The hiker who fell to his death from the cables on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park has been identified as Asish Penugonda, 29, a native of India who lived in New York City.

Grief-stricken friends have created a Go Fund Me campaign to help pay for his funeral in Fremont, transport of his body home to India, and assistance to his mother and elder brother.

National Park Service rangers said that Penugonda was hiking with friends on Monday afternoon up the steep north side of Half Dome when he slipped from the cables and fell to his death, according to Swamy Kottur, his roommate and close friend.

There were thunderstorms in the area at the time of the accident, say park officials, but there is no indication at this time as to whether those conditions were a factor in his fall.

“Asish has been the epitome of character and a sunshine of positivity to everyone surrounding him,” wrote Kottur. “The people who knew him would always remember the good he did and for the surreal strength of morality he has been when they need him.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, he was a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University and worked as a biochemist with Siemens Healthcare, based in New Milford, N.J. He was a native of the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

It was the park’s first visitor fatality of the year — and the first fatal fall since 2011 from the cables up the 4,800-foot granite dome.

The slope of the Half Dome cables, which are 200 yards long, is about 45 degrees.

The park averages 12 to 15 traumatic deaths per year, but most of them involve drownings. Related Articles Yosemite National Park to close due to heavy smoke

Yosemite: Hazardous smoke, fire closure. Oh, and biting snakes.

To donate, go to https://www.gofundme.com/asish-funeral-help.

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