Huge Hunk of Falling Rock Kills 1, Injures 1 at Yosemite

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — A hunk of rock "the size of an apartment building" fell off the granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, killing one person and injuring another on a mountain at the height of climbing season, officials and witnesses said. At least 30 climbers were on the wall at the time, but it was not clear if the victims were climbers or tourists, ranger Scott Gediman said Wednesday. "It was witnessed by a lot of people," he said. The injured person was taken to a hospital near the park. No names were immediately released. El Capitan is one of the world's largest granite monoliths towering 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) above Yosemite Valley. Several people made emergency calls, reporting the rock fall from the Waterfall route on the east buttress of El Capitan. Officials didn't provide details on the size of the rock fall, but climbers posted pictures on social media from hundreds of feet up the wall showing billowing white dust moments after the crash. "I saw a piece of rock, white granite the size of an apartment building, at least 100 feet by 100 feet, suddenly just come peeling off the wall with no warning," said Canadian climber Peter Zabrok, 57, who was scaling El Capitan and was above the rock fall. Zabrok said he has climbed El Capitan dozens of times and has "never seen anything like this." Mountaineers from around the world travel to the park in the Sierra Nevada to scale El Capitan's sheer ...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Major Incidents News Source Type: news