In short
A two-part dramatization of the July 27, 1985 Half Dome lightning strike in Yosemite National Park, focusing on how five hikers shelter in a summit granite cave, get struck, and how survivors are treated and evacuated overnight.
Guests (named in this episode)
No podcast “guests” appear; it’s a narrative with real-world roles. Named people include hikers and responders: Adrian Esteban (survived with minor burns; later Marines Reserves, business degree), Bob Frith (died after being struck and falling), Tom Rice (survived severe burns; hospitalized for months; later returned to Half Dome), Bruce Weiner (survived severe burns; kidney failure; later veterinarian), Brian Jordan (16, died), plus EMTs Mike Hogue and Linda Crozier (and Linda’s brother Dan; other EMT hikers Bill Pippi and Paul), Park Search and Rescue ranger Colin Campbell, and helicopter pilot Al Major with paramedic Bill Bryant.
Key claims
Lightning can travel through wet rock and strike multiple people in a cave; immediate warming and shock prevention were crucial; helicopter evacuation depended on moonlight timing.
Notable examples
Bob’s seizure and fall over the precipice; Tom’s pinned leg and later fasciotomy; Linda’s bullhorn flashlight SOS with “Park Search and Rescue”; helicopter landing using a flashlight ring; later medical outcomes (kidney loss, skin grafts, debridement).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Lightning Strike
0:16 to 5:59
Experience the terrifying moment five hikers are struck by lightning.
“Adrian Esteban drags his wounded body along the floor of the granite cave on top of Half Dome.”
The Lightning Strike
6:05 to 6:19
Experience the terrifying moment five hikers are struck by lightning.
“states in D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain who are 21 and older.”
Descent into Chaos
6:19 to 13:21
Hear the harrowing aftermath as survivors cope with their injuries and fear.
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Rescue on the Horizon
13:21 to 14:00
Witness the unexpected arrival of an EMT in a moment of hope.
“Adrian is grateful that his friend is still alive, but at the same time, he feels helpless, paralyzed with fear.”
Rescue Attempts in the Cave
14:00 to 20:40
Adrian and Mike attempt to rescue their injured friends after the lightning strike.
“There's a hiker appearing over the crest where the cables are.”
Linda Joins the Rescue Effort
20:40 to 24:55
Linda climbs Half Dome to provide help after learning about the lightning strike.
“The temperature's already dropping, and she feels a chill.”
Mike's Urgent Descent
25:54 to 28:01
Mike descends Half Dome urgently seeking help for the injured hikers.
“Mike Hogue bounds down the endless steps of Subdome, propelled as much by urgency as by gravity.”
Desperation in the Dark
28:01 to 31:04
Bruce and his friends grapple with the aftermath of the lightning strike.
“They need to keep warm and they can't fall asleep.”
The Quest for Help
31:05 to 33:34
Mike and Dan rush to find help while Linda tends to the injured.
“Mike Hogue is so jacked up on adrenaline that he feels like he could run forever.”
Communicating with Rescue
33:35 to 36:39
Linda and Paul establish communication with search and rescue.
“who arrived on the summit about an hour ago.”
Show all 15 chapters
Help Arrives at Last
36:40 to 39:36
Park rangers arrive to assist the injured climbers.
“They just need to hold out a little bit longer.”
The Helicopter Mission
39:37 to 42:00
The helicopter pilot prepares for a challenging rescue mission.
“He taps his walkie-talkie, which is hissing with static.”
Helicopter Rescue Operations
42:00 to 46:20
Learn about the challenges and urgency during the helicopter rescue mission on Half Dome.
“That should leave him just enough time, provided everything else works out.”
The Guilt of Survival
46:20 to 48:20
Explore Adrian's emotional struggles and survivor's guilt after the tragedy.
“Adrian Esteban knocks softly on the open door of Tom Rice's hospital room at the UC Davis Medical Center.”
Aftermath and Recovery
48:20 to 50:40
Understand the medical consequences and long-term impacts on the survivors of the lightning strike.
“a park helicopter retrieved the bodies of Brian Jordan, still at the peak, and Bob Frith, whose remains were found 2 ,000 feet below the precipice.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Against the Odds ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. A listener note, Against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented. But everything is based on research.
0:25Adrian Esteban drags his wounded body along the floor of the granite cave on top of Half Dome. His legs aren't working. The only way to move is to prop himself up on his forearms and crawl. His mind is spinning, his heart pounding. He looks around for his fellow hikers who sheltered here with him, but his vision is blurry. Still, he knows they're there. He can hear their moans above the rumbles of thunder and pounding of rain. The smell of something like burning sulfur fills his nose. It's just after 6.30pm on Saturday, July 27th, 1985. Seconds ago, Adrian and his friend Bob Frith were watching the storm from just outside this tiny cave.
1:17They were on the king's chair, a slab of rock perched over the edge of a cliff, thousands of feet above the valley floor. Then Adrian turned to go back into the cave. And that's when everything exploded. His body slammed into a rock wall, pinned there by some unseen force. His arm sizzled, as if it had been shoved into a furnace. The pain was excruciating. Then he was released from the wall and fell into a heap on the ground. He tried to get up, but couldn't move his legs. He was sure he was dying, and he realized what had happened. He cried out in terror and in pain. Oh my god! Oh my god! We've been struck by lightning!
2:08Now he blinks hard a few times, and the scene inside the cave starts to take shape. Against one wall is Bruce Weiner. He's groaning in pain, but he's moving. Nearby, lying sideways and curled into a fetal position, is Adrian's best friend, Tom Rice. His body twitches, and Adrian can see deep scorch marks up and down his bare legs. Smoke rises from his flesh, like something out of a horror movie. Then, Adrian turns his head towards 16-year-old Brian Jordan. The boy is sitting with his back to the wall, his legs jutting out on the damp floor. Adrian can't see his face, because his chin has drooped onto his chest.
2:58Adrian looks closer and sees black burn marks seared into Brian's shirt. Tendrils of smoke drift upward from him. Two backpacks rest on either side of Brian, their metal frames leaning against the wall. And each backpack is shot through with a massive hole in the fabric, like a white-hot meteorite ripped through them. Adrian hears a gurgling sound from behind him, and he turns in the direction of the King's Chair. He crawls back toward the opening, and is horrified by what he sees. Bob Frith, who just seconds ago had been enjoying the view, is now thrashing around on the granite slab, perilously close to the edge.
3:44His eyes are open, but all Adrian can see of them are the wights. He's having some kind of seizure. Adrian drags himself back to the king's chair and reaches toward Bob, grabbing a hold of his waistband. But Adrian is weak, and his legs still won't cooperate. Bob thrashes harder, and Adrian yells desperately over his shoulder. Bruce, I need help! Bob's gonna fall! Bruce appears next to Adrian, and together the two men reach out, each grabbing one of Bob's arms. But Adrian sees that Bruce can't walk either. Neither of them can get any leverage. They clutch Bob's sweater and yank with all of their might, but Bob's body convulses again and he wriggles free from their grasp.
4:29Bruce screams at him. Bob, wake up! Wake up! A lightning flash illuminates Bob's face, and Adrian sees a black gash across his forehead. He realizes that's where the lightning struck Bob. Adrian is suddenly flooded with terror, convinced that the lightning is going to hit them all again. Instinctively, he lets go of Bob's arm, and to compensate, Bruce heaves backwards with all of his might, but just then, another spasm rips through Bob's body, and he begins sliding over the edge. Bruce tries to hang on, but Bob's dead weight is dragging him over, and then Bob Frith slips from Bruce's grasp and tumbles out of sight.
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6:42From Audible Originals, I'm Mike Corey, and this is Against the Odds.
6:56In the early evening on July 27th, 1985, a lightning storm passed over Half Dome in California's Yosemite National Park. Five hikers, who had ignored warnings about the danger of climbing Half Dome during a storm, took shelter in a small granite cave at the summit. They thought they were safe, but instead, a single bolt of lightning ripped through the cave, striking all five of them. After one hiker fell to his death over a precipice, the others were left to hope that the lightning wouldn't strike them again, and that someone would come to their aid before any more of them died. This is Episode 2, Survive the Night.
7:51Bruce Weiner presses his fists against his eyes, sobbing with grief. He can't believe his best friend Bob Frith is gone. He was just right here a second ago, but Bruce didn't have the strength to keep him from sliding off the edge and falling thousands of feet to his death. The loss is too much for Bruce to take.
8:18He looks out over the cliff, down into the darkness, as if half expecting to see Bob hanging there, waiting for a hand up. But it's just an abyss. No sign of his friend. A peal of thunder booms around him. Bruce turns around and pulls himself off the king's chair and back into the cave. What hits him first is the smell. An acrid, metallic stench. On the far side of the cave, Adrian Esteban is crouched on one elbow over Tom Rice, who's gagging. Adrian has a finger in Tom's mouth to ensure he doesn't choke on his vomit. Bruce wonders if Tom is gagging because of the smell, but then sees that Tom isn't even conscious.
9:08He's splayed out on the floor of the cave. eyes shut. One of his legs is pinned awkwardly under a piece of granite that must have dislodged during the lightning strike. Bruce realizes that the smell is coming from Tom's legs. They're split open, and Bruce has a sickening image of a hot dog roasting over a charcoal fire, the meat bursting through its skin. Bruce gags and looks away, but his eyes fall on Brian Jordan. He hasn't moved an inch since he mumbled the words, We've got to get out of here. His skin is turning blue. Bruce realizes the teenager is probably dead. He wonders how this could be happening.
9:54Just minutes ago, they were all laughing and celebrating their achievement of reaching Half Dome Summit. Then, Bruce hears something odd. A kind of electric crackling. He looks at Adrian, who starts crawling toward the narrow cave exit. His eyes are wide with panic. Bruce, we gotta get the hell out of here! We're gonna get struck again! Bruce struggles to his feet, but his legs give out under him. They're still weak from the strike. Adrian vaults past him, out of the cave and onto the exposed granite, belly crawling the whole way. Flashes of lightning illuminate him as he puts distance between himself and the cave.
10:34Bruce considers crawling after him, but then thinks the better of it. Why does Adrian think he's safer outside of the cave? With no trees or bushes on the peak, Adrian is like a lightning rod. Bruce decides to stay where he is. After all, don't they say that lightning never strikes the same place twice? Then there's an eruption. Blinding light. A terrible ear-splitting crash. Bruce sees the strangest thing. His own body. Convulsing. It's as if he's floating above it. It's almost peaceful, but a part of him knows that this is bad. He's dying. He's not sure how it happens, but a second later, he's inside his body again, lying on the cave floor.
11:25He looks down at himself and sees that one of his hiking boots has been blown clean off. A terrible pain rips through his chest, and all he wants is to return to that out-of-body feeling of peace. Should he crawl back to the king's chair and hurl himself off the cliff? If he's going to die anyway, maybe he should just make it quick.
11:54Adrian Esteban folds himself into a fetal position, alone on the exposed peak of Half Dome. He's made it about 150 feet from the cave, and he's tucked into a small granite depression, trying to keep himself as low as possible on the treeless face of the mountain. He is shaking in terror. When Adrian heard that crackling sound, he was convinced that the lightning was going to strike the cave again. All that water pooling on the cave floor, he realizes, was nothing but a conductor for the lightning. A terrible flash and boom erupts across the summit. Adrian feels a mild shock pass through him, but this one is faint.
12:40When it passes, he is flooded with relief. He's still alive. But did this second strike hit the cave again? From where he's curled up, it's impossible to tell. He wonders if Bruce and Tom are still alive, and Brian Jordan. That poor kid. He wishes he could have gotten them all out of the cave too. But in his weakened state, it was all he could do just to save himself. His legs are starting to regain some feeling. He bends his knees, grateful that his legs are listening to his brain. Help! Help! Then he hears cries coming from the direction of the cave. It's Bruce's voice. Adrian is grateful that his friend is still alive, but at the same time, he feels helpless, paralyzed with fear.
13:33Even now that his legs are working, the thought of going back into that cave is more than he can bear. The setting sun is playing hide-and-seek behind the scattering clouds. Orange light gleams off the wet granite. Adrian can see that the storm is moving past them. Hopefully, that means no more lightning. He turns his head toward the cables that lead down the mountain. He pulls himself into a sitting position and then can't believe his eyes. There's a hiker appearing over the crest where the cables are. Adrian recognizes him. It's one of the hikers that gave them dirty looks for skinny dipping earlier.
14:16That feels so long ago now, when everyone was smiling and everyone was alive. From his sitting position, Adrian waves both arms above his head and yells, Over here! Over here! Over here! The man seems wary at first, but when Adrian explains what happened, he comes closer and takes a knee next to him. Okay, can you take me to your friends? I'm an EMT. Maybe I can help. Adrian takes the hiker's outstretched hand and stands up. He's unsteady, but he's vertical. He takes a tentative step. His movement has returned. He points toward the cave, where Bruce's cries are still audible above the weakening rain.
15:01You have to help them. Please. They start making their way across the granite to the cave. And after that last lightning strike, Adrian has no idea if even more of his friends are dead.
15:23Mike Hogue makes his way cautiously toward the cave, the wounded man hobbling next to him. Mike and his four hiking companions were waiting out the storm under a tarp further down the mountain. But as the clouds started to move past the peak, he decided to make a final dash up the cables so he could get a sunset photo, even though the rain hadn't quite stopped. That's when he saw one of the obnoxious dudes they passed on the trail earlier, waving to him from a small depression on the summit. Now, as he gets closer to the cave opening, Mike can hear moans. He squeezes into the cave, and the smell of burnt hair fills his nostrils.
16:08He sees two men, both breathing but lying on the cave floor. A third person, what looks like a teenage boy, is motionless, slumped against a wall. Mike goes to him first and presses two fingers on the young man's neck. No pulse. The boy is dead. He goes to one of the men on the floor of the cave. He's conscious and says his name is Bruce. One boot has been blown clean off his foot, and the fabric of his shirt is charred and looks like it's melted onto his skin. Smoke rises from his body. His breath is coming in short, hard gasps. I can't. I can't move. Mike gives Bruce's leg a squeeze and asks him if he can feel it.
17:00Bruce nods. That rules out paralysis, Mike thinks. But he's starting to feel overwhelmed. Sure, he's an EMT, but barely. He'd been considering more advanced EMT training in order to become a paramedic. And damn, he wishes he had that training now. Still, he needs to help these survivors. He goes to the other man, who's writhing in pain. Even in the dim light of the cave, Mike can see how pale the man's face is, and his legs are terribly burned. One is stuck beneath a heavy piece of granite. Mike kneels next to him. Hey, I'm Mike. I'm gonna get you some help, okay? What's your name? Tom. My leg...
17:48my leg's killing me. Could you get this rock off? Mike knows that if Tom is complaining about the pain, that it's a good sign. It means he didn't suffer any spinal injury. Mike starts to lift the rock off Tom's leg, but right then Tom starts screaming. Adrian! Get your ass in here and help us! I can't believe you just left us behind like that! The first man Mike met, Adrian, slinks into the cave. He's so upset that he's shaking. It's not my fault, Tom! If I'd stayed behind, the second strike would have killed me! I'm sorry! Mike can see that Adrian is starting to lose it. He motions to the rock on Tom's leg.
18:30Adrian, come on! It's not too late to help your friends here. Help me move this rock, okay?
18:39The two men free Tom's leg from under the rock. Mike looks around. The space is too cramped. Plus, they need to give the poor dead boy some space. He tells Adrian that they need to move both Bruce and Tom outside of the cave. First, they maneuver Bruce out of the cave onto a flat stretch of granite. Then, minding his burned legs, they bring Tom out too. Both men are shivering. It's almost dark now, and Mike knows the two wounded men are at risk from shock from their injuries and the falling temperatures. He ducks back into the cave and starts rifling through their backpacks. taking out anything that can be used to keep them warm.
19:23Jackets, shirts, and sleeping bags. When he brings the items out of the cave to where the men are laid out, he sees that they're squirming. The pain is starting to get to them. Mike drapes the spare clothing over them. Then he looks around, as if he might find instructions on what to do next somewhere on the horizon. Then he remembers that Linda, one of his hiking companions, is also an EMT. He needs her help.
20:03Linda Crozier grips the cables and pulls herself up another few feet of Half Dome. It's almost 8pm, and she wants to get to the top in time to get a few photos before the sun sets. Her friend Mike Hogue left for the summit about a half hour earlier. Linda was still a little freaked out by the storm, so she decided to wait until the last of it had passed. Then she took off on her own. Halfway up the cables, she stops to catch her breath. She's in good shape, but this ascent is brutal. And with the face of the mountain so slick from rain, she doesn't want to lose her footing. The temperature's already dropping, and she feels a chill.
20:47She's wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt, with a sweatshirt tied around her waist. She gets her camera out and points it up the mountain, then sees Mike Hogue appear in the viewfinder. He's looking right in her direction and waving urgently. She lowers the camera and resumes her climb. In a few seconds, she can hear him. Linda! We need you! Lightning struck some hikers up here! All those warnings, the signs, and now it's happened. She hauls herself up the final 100 feet and, leaving the cables behind, follows Mike across the expanse of granite. She sees another hiker she recognizes from earlier in the day standing over two men, who are shivering on the ground.
21:33Mike's words come out in a jumble of adrenaline. He explains that the lightning has left two hikers dead and three others injured, and he needs her help. Together, Linda and Mike assess their patience. Bruce, Tom, and Adrian. Adrian is in the best shape. He can walk, and except for some burn marks on his hip, knee, and elbow, where the lightning must have passed, he seems physically okay. Emotionally, though, he is a mess. He needs a distraction, she thinks, and asks him to talk with his friends as she and Mike look them over. Though both Bruce and Tom are conscious, their pulses are weak. Linda knows their blood pressure is probably dangerously low, a sign of shock, and Tom's legs are badly burnt.
22:26Fortunately, he's not bleeding. The heat from the lightning tore his legs apart and cauterized the wounds, all at the same time. Bruce has similar burn marks on his legs and lower back, though not quite as severe as Tom's. She can't believe these two men survived. She can literally see where the bolt of lightning entered their bodies and where it exited. She glances at Mike and motions to a spot a few feet away where they can talk quietly. This is bad. I don't think we can carry them down. It's much too steep. Even if we could get them down the cables, I don't think that they'd survive the whole hike.
23:07Mike nods. Yeah, yeah, you're right. I can go get help. The ranger station is, what, four miles down the mountain? And it's manned 24-7. Linda pauses. Mike is a long-distance runner, so she has no doubt that he can make it in record time. She looks back at the three injured men, Adrian kneeling over Tom while Bruce squirms uncomfortably. Can she manage this alone? Just then, two more hikers appear at the top of the cables. They make their way toward the group and introduce themselves. And Linda can't believe it. They're also EMTs. Linda looks at Mike. Okay, I think I have all the help here I need.
23:53Do you think you can make it to the ranger station in the dark? Mike nods. He looks eager to go. And honestly, Linda can't blame him. Both of them may be EMTs, but neither of them have seen anything like this. Mike grabs his backpack and heads toward the cables. Linda watches him go, and in seconds, he's out of sight. Linda does some math. The ranger station is about four miles away, and it's mostly downhill. If Mike can make it there in 45 minutes or so, then maybe help will be here in a few hours? She and the other EMTs just need to keep their patients stable until then. The wind picks up, and Linda shivers.
24:37The temperature is dropping fast. She realizes that Bruce and Tom could go into shock at any moment. And then, they may not have a few hours.
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25:54Mike Hogue bounds down the endless steps of Subdome, propelled as much by urgency as by gravity. Since starting down the mountain 20 minutes ago, he's been keeping up a frantic clip in the fading light. But he knows he has to be careful too. Even though the storm has passed, the steps are still slick, and one wrong move could make him another casualty of Half Dome. He hears voices from somewhere just below him, laughing and carrying on. Then he's surprised to see a group of four hikers making their way up the steps in the gathering darkness. One of them addresses Mike as he goes to pass them. Whoa, buddy!
26:38What's the rush? Everything okay? Mike stops and quickly explains what happened on the summit. When he says that two people are dead and one of them is a teenager, the four hikers fall into a stunned silence. One of them is so upset he turns around and starts heading back down the mountain. Mike looks at the three remaining faces in the fading twilight. He swears that one of them looks just like the poor kid he'd seen slumped over dead in the cave. He wonders if he's seen ghosts. Without another word, the three hikers barrel past Mike, heading up the mountain. Mike watches them for a moment, then resumes his frantic descent.
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27:22If the wounded men on the top of Half Dome are going to survive, he needs to get help fast.
27:33I know, like, there's the shirt, it's just, it's just stuck in it. I'm not quite sure. Bruce Weiner squirms on the sleeping pad, his legs aching. He wraps the sleeping bag tighter around his body, shivering in the dark. Night has fallen and the temperature has dropped. Linda, the young EMT who's been helping Bruce and his two wounded friends, has said she's worried about him and Tom Rice going into shock. They need to keep warm and they can't fall asleep. That was key, she told them. If they fall asleep, they might never wake up. Bruce peers up at the sky as the first stars emerge. How did this all happen?
28:20He just moved to California, and this weekend was supposed to be about making new friends, with Yosemite as a majestic backdrop. Instead, his best friend Bob is dead, along with the teenage boy. Bruce looks around and sees the dark silhouettes of more hikers emerging at the top of the cables. He can't tell who they are, but Tom, who's lying next to him, seems to recognize them. A few seconds later, Bruce sees with a shudder that it's three of the hikers from their original group, and one of them is Brian Jordan's 16-year-old twin brother. Before Bruce even has time to consider how they're going to tell the young man his brother is dead, Tom is calling out to them.
29:10The kid is dead, and Bob fell over the edge. For a second, all three hikers stop. Bruce looks at Brian's twin brother. The young man's face goes ashen. One of the other hikers puts his arm around the teenager's shoulders and leads him away from the group, where he can begin to process the terrible news. Tom's words keep echoing in Bruce's head. He thinks about the families of both victims, about how they're going on with their lives right now, not realizing their loved ones are dead. Suddenly, Bruce feels an overwhelming urge to pee. He calls out to Linda, who goes and gets a plastic bag. She wants to collect his urine, she explains, so the doctors can test it later.
30:00Bruce takes the bag and rolls over onto his side, but try as he might, he can't urinate. He has no idea what's wrong, but the ache is growing worse, and he can't pee. Now he's convinced that he has internal injuries. Uh, uh, no, no, no, no. Oh, God, oh, God. He cries out, wailing in a panic. Then he hears Tom's voice, loud and sharp as ever. Get a hold of yourself, Bruce! You're gonna be okay! Bruce stops crying and throws the plastic bag aside in disgust. He zips up his shorts and lies back, squirming in discomfort and pain. Then Adrian Esteban comes over and kneels next to Bruce, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
30:47He speaks in a soothing voice. Hey, Bruce, Tom's right, you know? You're gonna be okay. I promise. Bruce feels himself relax a little, but he can't shake the feeling that he may have survived two lightning strikes on the summit of Half Dome, only to die overnight.
31:16Mike Hogue is so jacked up on adrenaline that he feels like he could run forever. It's now 9.30 p.m., and joining him on the run to the ranger station is Dan Crozier, Linda's brother. Dan had been waiting at the campsite, and when he heard of the news, he insisted on joining Mike. Now Mike sees it, a sign for the ranger station. He rounds a bend in the path and can see lights from a campfire. He almost cries out with relief when he sees two rangers near the fire. One is brushing his teeth, and the other is sitting on a log. Mike introduces himself and, between breaths, explains what occurred. One of the rangers, a tall, burly man named Colin Campbell, unsnaps his walkie-talkie from his belt and keys a button on it.
32:07He walks a few feet away and starts talking out of earshot. The other ranger gives Mike and Dan some water, which they gulp down greedily. Campbell returns a minute later and lays out the plan. He and his partner load up oxygen canisters, a foldable stretcher, ropes, and medical supplies. In under five minutes, each ranger has hoisted a huge backpack onto his back and they've set off up the mountain. Mike and Dan follow after the rangers, struggling to keep up. Mike has never felt so tired in his life, but he knows this night is far from over.
32:50Linda Crozier grabs Bruce Weiner's wrist to check his pulse again. It's still weak. For the past hour, she and the other EMTs have been taking their vital signs and making sure they still had feelings in their arms and legs. Although the men have complained of thirst, she's been wary to give them any water, worried they might vomit. Instead, she's given the men t-shirts soaked in water so their mouths don't dry out. She's also making sure Tom Rice keeps his head immobile, in case he suffered a head injury when the lightning knocked him unconscious. She looks at her watch, 9.30pm. She figures Mike must be close to the ranger station now.
33:31Hopefully, help will be on the way soon. She looks up from Tom Rice to see one of the other guys from his group, who arrived on the summit about an hour ago. A guy named Bill Pippi. He's been consoling the teenager whose twin brother is one of the dead. Okay, I finally calmed him down. Anything else I can do to help? Linda tries to think. She knows Bruce and Tom's friends are struggling to process their loss too. Keeping them busy will help them cope. Uh, if there's a camp stove around here, you could heat up some water for coffee or tea. I'm sure folks could use some caffeine. Bill goes off in search of a stove.
34:10and Linda turns her attention back to Bruce and Tom. She's not sure what else she can do for them at this point, besides try to keep them awake. They are still at risk of slipping into comas. Then it would just be a matter of time before they're dead too. Another hiker helping Linda is a guy from a different group named Paul. For the past half hour, he's been signaling an SOS down into the valley with his flashlight. So far, no one's responded. But just then, Linda hears Paul call out. Hey, Linda! They saw my SOS! Who did? I don't know who, but they sent back an SOK sign, and that means they're going for help.
34:52Linda walks over and joins Paul on the edge of the cliff. Minutes pass, but they don't see anything. But then she hears the sound of a man's voice, amplified by a bullhorn, echo up the cliff walls. This is Park Search and Rescue. I'm going to just ask yes or no questions. One flash for yes, two for no. Understand? Linda watches as Paul clicks his flashlight on and off one time. Is anyone dead? One blink. How many? Two blinks. Anyone injured? One blink. How many? Three blinks. Then comes a question that Linda isn't expecting. If you do not receive help tonight, will someone die? Paul turns to Linda.
35:54What do you think, Linda? Linda feels the seconds tick by. The truth is, she doesn't know. How can she? but one thing she is sure of is that they're not medically equipped to handle the extent of Bruce and Tom's injuries. They are fading in and out of consciousness, and the temperature is dropping. She nods her head. Yes. Yes. Paul keys his flashlight one time. There's a pause. Finally, the man's voice carries across the expanse. Okay, sit tight. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Linda isn't sure. Is this good news or bad news? She walks back to where the injured men are and fixes a reassuring smile on her face.
36:44Help is on the way, she tells them. They just need to hold out a little bit longer.
37:01Linda Crozier shivers in the cold. She put her sweatshirt on earlier, but goosebumps cover her bare legs. It's almost midnight, more than four hours since the lightning strikes. She remembers a few hours ago, tackling the cables to get to the summit. Even then she was tired. Now, she's utterly spent, from the stress of tending to these two men who might be dying right before her eyes. She and the other hikers have been massaging the men's feet, trying to improve their circulation. Bruce Weiner has been in excruciating pain. He needs to urinate, but he can't. And Linda worries his kidneys are failing.
37:45As for Tom Rice, Linda can hear a gurgling sound when she presses her ear into his chest. If fluid is gathering in his lungs, he could drown. She's grateful for the other EMTs. They've all been taking turns checking the vital signs of their patients and keeping them awake. And Adrian Esteban, whose injuries have turned out to be minor, has been a calming influence on both Tom and Bruce. Then Linda hears Tom start gagging. She rushes to his side. If they don't turn him over, he could aspirate, drown in his own vomit. She and Adrian start to roll him, but then Tom looks up and smiles. Just kidding, just kidding.
38:30I just wanted to make sure you're both paying attention. Linda wants to be angry, but she has to chuckle. Tom is trying to keep things light. Just then, there's a commotion from some of the other hikers. They point toward the top of the cables. In the moonlight, she can see two burly men loaded down with massive backpacks. Park rangers! She's so relieved she could cry. One of the rangers introduces himself as Colin Campbell. Linda briefs him on the condition of Tom and Bruce. Campbell gets an oxygen mask and canister out of his bag and administers it to Bruce. He spends a few minutes over Tom, lifting up the sleeping bag to peek at his legs.
39:16He shakes his head and stands up, then turns to Linda. I'm impressed. You all have done a remarkable job here. Linda nods, fighting back tears. Finally, she can rest. Then Campbell puts a hand on her shoulder. You're not done yet. I need you to keep watching over them, okay? I have to go clear a landing spot for the helicopter. He taps his walkie-talkie, which is hissing with static. I've been radioing with the command center. They've called for a chopper after one of the rangers communicated with you through his bullhorn. The ranger looks up at the half moon in the sky. It's going to be close.
39:55The pilot will need moonlight to land, and that moon's going to set in about two hours. If he can't get both victims down before then, he won't be able to land until daylight. Campbell looks at Bruce and Tom, then back at Linda. She's sure they're thinking the same thing. If that helicopter can't land tonight, at least one of these men will probably die.
40:39Helicopter pilot Al Major pulls back on the yoke as his chopper lifts off from Awani Meadow, a mile below the peak of Half Dome. It's just after midnight. He landed here minutes ago after a 37-minute flight from Modesto, where he works as a pilot for Mediflite. At 35, Major is a seasoned pilot. He was an army pilot during Vietnam, logging almost 1 ,700 combat flight hours before his tour was up in 1970. He loves to fly, and especially loves it now, because no one is ever shooting at him. But there's one hard and fast rule he picked up in Vietnam that he carries with him today. He doesn't want to know anything about the people he's evacuating.
41:27His decisions need to be emotion-free, so he doesn't take any unnecessary risks. It was already somewhat risky accepting this assignment. For one thing, the altitude of Half Dome's peak means the air is thinner. Thin air makes it harder for a helicopter's rotors to maintain lift. Then there's visibility. Fortunately, the storm has passed, but it's still the dead of night. Major needs the moonlight. Before he left, he checked what time the moon will set tonight. 1.42 a.m. That should leave him just enough time, provided everything else works out. Here at Owani Meadow, he picked up a second medic to join him and Bill Bryant, the paramedic who's been on board since Modesto.
42:17Major is impatient. They need to get to the summit, and it's at least a 10-minute ascent. Plus, he's been told there are multiple patients, and the helicopter is equipped to transport just one at a time. They'll have to work quickly to get everyone down before the moon sets. Now, as the chopper lifts, Major turns in tight circles, like he's climbing a corkscrew. Ascending straight up would tax the engine too much. He has to take great care to keep a good distance from the sheer rock face of Half Dome. Up and up they climb. The helicopter casts an eerie shadow on Half-Dome's granite cliffs, gleaming in the moonlight.
42:59And then, ten minutes later, they clear the precipice. Major takes the helicopter up higher so they can have a good look down at the summit. Then, he sees it. The lights have at least a dozen flashlights, arranged on the ground in a broad circle. It's not the most conventional landing zone, but he's handled worse. He maneuvers the helicopter directly over the circle of lights and begins a slow descent.
43:33Linda Crozier holds up a blanket to shelter Bruce Weiner and Tom Rice from the rotor wash of the helicopter. Part of her can't believe the luck. That the helicopter got here before the moon set, and that the weather hadn't scuttled the whole mission. As the skids touch down, a paramedic jumps out and jogs toward them, ducking his head. He takes a quick look at the two men on the ground and then up at Linda. He has to shout to be heard above the roar of the chopper blades. We can only take one at a time. Who should go first? Linda does not hesitate. For the past hour, Bruce has been sobbing with pain.
44:18She's worried his kidneys have shut down. So she points at him. The paramedic nods, then beckons a few bystanders over. He tells them that after he brings the stretcher, he'll need their help in lifting Bruce onto the chopper. In minutes, Bruce is on board, being tended to by the other medic. The first paramedic stays behind. Linda watches the helicopter lift off and disappear down into the valley, grateful to have at least one of her patients off the mountain. Only then does she take a closer look at the paramedic. Wait, you're Bill Bryant. You taught my EMT class. A grin breaks out across Bryant's face.
44:58Hey, Linda. Yeah, fancy running into you here. And well, I've got to say, I clearly taught you well. These men are going to survive because of you. Linda grins back. A sense of relief washes over her, and she almost forgets for a minute how cold she is. Within minutes, they hear the thrumming of the returning chopper. Again, it lands, and this time they load Tom on board. Before they take off, the pilot explains that they're making good time and that they can make a third evacuation. Their final run will be with Adrian Esteban. After the helicopter returns and takes away Adrian, Linda looks around.
45:41She's amazed at how quiet it is now. The other hikers have reclaimed their blankets and sleeping bags and are setting up their campsites. Even Bruce Jordan, Brian's grieving brother, is staying the night. Probably for the best, Linda thinks. Descending Half Dome after dark is dangerous, but she needs to get off this mountain. She has seen enough. And with that, she heads to the cables. It's going to be a long, tiring climb down the mountain in the dark.
46:22Adrian Esteban knocks softly on the open door of Tom Rice's hospital room at the UC Davis Medical Center. Tom has been hospitalized for two weeks and this is the first time Adrian has visited. Adrian has been wracked with guilt ever since the tragedy atop Half Dome. Nightmares would wake him. Images of Bob Frith tumbling over the edge. He spoke to reporters, defending his decision to leave the cave before the second strike. He was sure that he would be dead if he hadn't. It's his survivor's guilt that's kept him from visiting Tom. Why should he escape with only minor injuries when the others lost so much?
47:07But now, he's here. He peeks in Tom's room and wonders for a second if his friend is asleep. But then he sees Tom open his eyes, and he steps inside. Hey, buddy. Tom is quiet. His legs are elevated. Adrian has heard how painful the surgeries have been for both Tom and Bruce Weiner. The lightning strike not only burned them externally, it also affected their organs. Tom seems kind of out of it, and Adrian realizes the morphine is making him sleepy. But he manages a few words. He looks down at his wounds, then up at Adrian. You look like you got out of this without even a scratch. The words sting, Adrian.
47:54He searches for something to say that will lessen his old friend's anger, but he comes up empty. So he wishes Tom a quick recovery, and then he leaves.
48:17The morning after the tragedy on top of Half Dome, a park helicopter retrieved the bodies of Brian Jordan, still at the peak, and Bob Frith, whose remains were found 2 ,000 feet below the precipice. Bruce Weiner and Tom Rice each underwent multiple surgeries starting with a fasciotomy, basically cutting through the lining that binds the muscles to relieve internal pressure on their swollen legs. Bruce had lost 90 % of his kidney function. Both men suffered from poor circulation and more surgeries were necessary to clean out dead tissue. But it was the post-operative procedures that were most painful, debriding the dead tissue off their skin.
49:03Linda Crozier came to visit them in the hospital and was horrified to see the extent of their injuries. But doctors said it was her care atop the mountain that saved the men's legs from amputation. Still, Tom was in the hospital for three months and Bruce was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, where doctors performed eight skin grafts on his legs. He suffered numbness in his legs for years. He eventually left engineering and became a veterinarian. Adrian Esteban's injuries were minor, but he suffered post-traumatic stress. He enlisted in the Marines Reserves and later got a degree in business management.
49:45Tom Rice has never publicly discussed what occurred that night atop Half Dome. In letters he sent to Linda, he updated her on his recovery. The next summer, he organized a return climb back up Half Dome. His old friend Adrian joined him. At a high school reunion in 2001, Tom was heard telling classmates that Adrian had been the hero. If he hadn't left the cave when he did, he may have died or been incapacitated. and none of them would have been found until it was too late. In 1993, the National Park Service banned overnight camping on Half Dome. Today, permits are required to climb to the summit.
50:28While the hiker's decision to seek shelter from the storm may seem logical, caves and rock formations like the one on top of Half Dome are not safe from lightning strikes. The electrical discharge from lightning can travel through rock, especially if it's wet, and then into anything or anyone in contact with that rock. The cave at the top of Half Dome is still there, and hikers continue to shelter in it. In 2023, two hikers waiting out a storm in the cave were struck by lightning, but both survived.
51:14Follow Against the Odds on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Against the Odds ad-free by joining Audible.
51:28From Audible Originals, this is episode two of our two-part series, Lightning Strike on Half Dome for Against the Odds. A quick note about our scenes. In most cases, we can't exactly know what was said, but everything is based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about this event, we recommend the book Shattered Air, a true account of catastrophe and courage on Yosemite's Half Dome by Bob Magic. Produced by Audible, I'm your host, Mike Corey. Steve Fennessy wrote this episode. Sound design by Joe Richardson. Engineered by Sergio Enriquez. Original theme music by Scott Velasquez and 2K for Fries on Sync Produced by Emily Frost Managing producer, Desi Blaylock Senior producers, Andy Herman and Austin Rackless Executive producer for Audible, Jenny Lauer-Beckman Head of Creative Development at Audible, Kate Navin Head of Audible Originals, North America, Marshall Louis Chief Content Officer, Rachel Giazza Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC.
52:38Sound recording copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC.
From the publisher
As the hikers slowly regain consciousness, they realize the worst has happened: they’ve been struck by lightning. By chance, a pair of EMTs finds their way to the summit in time to help. But they soon realize that if they don’t get the men off Half Dome and airlifted to a hospital fast, they won’t make it till morning.
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