The ASU and Valley community is mourning the loss of Grace Rohloff, an ASU student and athlete who died after a hiking accident in Yosemite National Park.
On July 13, Grace and Jonathan Rohloff, her father, were hiking Half Dome, a summit in Yosemite National Park. Grace Rohloff was an experienced athlete and hiker, according to her father in an interview with SFGATE.
Jonathon Rohloff said he and his daughter had hiked the Grand Canyon nearly every year since she turned 13.
When an unexpected storm gathered while the father and daughter were climbing down from the Half Dome summit, Grace Rohloff slipped in the rain and fell down the steep slope approximately 300 feet. Rescuers later confirmed she had died due to the fall.
"Grace was an amazing girl who made everyone feel important and special," said Jonathan Rohloff. "She was loving, outgoing, funny and she brightened up every room."
Grace Rohloff was a Buckeye native and an active member of her community. She studied education at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and planned to graduate early.
Grace Rohloff was also a fourth-generation Sun Devil.
"She attended just about every ASU football game since she was born," said Jonathan Rohloff. "She was a Sun Devil through and through."
In her spare time, she coached track and field at Valley Lutheran High School where she graduated salutatorian.
She was set to begin student teaching at VLHS.
"Grace was so so smart and driven,'' said Katy Snow, a friend of Rohloff from the Arizona Elite traveling basketball team. "She was so adventurous and nice to everyone. She was friends with literally everyone."
"Before I knew her I thought she was going to take my spot and we were going to hate each other and then we met at practice and instantly became best friends," Snow said. "For her Sweet 16, she had a party and she smashed her own head into the cake, she was just so goofy."
Grace Rohloff's bright personality is remembered by her friends, teammates and classmates who left messages on her now-memorialized Instagram page.
Half Dome has cables and boards installed so hikers can climb without rock climbing equipment. Most hikers "have to take one or two steps on slippery granite to get from one board to the next," according to the Yosemite website. Six hikers, including Grace Rohloff, have died on Half Dome during rainstorms since 2006.
"I think the hard part is there is 10 feet between these wooden planks," said Jonathon Rohloff. "But, between (the planks) is granite that has been smoothed over time."
In an interview with 12News and various publications, Jonathan Rohloff advocated for changes to the cable system to prevent another accident. Jonathan Rohloff said he wants his daughter's death to not be in vain but to strike a lifesaving change.
"A person's life is worth more than whatever cost it would be to put something in, and Grace would want that," said Jonathan Rohloff.
VLHS held a memorial service to celebrate Grace Rohloff's life on July 27 at 10 a.m.
Edited by Jack Barron, Abigail Beck, Natalia Jarrett and Alysa Horton.
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