![]() ![]() Yosemite remained open after Wednesday's rockfall, and other activities throughout the park were not affected, rangers said.FALL ON ROCK – SHORT FIXING WITHOUT A SELF-BELAY, INADEQUATE PROTECTION – FAILURE TO TEST AID PLACEMENT Robison's gear digging into the side of the mountain caused the rock to dislodge. Mason Robison, 38, fell about 230 feet (70 meters) and died. In 2013, a rock dislodged and severed the rope of a Montana climber scaling El Capitan. "It doesn't make it any less tragic when someone gets in the way of that." "Yosemite is just a really active, wild place. "It was done at tremendous peril to the rescuers because there were three subsequent rockfalls that were all nearly as big and would have killed anybody at the base," he said.Ĭlimber Kevin Jorgeson said he and climbing partner Tommy Caldwell witnessed a massive rockfall in the same area while they prepared for a trek that made them the first people to free-climb the El Capitan's Dawn Wall in 2015.įirst they heard a rumble. He later saw rescuers moving someone on a litter. Peering down from his perch 2,000 feet (609 meters) up on the rock, Zabrok said he saw a rescuer lowered by helicopter and "I believe he grabbed one survivor." "Boy, I don't know how anybody could have survived that," he told KFSN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Fresno. Zabrok said he and friends were in the middle of a six-day climb of the Waterfall route on the right side of El Capitan when they saw it. "It cratered and sent stuff mushrooming out in all directions," said Yager. 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. Rockfalls are common in Yosemite but seldom fatal. Fall is one of the peak seasons because the days are long and the weather is warm. Mountaineers from around the world travel to Yosemite to scale El Capitan's sheer face. The rock appeared to fall from the popular "Waterfall Route" on the East Buttress of El Capitan, said Yosemite National Park ranger and spokesman Scott Gediman. All other people in the area have been accounted for and search efforts have been concluded. The National Park Service is working with the Consulate to notify family members. The male was found deceased and the female was flown out of the park with serious injuries. The victims, a couple visiting the park from Great Britain, were in the park to rock climb but were not climbing at the time of the initial rockfall. Two people were found, resulting in one fatality and a serious injury. The National Park Service also released more information on the individual killed in the rockfall, identifying him as a male climber from Great Britain who wasn't climbing at the time:Īfter the initial rockfall, Yosemite National Park Rangers and the Search and Rescue team entered the area looking for people at the base of the rockfall. (National Park Service)Īt least 30 climbers were on the vertical wall of the 7,569-foot (2,307 meter) formation when the massive rock fell Wednesday afternoon. For size context, climbing equipment can be seen at the top of the image, near the tiny purple dot. The East Buttress of El Capitan, with the estimated size of the largest rockfall drawn in. The source point is about 650 feet above the base of El Capitan, or about 1,800 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley (which is at 4,000 feet in elevation). The irregular "sheet" of rock that fell is estimated to be 130 feet tall, 65 feet wide, and 3-10 feet thick. "I saw a piece of rock, white granite the size of an apartment building, at least 100 feet (30 meters) by 100 feet (30 meters), suddenly just come peeling off the wall with no warning," said Canadian climber Peter Zabrok, 57, who was scaling El Capitan and was above the rockfall.Īccording to details released by the National Park Service in a press release on Thursday, the massive slab fell as seven rockfalls occurred over a four-hour time span:Ī preliminary estimate for the cumulative volume of all seven rockfalls is about 16,000 cubic feet (450 cubic meters), or about 1,300 tons. ![]()
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