Yosemite National Park's Half Dome, the park's tallest granite peak, is a giant lightning rod. In 1985, five hikers experienced this natural phenomenon with deadly consequences.
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "Lightning Peril on Yosemite's Half Dome", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/parks-and-nature-places/yosemite-half-dome-lightning/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [ { "url": "http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/yosemite-national-park/", "name": "More About Yosemite National Park, Facts, Pictures & Map" }, { "url": "http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/classic-yosemite-photos/#/yosemite-man-cliff_18151_600x450.jpg", "name": "Classic Half Dome Pictures" } ] }, "credit": "National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/yosemite-half-dome-lightning.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/yosemite-half-dome-lightning/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/transcode/0/615/346/?url=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/media/yosemite-half-dome-lightning/yosemite-half-dome-lightning_480x360.jpg", "transcript": "One of the most familiar images of Yosemite National Park\u2026 is Half Dome, the park\u2019s tallest granite peak--- at nearly 5,000 feet.
It\u2019s popular with hikers, and while it is a 10-hour trek, and not for the meek, a climb here requires no special expertise.
And while thousands may have made the trek with nothing but some sore leg muscles to show for it, clear warnings are posted that a climb here could be deadly, because Half Dome is a gigantic natural lightning rod.
On July 27th, 1985, five men set out to climb Half Dome.
Adrian Esteban was one of the hikers.
ADRIAN ESTABAN: \u201cIt was predominantly a blue sky with just one little cloud way off in the background. We\u2019re hiking along and we get about to the half way point and we noticed the cloud was getting closer into the valley and now it\u2019s getting darker and darker.\u201d
But he says the excitement of the storm actually drove them to try to finish their goal.
A single thunderstorm can contain more energy than ten atomic bombs.
And lightning strikes, on average, killed more than 40 people each year in the United States between 2000 and 2009.
By 6pm, despite the storm, Adrian Esteban and his friends reach the summit.
Their showdown with Yosemite seems to have gone their way.
But the storm is just beginning to slam into Half Dome. Escape is impossible.
Desperate, they seek shelter in a rock enclosure, but it\u2019s too late.
ADRIAN ESTABAN: \u201cI felt my skin tingling. I felt like my hair was standing on end. And that\u2019s when the lightning bolts hit.\u201d
The summit took a direct hit.
Millions of volts of electricity arc over the wet stone surface\u2014into the rock enclosure.
The lightning strike kills two of Adrian\u2019s friends.
Two others suffer massive internal injuries along with third degree burns, and they take years to heal.
Adrian was in motion when the lightning struck. Because little of his body was in contact with the rock, he did not ground the lightning\u2019s electrical charge, and he escaped with minor injuries.
ADRIAN ESTABAN: \u201cAnd I just want to impress on people the dangers of nature, how strong, how unpredictable it can be.\u201d
A hike on Half Dome can be an exhilarating experience for those who decide to make the trip.
But, it is important to respect nature, and like the caution signs warn: don\u2019t climb this granite peak if a thunderstorm is anywhere in the horizon.
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