'So Slippery': Girl Plunges 200 feet To Death in California, Father Recalls Her Last Words

California (US): Moments before falling 200 feet off to her death from a hiking point in California, the girl had told her father that shoes she was wearing were becoming “slippery”.

Her heartbroken father, Jonathan Rohloff revealed that he had accompanied her daughter, Grace Rohloff (20), to a 16-mile round-trip hike to the park’s behemoth rock formation, Half Dome at Yosemite National Park on July 13.

Dad My Shoes Are Slippery 

The Arizona State University student purchased new hiking shoes to ensure she had appropriate footwear for the 16-mile hike. However, as the rain persisted, she soon discovered an issue when she was about three-quarters of the way down the 4,800-foot rock formation.

“Dad, my shoes are so slippery,” Jonathan Rohloff recalled his daughter saying.The father and daughter’s descent was brought to a standstill when they chose not to pass some inexperienced hikers trying to reach the bottom.

Below her on the trail, her father sought to reassure his daughter, encouraging her to approach the descent "one step at a time."

However, Rohloff lost her footing and slid right past her horrified father.

‘She Was Gone’

“She just slid off to the side, right by me, down the mountain,” Rohloff said while adding that “it happened so fast. I tried to reach my hand up, but she was already gone.”

Three agonizing hours passed before a rescue helicopter reached the Arizona State University student, only to find that she had not survived the fall. 

Mariposa County coroner’s office later disclosed that Rohloff's cause of death was a head fracture. 

Jonathan Rohloff mentioned that it was "comforting" to hear from the coroner that his daughter likely passed away during the fall.

Since 2006, six individuals, including Grace, have tragically lost their lives due to slippery conditions on Half Dome following rainstorms. Jonathan advocates for enhanced safety measures, such as installing a second set of cables and wooden planks to improve footing. He has sworn off hiking this perilous route himself but remains hopeful that these improvements will prevent.