Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
gstock
climber
Yosemite Valley
|
|
Just about all published research on Yosemite rockfalls, including the paper on the El Capitan Meadow rock avalanche 3,600 years ago, can be found here:
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/rockfall.htm
Mongrel, you are right about the thickness of the El Capitan Meadow rock avalanche - we estimate the failed slab to have had a mean thickness of 19 meters (62 feet), which is almost 8 times thicker than the 28 September rockfall. I imagine it as another Shield Headwall on the Dawn Wall side that was cleaved off during the earthquake.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
I’ve always had an eerie feeling climbing El Cap base routes. The more rock (and people) above you, the more chance for something to come down.
|
|
gstock
climber
Yosemite Valley
|
|
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
Greg: is the recent rockfall from the Waterfall route primarily Taft Granite?
|
|
mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
|
|
Thanks, gstock! I've read some of those publications but it is great to know where to find them all. Geology is not my area but great science is just such a joy to read.
But you're a government employee, what the heck are you doing at the computer on a Sunday? :-))
|
|
Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
|
|
This is how I recall the event.
Tuesday- While working our way up New Dawn, my partner stopped in the middle of his lead and commented that something in the valley growled. The rock was cooling from a warm day at this point.
Tuesday night- Monkey calls and friendly banter rang through cocktail/bong hour as climbers were enjoying the amazing weather and the company of other parties. Late night I awoke to the sound of moderate rock fall in the distance...what distance I didn't know.
Wednesday- As the sun warmed the rock wall, I heard a giant cracking noise and looked over to see two apartment size rocks detach and come apart on their descent to the ledges below. A very tragic scene ensued on the base trail with a rapid and courageous effort from YOSAR and others- condolences :(
Rock fall, that any other time would seem significant, continued unabated through the day and night. 1 am- Racing my headlamp batteries I pulled into Lay Lady Ledge stressed and beat. On perfect que, as I clipped the anchor, a voice in the darkness from above taunted, "welcome to wall climbing mate!" By that time I needed a good laugh- Thank you who ever you are!
Thursday- Again, small scale rock fall and ominous noises continued throughout the morning.
While resting on Lay Lady ledge in the warm afternoon sun- a deafening crack echoed across the wall and we immediately looked over to see a block the approximate size of a 30 story building release in what seemed slow motion, and fracture into many house sized missiles. The plumb line of the fall landed all the detachments on to a series of low angle ledges a thousand feet below and about 300 feet above the trail. The angle of the ledges resulted into the obliteration of the momoth blocks, casting them into an airborne talus field traveling to the forest below at hundreds of feet per second -ever wonder why all the rocks in a scree are of similar size?
For a second straight day, life turned surreal, staring at the dimension of the light grey release scare as is slowly smoked like a canon barrel that had just gone off (the size of a football field).
Thursday night- We planned our retreat down the route with loads and a few technical traverses looming. Late night we heard two car sized flakes come down- we had noticed them dangling from the top of the new corner right after the big release.
We watched Pete and team's ascent throughout- whew!!
Werner's heat chart seems to have pertinence in how events transpired.
The locals would have a much better understanding of the situation going forward, but it would seem that seasons of weather need to pass before I'd go near that area- there's several tiers of ledges with meters deep loose talus, delicately perched above the base trail. The base trail itself has metric tons of debris that will pose a threat to anything below for quite a spell.
Please support your local First Responders in every way possible! They deserve a place in our daily thoughts- knowing they'll be there for our loved ones, often at their own peril.
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
hey there say, contractor... oh my, thank you for sharing...
also, clifff-- another oh my! can hardly believe that those folks felt
safe, to stay there and film that...
:O
it looked like a moving river, :O
|
|
TomCochrane
Trad climber
Cascade Mountains and Monterey Bay
|
|
it was more fun climbing the el cap base routes when we all knew everyone who could consider going above us and knew none of them were above us
|
|
aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
Here is an excerpt about the big one near Happy Isles twenty years ago:
"At 6:52 pm on July 10, 1996, two rockfalls detached in quick succession from the rim of Yosemite Valley east of Glacier Point. Approximately 90,000-180,000 tons of rock slid down a bedrock ramp and went airborne, free-falling 2,200 feet to the base of the cliff. The impact generated ground shaking equivalent to a magnitude 2.1 earthquake, which was detected by seismometers 125 miles away. The impact also generated an airblast with velocities exceeding 240 miles/hour, snapping or toppling more than 1,000 trees. Falling trees in the vicinity of the Nature Center at Happy Isles caused one fatality and several serious injuries. The sky went black for six minutes as a large dust cloud blocked out the evening light, and the area around Happy Isles and the Pines campgrounds was covered in a thick coating of rock dust."
One thing that is similar to this one is that two rock falls occurred within short succession of each other, makes sense that one can shake loose another area close by.
It was most fortunate that there was only one fatality and a few injuries, with more that 1,000 trees being toppled.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
Yeah....under a granite wall expect talus, under limestone scree.
|
|
Bill Mc Kirgan
Trad climber
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
|
|
aspendougy,
Thank you for sharing this information regarding the man who perished.
I thought it worth repeating in case no one noticed earlier.
Sep 30, 2017 - 05:21pm PT
I just read that the man who died saved his wife's life by jumping on top of her and shielding her. My heart goes to the family and friends of this brave soul.
I am wondering about how much piton pounding still goes on with these El Cap routes. Most everyone is doing most everything clean, but evidently not all?
FROM MSN:
LONDON — A British newspaper is reporting that the Welsh climber killed by falling rock in Yosemite National Park this week died while trying to shield his wife.
The Times says Andrew Foster's wife, Lucy, told her husband's aunt that he jumped to cover her as tons of rock came cascading on Wednesday down the face of El Capitan, a 3,600-foot granite monolith that attracts climbers from around the world.
Gillian Stephens, in an interview with the Times published on Saturday, says Lucy Foster told her: "Andrew saved my life. He dived on top of me as soon as he could see what was going to happen. He saved my life."
The couple, who lived in Cardiff, Wales, described their love of the outdoors in a blog, Cam and Bear.
Condolences to all affected
|
|
fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
|
|
Now there's an example of a hero... Way to go Andrew...
|
|
Hubbard
climber
San Diego
|
|
Nice write up Contractor and photo too. Spooky.
|
|
wayne burleson
climber
Amherst, MA
|
|
FA team on Waterfall Route are not familiar names: Daryle Teske and T. Polk, 10/75...
Any back story?
|
|
BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
|
|
Daryle Teske and a group from, I believe, Pacific Union College in Angwin did the second ascent of Mescalito. I think I remember reading an article their team wrote for Climbing about the ascent.
|
|
limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
|
|
Where's the guy who climbed the RNWF of half dome when it was still raining gravel? Wonder if he'll get past this section with a rope throw...
|
|
'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
|
|
I can't recall if I post it up here or not, the internet access is very slow here. On my Facebook page, I have links to three hi-res videos of the rockfall. Maybe somebody could post those links here please in chronological order?
The first video is the end of the first rockfall on Wednesday. The second video is probably the raddest, and the one I withheld from the Network's cuz I made some colorful comments. And then the third one is the big fall the next day
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!