Two Dudes Skied Half Dome to Valley Floor

Two Dudes Skied Half Dome to Valley Floor


On Sunday, even though you were undertaking anything else, two fellas who are living around Yosemite Valley, Jason Torlano and Zach Milligan skied the legendary shoulder of Fifty percent Dome, continuing all the way to the valley flooring beneath, descending hundreds of feet till they reached the frozen shores of Mirror Lake. This is the to start with time that is ever been done. At the very least the moment in advance of, Half Dome alone experienced been skied, but not all the way to the valley’s base.

Torlano is a longtime initially decenter of ski strains all over Yosemite. He is a badass. A skier with the expertise to be “swimming in sponsorships,” according to buddy and pro adventure skier JT Holmes, Torlano is a former Yosemite park ranger, a US Army vet, and a person who spends large chunks of time as a volunteer medic overseas with the No cost Burma Rangers. He’d been scouting a 50 % Dome line for several years, last but not least choosing this weekend that the snow would permit it.

Milligan is not a skier with the expertise to be swimming in sponsorships in actuality, he doesn’t take into account himself a skier at all. He’s largely a climber who assumed it would be neat to accompany Torlando, probably snap some pictures of him from Half Dome’s peak, but not ski down himself. Possibly. Or probably he would.

Two Dudes Skied Half Dome to Valley Floor

Milligan gingerly makes his way down. Impression: Screenshot from Fresno Bee online video embed.

The two hiked to the base of 50 % Dome on Saturday, woke at dawn on Sunday, trudged to the top of the dome and appeared down. Torlano experienced tried this ahead of, abandoning the ski for the reason that of poor snow. Milligan clicked into his skis and figured, what the hell. He edged down and virtually tumbled to his demise.

Milligan drifted into the place the cables are bolted for climbing the peak through summertime months. He tripped about some piece of the cable infrastructure and went down, frantically stabbing at the mountain with an axe to achieve obtain. “I was capable to get my ice axe in and not die,” he instructed the Fresno Bee.

Soon after that, Milligan sideslipped his way down even though Torlano soar-turned.

At the “death slabs,” big hunks of granite climbers use to access the top rated with no cables, the pair had to rappel down. The moment previous the slabs, it was reasonably easy skiing to Mirror Lake, in which they absolutely encountered awestruck working day hikers.

“I just couldn’t think we pulled it off,” Torlano reported.

For far more, such as a video clip, check out out the Fresno Bee’s coverage, right here.

Top rated photograph: Mathilda Khoo/Unsplash





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