grace Rohloff, 20, an experienced hiker and Arizona State University student, died on July 13, the news organization SFGATE reported Tuesday.
Rohloff was hiking with her father, Jonathan Rohloff, after securing one of the limited daily permits required to climb Half Dome and making the drive from Phoenix to Yosemite.
Half Dome rises to 8,800 feet above sea level. The hike is a 16-mile round trip with an elevation gain of 4,800 feet. The last 400 feet of the climb is done with the help of cables supported by metal posts that essentially act as handrails.
Jonathan Rohloff said a ranger told them storms were in the forecast, and they did see clouds at times. But the sky was clear when they reached the cables, and atop the summit there were panoramic views — until thunder boomed.
"A black cloud was rolling in like gangbusters," Jonathan Rohloff said. "I was like, ‘We have got to get down now, because we don’t want to be up here with any rain.’ It rolled in literally out of nowhere."
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The father and daughter tried to descend through the cable section ahead of the rain, but they were slowed by people ahead of them. Heavy rain turned the rock very slick, and Grace’s feet suddenly went out from under her.
"She just slid off to the side, right by me, down the mountain," Jonathan Rohloff said. "It happened so fast. I tried to reach my hand up, but she was already gone."
She appeared to have fallen as much as 300 feet. When her father got to the bottom of the cables, he looked over the edge and realized it was too steep to reach her, but he kept calling out and praying.
Rescue climbers retrieved her body, and her father would later learn from the coroner that Grace had suffered a severe head fracture and likely died during the fall.
"Grace was such a beautiful soul," her father said. "She deserves to have her story told."
At least six people have died since 2006 after falling during wet conditions on Half Dome, SFGATE reported.
‘It was just sheer terror’
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Dad recalls his daughter's tragic fall at Yosemite
"It's hard waking up each morning knowing that Grace isn't here," her father said.
Ever since Grace was a little girl, she had bonded with her father over their love for hiking.
"She used to come in the backpack along with me, and she was more interested in the snacks at that point in time," he remembered.
Her passion for hiking only grew as she got older.
"Grace hiked the full Bright Angel's Trail, all the way to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon by the time she was 13 years old," he said.
At 20, she was selected to hike Half Dome with her dad.
"She was texting me on Thursday night, 'Dad, we got drawn. I'm so excited. Can't wait to go. We did it. We finally get to go and do this,'" Jonathan recalled.
The trip ended tragically.
"She was at the top … She shared with me that she loved me and how she was so grateful to do that. It wasn't longer we heard that thunderclap, and so we knew. I was like, 'Grace, we got to get down the mountain. We don't want any rain,'" she said.
Dark clouds intensified over Half Dome, and it began to pour, making the granite slick and dangerous. On the way down, Grace slipped on the cables.
"It was just sheer terror, and I was telling her, 'stop, stop, stop,' because you see your daughter start to fall, and you hope that, like anything, that she can stop on anything versus going down," he said.
He tried to save her.
"I thought I might be able to get to her, so I just flew down those cables. I threw a little bit of caution to the wind, looking back on it, to try to get to her. Unfortunately, i got down to the bottom of the cables and it was pretty steep cliffs. I couldn't make it down to her, but I continued to yell out to her and let her know, 'Hey, I'm here. I love you. Hear my voice. I'm not going to leave you," Jonathan said.
Grace's father is sharing his daughter's story not only to keep her memory alive, but to also advocate for a safer cable system at Half Dome. He says he doesn't want any other hiker's life to end the same way.