Climbers on the shear granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. You can see areas where fresh (white) rock is exposed that likely experienced a recent rockfall. Image: Erik Klemetti, September 2012. The last few weeks have seen multiple rockfalls at Yosemite National Park in California, one of which produced a fatality to a climber on the iconic vertical wall. Yesterday, another rockfall that was ten times bigger than the fatal one earlier in the month occurred that injured a park visitor. So, why are these rock falls so common in Yosemite Valley? It all comes down to the fact that steep rock walls are not as permanent as they might seem.
#BREAKING: Another rock fall near #ElCapitan in @YosemiteNPS. My photographer and I witnessed the whole ordeal, it was so loud, thunderous. pic.twitter.com/6J3xmieMet
— Connie Tran (@MissConnieTran) September 28, 2017
Most of Yosemite Valley is lined with ...
