YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, California (AP) – Two skiers sailed a thin layer of snow without any margin of error down the steep shoulder of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park and suddenly alternated and fell back into the valley in an extraordinarily daring performance.
Jason Torlano, 45, and Zach Milligan, 40, completed the downhill Sunday in five hours by carefully cutting their crossroads and using ropes to cover several sections of bare rock, known as the ‘death plates’, under the iconic face. of Half Dome, rapping, the Fresno Bee reported Thursday.
“If you fall left or right, you are definitely dead,” said JT Holmes, a professional freestyle skier who is a friend of Torlano. “If you fall in the middle, you have a small chance of not falling to your death, but it might be a chance.”
It is believed that snowboarder Jim Zellers was the first to descend the upper part of 243 meters (243 meters) on the shoulder of the dome in 2000. But it is not known if anyone tried the entire 1,463 meters downhill. from peak to valley.
Torlano said he has dreamed of skiing on the dome since his family moved to Yosemite when he was 5 years old.
He first climbs Half Dome as a youngster and clings to the same cables that tens of thousands of visitors do each year to climb the last steep slope up the rounded side of the polished granite feature. He progressed to become one of an elite group of climbers to increase the granite level with ropes only to catch his fall at least a dozen times. He later becomes a ranger in the park.
“It’s always been there,” Torlano told the San Francisco Chronicle.. “I pull myself as far as I can remember through Half Dome.”
After serving in the U.S. Army for a time, he moved with his wife and children to a community near Yosemite. He specializes in using ropes to work in large and dangerous environments.
He said he had been trying to ski down at Half Dome for the past three years, but turned it off after finding unsuitable snow. This year, Yosemite storm filled in early February with fresh powder, including about 7 to 3 inches of snow on the crest of Half Dome.
He rents a friend’s small plane on Feb. 19 to study the snow conditions and possible route before calling Milligan, a rock climber, to join him.
Milligan said he initially only intended to film Torlano skis, but decided to make his own descent by sliding down skis carefully. He said things quickly became dangerous when he shot over a section of one of the cables and lost control before using an ice ax to stop his slide and straighten himself.
“I was just trying to stay in control and stay alive,” Milligan said. “You’re on the backbone and you do not have much room for error.”