College student falls to her death moments after summiting Yosemite’s Half Dome with her dad

PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) - A father in Arizona is grieving after his daughter died while the two were hiking Half Dome at Yosemite National Park.

Jonathan Rohloff and his daughter, 20-year-old Grace Rohloff were completing the iconic hike on July 13 when Grace slipped and fell to her death.

Jonathan said they were nearly done with their descent when it started raining, causing the trail to get slick very quickly and resulting in Grace falling about 200 feet.

“Grace was blessed,” he said. “She was an incredibly intelligent child. She was a great athlete, and she made everybody feel special.”

Jonathan said Grace always wanted to hike Half Dome and had applied for a permit through a lottery.

“She was on cloud nine just talking about it; it was one of her bucket list things that she wanted to do,” he said.

She found out she won a slot, and two days later, the two of them set out on their trip, not realizing it would end in tragedy.

Grace was a student at Arizona State University and an experienced hiker, having hiked the Grand Canyon multiple times. It was an activity she and her dad enjoyed doing together.

“She said, ‘Dad, it is showing 65 and cloudy, so it is perfect hiking weather,’” he said.

A ranger told them there was a chance for storms in the afternoon. So Jonathan said they set out early and made it to the top.

“We were up there about 15 minutes, and, you know, I heard a huge thunderclap from behind me, and I looked around, and I saw some dark clouds rolling in quick, and I thought, ‘We need to get down, we need to get down quick,’” he said.

Not long after, it started pouring rain as they were hiking down.

“I was counting the wooden planks on the way down because it was so slippery, and I telling her, ‘We have 11 more wooden planks to go, Grace; we can make it,’” he said.

However, before they could make it to safety, Grace slipped off the side and fell down the rock face.

Johnathan said he could see his daughter the whole time and thought there was a chance she survived.

The rescue mission took three hours as first responders had to wait out the storm to get to her in a helicopter.

Johnathan said she died from a head fracture and was told she likely didn’t suffer.

“She was about 200-250 feet below me, and I was just yelling out to her like, ‘Grace, I am here! If you can hear me, I am here! I am not going to leave you. I love you,’” he said.

Now, Johnathan is fighting for the park to improve safety measures, so another person doesn’t lose their life doing what they love.

“Adventurous doesn’t have to mean dangerous,” he said.

At least six people have died in the past two decades during wet conditions on Half Dome.

Yosemite National Park has not responded to KPHO’s inquiries about the incident.

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