Rescue

On the morning of May 23rd, Yosemite Valley rangers received a report of an injured climber at the base of Half Dome. Al Grahn, 59, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, had taken a 25-foot leader fall the previous evening while climbing the fifth pitch of the Regular Route on the northwest face of the dome. His two partners lowered him to the base of the wall, where the group spent the night. In the morning, when it was clear to Grahn's partners that they would not be able to get him out on their own, they contacted friends in the Valley via family band radio and asked them to request assistance.

The rescue was accomplished using the park's Bell 205 contract helicopter to rappel in a park medic to assess the patient. A Navy rescue helicopter from NAS Lemoore was then brought in to hoist the patient and rescuer from the scene. Grahn was treated at the Yosemite Medical Clinic for fractured ribs, a sprained ankle and superficial head wounds.