Rock flake breaks of climbing wall in Yosemite National Park.
Rock flake breaks of climbing wall in Yosemite National Park.

A rock flake broke off a wall in a climber’s hand around 700 feet up in Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite is known as one of the best rock climbing locations in the world with an endless variety of routes and challenges for adventures to explore and test their skills on. Some routes are short and more appropriate for beginners while others make up massive, multi-day adventures.

Romulan Warbird is a 9 pitch 5.12c climb in the Leaning Tower area of Yosemite National Park. It stretches up about 1,000 feet and was first climbed in 1999. No matter how trafficked a route is, there’s always the risk that something might break or fall apart mid-climb, and that’s exactly what happened to this climber. While about 700 feet up the wall, a flake of rock broke off the wall and the climber lost his hold. Fortunately he was safely roped up and only fell a short distance, avoiding injury in the process.

Nolan Deck is a writer for Unofficial Networks, covering skiing and outdoor adventure. After growing up and skiing in Maine, he moved to the Denver area for college where he continues to live and work...