I like that they are trying to get away from the "logjam" on the cables that everyone agrees is a safety hazzard.
the cables are THE safety hazard. The number of people on it just makes it more likely to cause accidents.
What I do not comprehend is that people willingly hike up this thing without a harness and carabiners to clip into the cables. Just a pair of rotten gloves to hang on to. WTF? When you make it too easy to go up there, you will have people act carelessly. yes, you can probably do it hundreds of times and nothing will happen, but it's just a matter of time and somebdoy will get dizzy, slip, etc...
here is how it's done safely - we did this hike a long time before they made it illegal to camp up there. Doing this at night, with gear and safety harness was actually pretty cool:
Thing is, as long as people see dozens of others act carelessly because the cables allow it, they will not think this through properly. Peer pressure. Few will ask themselves: What if you faint for whatever crazy altitude related reason? A pair of gloves and your tingling hands won't hold you when the old
vasovagal syncope sets in... (fancy world - learned that from my daughter's doc after she's done that a few times on the trails)
The
tours on Sydney's Harbor Bridge come to mind - seems like a no-brainer for an insurance company to demand that everyone use a harness. Why one would do Half Dome without any such precaution, I don't understand. the cable is already there! And no, it doesn't slow you down even if there's a lot of traffic. uphill clip on right, downhill clip on the other side. Maybe they should rename this route after Darwin.
