Hi. I will be in Yosemite for the first time this weekend, and I will be alone there of Friday; I wanted to hike the Half Dome.
Does anyone know the conditions now? Web cams are not very obvious but it looks snow free.

I'm going to wear climbing shoes for grip and turn back if wet.. but so far forecast looks good.
Would clipping to the cables (via harness) help at all when they are down? I imagine without the poles, you'd tumble all the way to the bottom of the cables if you slip, but at least you won't fly off.

sershe2 wrote:Hi. I will be in Yosemite for the first time this weekend, and I will be alone there of Friday; I wanted to hike the Half Dome.
Does anyone know the conditions now? Web cams are not very obvious but it looks snow free.

I'm going to wear climbing shoes for grip and turn back if wet.. but so far forecast looks good.
Would clipping to the cables (via harness) help at all when they are down?

Conditions should be dry. By the way, here is the forecast: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.746039544000496&lon=-119.5329365719997&site=all&smap=1#.VRl78r3n_qA

People have done it this winter (and in the past), both with and without clipping to the cables. Discussion here:http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/half-dome-cables-t68817.html

I imagine without the poles, you'd tumble all the way to the bottom of the cables if you slip, but at least you won't fly off.

If you slip without clipping in, you could easily fall far beyond the bottom of cables. If you think you may slip, and you clip to the cables in a way that allows a long fall while solo as you described, it could easily be fatal. The thread above describes how you may be able to minimize risk if you are confident it is within your abilities.

Went up clouds rest yesterday, no snow at all around there. Pretty much completely dry. Met bunch of folks that went up half dome.

Are you gonna day hike or camp at little yosemite valley? It was spring break I guess and bunch of yahoos were playing loud music till 3 in the morning, might want to bring ear plugs.