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The cables on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, the scene of four deaths in the past two years, are scheduled to be taken down on October 15, weather permitting, a park spokesperson announced on Thursday, Oct. 4.

The cables extend approximately 300 yards up the steep shoulder to the 8,842-foot dome. They give access to the summit and to the views of Yosemite Valley and the surrounding mountains of the Sierra Nevada.

On June 16, 37-year-old Hirofumi Nohara, a Japanese citizen, lost his footing three-fourths of the way up the cables and slid off the side of Half Dome in front of dozens of witnesses.

It was the third fatal fall from the cables within the past year, according to park officials.

On April 19, Jennie Bettles, a 43-year-old businesswoman from Oakland, fell to her death while trying to descend during wet weather. Meanwhile, Emily Sandall, 25, of New Mexico, died Nov. 10, 2006, after slipping on the wet granite. In both of those cases, the handrail supports and wooden foot planks had been taken out, and the cables were lying flat on the granite, standard practice during the off-season.

Park spokesperson Adrienne Freeman advised visitors against using the cables during the off-season.

"The rock under the cables is extremely slippery and may be wet and/or icy even in seemingly dry conditions," she said.

The Sierra Club funded the installation of the first cables on Half Dome in 1919; the Civilian Conservation Corps replaced the original cables in 1934.

Freeman said the cables will be re-installed at the beginning of the summer season in 2008.

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