Lightning Strike on Half Dome | The Storm | 1
Against The Odds
Audible
4.7 • 7.9K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the evening of July 27, 1985, a group of friends decided to ignore gathering storm clouds and warnings as they climbed to the top of Yosemite’s famous Half Dome. Climbers Adrian Esteban and Tom Rice reached the summit first, soon joined by three others as a thunderstorm raged. They decided to shelter in a small cave-like enclosure — a decision that would prove deadly.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Against the Odds ad-free right now. |
| 0:05.3 | Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. |
| 0:09.1 | A listener note, Against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. |
| 0:13.8 | Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research. |
| 0:34.6 | Thank you. Everything is based on research. 26-year-old Adrian Esteban bends down to check if the water is boiling on his campstove. He's wet and cold and could really use a cup of tea. But even so, he can't stop grinning. |
| 0:41.3 | He's so psyched that he and four of his hiking companions made it to the top of Half Dome, |
| 0:46.3 | especially in the middle of a lightning storm. Half Dome towers nearly a mile over the valley floor |
| 0:53.4 | here in California's Yosemite National Park. |
| 0:56.0 | It's one of the tallest exposed granite peaks in the world. |
| 1:00.0 | And here, at the summit, far above the tree line, lightning strikes are a real risk. |
| 1:06.0 | It's a little after 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 27th, 1985. |
| 1:11.6 | The five young men are huddled in a tiny natural enclosure, |
| 1:15.6 | formed by a pile of huge granite slabs, perched atop a sheer cliffside. |
| 1:20.6 | Adrian and his friend Tom Rice stumbled on it months ago |
| 1:24.6 | and decided to call it the cave. |
| 1:26.6 | It's the perfect place to get out of the rain, |
| 1:29.9 | which is pelting half dome as thunder booms all around them. |
| 1:34.0 | Woo! |
| 1:34.8 | Bring it on, lightning! |
| 1:35.7 | This is intense. |
| 1:37.0 | Wow. |
| 1:37.3 | This is so cool. |
... |
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