The rock fall occurred on the Waterfall route on the east buttress of El Capitan. A climber above the fall posted this on a climber's forum and titled it "Holy F**ing Shit!"
The place where it broke off.
Comparison before and after the fall.
Ken Yager, president and founder of the Yosemite Climbing Association, reviewed photos of the cliff face and debris field, estimating the relatively thin piece that broke off covered an area big enough to fit five houses.
“It cratered and sent stuff mushrooming out in all directions,” said Yager.
Rock falls are common in Yosemite but seldom fatal. Kevin Jorgeson said he and climbing partner Tommy Caldwell witnessed a massive rock fall in the same area while they prepared for a trek that made them the first people to free-climb the Dawn Wall route on El Capitan in 2015.
“Yosemite is just a really active, wild place. It’s always changing,” Jorgeson said. “It doesn’t make it any less tragic when someone gets in the way of that.”
Like climate, the Valley is always changing. I guess we should thank God it didn't kill anyone else. Best wishes to the injured person for a quick recovery.
The rock fall adding to the talus slope below
From above.
Granite dust on the ring road
When Cpt. Kirk was climbing there in the movie I told my wife that the piece of rock was not glued on very good and it looks like it could fall anytime
ReplyDeleteIt's a Jesus rock. When they give way and hit you, it's one of those things...not unlike the "Jesus nut" on the top of a helicopter rotor. If you lose the Jesus nut, you lose the rotor, and things get serious.
ReplyDeleteIn millions of years, long after man is gone, Mother Earth will have reclaimed El Capitan piece by piece.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been amazing to see and hear that first hand.
Should have been a shot of Wile E Coyote standing on it as it went down :)
ReplyDelete