Park dispatch received a 911 call from a climber at the base of the Northwest Face of Half Dome around 10 p.m. on September 4th. He told the dispatcher that he’d been in contact with a climber from another team who was experiencing a medical problem of unknown origin that caused him to suddenly collapse and that the climber was unable to either continue his ascent or rappel the route. The climber, Marco Feith, was stranded on a small ledge about 2,000 feet up the Northwest Face. Due to the late hour of the report, rescue operations were organized to begin early the next morning. A 17-person technical rescue team was flown to the top of Half Dome by the park’s contract helicopter. Ranger/park medic Eric Gabriel was lowered 500 feet down the overhanging face to the ledge. Gabriel and Feith were then hauled back to the top. This was repeated a second time so that ranger Aaron Smith could retrieve Feith’s partner. The lowering and raising operations took a total of less than three hours to complete. Feith was taken to the park clinic, treated for severe dehydration, and released later the same day.

Why don't people keep their feet on the ground?