A 20-YEAR-OLD college student plunged to her death as she hiked a Yosemite trail with her dad.
Grace Rohloff’s heartbreaking final words have been shared after she encountered treacherous weather on the Half Dome summit in California.
Her father Jonathan Rohloff said Grace, an Arizona State University student, slipped as they descended down the cliff’s cables, according to SF Gate.
The pair, who were experienced hikers, said they travelled to California after they got a permit to hike the summit on July 11.
Her father said they had been warned about the possibility of rain by a ranger when they started the hike on July 13.
Jonathan said the weather was perfect when they arrived at the bottom of Half Dome’s cables around four hours into the hike.
He explained that the weather held well as they reached the top of the summit but then noticed clouds above.
“A black cloud was rolling in like gangbusters,” he told SF Gate.
“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.’”
He explained they started to descend but were held up behind less experienced hikers who were going down slower.
The father said they did not want to pass the slower hikers in fear of seeming impolite but they were later stuck in a rainstorm.
He explained that the granite had become slick and Grace was worried as she lost grip in her new shoes.
Jonathan shared her last words before she fell 200 feet down the Half Dome.
“Dad, my shoes are so slippery,” he recalled his daughter saying.
“OK, let’s do one step at a time,” Jonathan recalled saying in response.
He said Grace plummeted when they were three-quarters of the way down the famous cables.
“She just slid off to the side, right by me, down the mountain,” he said.
“It happened so fast. I tried to reach my hand up, but she was already gone.”
He explained that he quickly tried to descend but called 911 when he realized that he could not make it in time.
It happened so fast. I tried to reach my hand up, but she was already gone.”
Jonathan Rohloff
Jonathan added that he then prayed and had other hikers join him.
He added that the coroner later told him that Grace died following a severe head fracture, possibly from the extreme fall.
“That was at least comforting. If she was gone, that she didn’t have to suffer,” he said.
The father added that one of the park rangers, Shawna Daly, had waited with him for three hours for a rescue helicopter.
He added that the extreme weather got worse as it started to chuck ping pong-ball sized hailstones.
