California IN BRIEF : YOSEMITE VALLEY : Paraplegic Ranger 200 Feet From Top

Paraplegic park ranger Mark Wellman and his climbing partner inched closer to their goal of ascending the face of Half Dome but decided to wait overnight and complete the climb today. Wellman and partner Mike Corbett were less than 200 feet from the top of the famous 2,200-foot monolith when they decided to stop for the night. Corbett, 37, who took a 20-foot fall and injured his right arm during the climb, said the going was tougher than expected. The two men began what was expected to be a one-week climb Sept. 4 but bad weather and crumbly rock have delayed the ascent. “Both of us have beards, we’re dirty, and we both want to get to the top,” said Corbett, a Yosemite ranger paralyzed in a 1982 climbing fall. In 1989 Wellman and Corbett climbed El Capitan, another of Yosemite Valley’s rock faces.