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Massive Rockfall on Yosemite's El Cap

Monique

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What a nightmare. Lucky that only one person died, I'm sure. Not so lucky for that person.
 
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kimmyt

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I thought I read somewhere that some climbers were missing but I can't find where I read it so not sure if thats the case. There was one party who had just completed the pitches affected and pulled around the corner from it, imagine what they must be feeling right now! They still have to top out, supposed to within the next day or so
 

luliski

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I thought I read somewhere that some climbers were missing but I can't find where I read it so not sure if thats the case. There was one party who had just completed the pitches affected and pulled around the corner from it, imagine what they must be feeling right now! They still have to top out, supposed to within the next day or so
Apparently all are accounted for; one person died and one was injured. The injured and deceased (a couple) were climbers from the UK and they were on the scree field at the base of El Cap when the rock fall occurred. Rockfall is not that uncommon at Yosemite, nor are deaths, unfortunately.The park sees a huge number of visitors, some of them participating in high-risk activities, some just caught unaware or unlucky. I know people who have lost family members there, and I've been there during recovery efforts. I'm always nervous about rocks falling when I'm hiking there, and I'm surprised I survived all my childhood trips to Yosemite (I was the oldest of four-so largely unsupervised and also loved scrambling on boulders near roaring rivers).

Sorry, I didn't know about the second rockfall today (Thursday) when I originally posted this. Sounds like today's fall was much worse. And the climbers who were above the fall saw climbers below, before it fell.
 
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Monique

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Monique

bounceswoosh
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Monique

bounceswoosh
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Jeez.

My husband camped with his family at Yosemite as a kid - never climbed - and says that rock fall in the area is pretty common. Is this something that climbers just hope to avoid, or are the typical climbing routes in areas that are known to fall less often? Definitely not trying to place blame - just curious.
 

scott43

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Rock fall is an accepted hazard..like avalanches. Just part of the game. It's less common on some routes depending on the rock type..I don't know how common it is in Yosemite..but shit happens..
 

Monique

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Rock fall is an accepted hazard..like avalanches. Just part of the game. It's less common on some routes depending on the rock type..I don't know how common it is in Yosemite..but shit happens..

Well, I don't recall articles about rock fall like that in other places, and haven't heard of significant rock fall in the Boulder area since I moved here, even when I was spending a lot more time with people who climb outdoors a lot.
 
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kimmyt

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Rockfall is very common. Its how climbable faces are formed. And climbers follow routes that are on natural weaknesses in the rock (flakes, cracks, etc) so rockfall is an accepted hazard. However deaths by rockfall are much less common than actual rockfall events. Most deaths due to rockfall are probably smaller size events, a fall on gear might put pressure behind a weak flake or a small partially detached boulder might come loose. Small rockfall events from climbers knocking things down from above can hurt or kill people below, I was involved in such an event several years ago on the east coast. But I would hazard a guess that something of this size that causes a death are more rare, I recall reading that there have been only something like 20 deaths due to rockfall in Yos in the last 150 years (the link below states 16 since 1857). And larger rockfall events like this probably more typically happen in the spring or late winter after water seeps into the weaknesses in the rock, freezing during the winter and expanding and further weakening the rock followed by a thaw cycle which allows the rock to move more easily.

Further details about rockfall in yosemite

Sciency Stuff from the NPS about rockfall

I like this chart on rockfall events and time of year although its a little hard to tell and I wish it was interactive, you can see that there are many more large scale events during the winter

Fun fact- if there is a rock fall event (granted probably this doesn't apply to something of the magnitude of the recent fall) one should run TOWARD the rock wall. Most people intuitively will run away from the wall, which is the most dangerous as rock falls away from the wall, but your best bet is to run toward the rock wall and crouch against it as this will offer the most protection.
 

Monique

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I knew I liked indoor climbing ....
 
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kimmyt

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Hey man, I've known a few people who wrecked themselves climbing indoors. Mostly belayer error or using an autobelay incorrectly, but still.... its a sport with risks like most others and you can mitigate them to some extent but certainly not remove all risk. Thats what makes it fun!
 

Monique

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Hey man, I've known a few people who wrecked themselves climbing indoors. Mostly belayer error or using an autobelay incorrectly, but still.... its a sport with risks like most others and you can mitigate them to some extent but certainly not remove all risk. Thats what makes it fun!

Yeah, I have a friend who forgot to clip into the autobelay. Jumped down from the top. It was pretty awful. That padding only does so much.
 

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