Arizona woman falls to death while climbing in Yosemite National Park

'It's with a broken heart to inform you all that our beautiful Danielle left us yesterday doing something she loved so much,' says relative

Park officials say Ms Burnett was announced dead at the scene and the incident is now under investigation (Getty Images)

A young woman has fallen to her death while climbing the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park – tumbling more than 500 feet down a rocky surface.

Danielle Burnett, a 29-year-old from Lake Havasu City in Arizona, was climbing the steepest part of the trail on Thursday when she fell.

Park officials said Ms Burnett was announced dead at the scene and the incident is now under investigation. It was not immediately clear what caused Ms Burnett to fall.

“It’s with a broken heart to inform you all that our beautiful Danielle left us yesterday doing something she loved so much,” one of Burnett’s family members wrote on Facebook on Friday. “This will take time.”

The accident took place on the final dizzying 400-foot scramble up to the top of the iconic precipice. This section of the climb has a well-earned reputation for danger.

It is not uncommon for tragic falls to take place in Yosemite National Park – the last death on the famous Half Dome was in May last year when a hiker slipped and fell during dangerous weather conditions.

The cables at Half Dome are installed every summer to help climbers get to the top of the 8,800-foot granite dome which has a vertical cliff on one side.

Every year thousands of climbers make the approximately 16-mile round trip.

The cables are only up from around May to October due to weather and permits are needed in order to hike – only 300 hikers are allowed to make the climb a day when the cables are in use.