DEATH ON THE DOME is the title of a recent article in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, based on a multimedia search incl from YNP and AAC.
They considered it a non-technical route when the cable were up, but technical climber deaths anywhere on the Dome and deaths of anyone when the cables were down were both considered as a technical route.
31 deaths over 85 years
11 climbers (incl two technical climbers who made it up the Face only to die on the "easy" descent when the cables were down.
8 suicides ( 2nd leading cause of deaths in ALL Fed Parks)
5 cables-up related falls by hikers
5 hikers -not on cable section, but falling/lightning/medical
2 base jumpers
They concluded that cable falls were"disproportionately featured in public media" despite overcrowding.
I would add that one could argue that by recently requiring a permit and thereby reducing the increasingly crowded cable population that the death rate was proactively avoided, but no proof. Of course, the ambiance is better even if safety is not
Harvey
