2017 rockfalls @ Yosemite National Park
2017 rockfalls @ Yosemite National Park

On September 27th, 2017, seven rockfalls occurred on the Southeast face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, forever changing the face of the iconic granite monolith. The rockfalls occurred in a four-hour span with the initial fall happening at 1:52pm PDT. Two people were found following a search effort from the Yosemite National Park Rangers and the Search and Rescue Team. A couple visiting from the United Kingdom were in the park to climb but were not climbing at the time of the fall. Sadly the male was found deceased and the female was flown out of the park with serious injuries.

Preliminary estimates showed that the cumulative volume of all of the rockfalls was about 16,000 cubic feet, or about 1,300 tons. A near 130 foot tall, 65 foot wide, and 3-10 foot thick sheet of rock fell from about 650 feet above the base of El Capitan. Rockfalls are common in Yosemite Valley, with around 80 rockfalls occurring per year, but falls with victims are rare. The 2017 rockfall saw the first rockfall-related fatality in Yosemite National Park in 18 years.

The following day, on September 28th, a significantly larger rockfall occurred on the same Southeast face of El Capitan. This one led to another injury and the victim was flown out of the park via air ambulance.

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Tim Konrad, founder of Unofficial Networks, is a skier with over 20 years in the ski industry. Starting the blog in 2006 from Lake Tahoe with his brother John, the website has grown into one of the world’s...