Is El Capitan The Same As Half Dome

From the above map (nps.gov) we can see that even if there have been many rockfalls on El Cap, most of the biggest ones are in winter and fall, when the walls are less frequented. The NW face of HD, on the other side, had many big rockfalls in spring and summer, when the frequentation is higher . Option 1 is smooth hiking and clearly the way to go for the south facing routes. Option 2 is significantly faster , in both directions, but requires skilled route finding, very steep hiking, and use of fixed lines. But if you look for videos of people climbing Half Dome, or articles about ascents on Half Dome, you find almost nothing. The Half Dome Cable Hike will take hikers about 10 – 12 hours to complete, there and back, depending on skill level and weather.

This forces the climbers to only rely on their own individual preparation, strength, and skill. On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed the first free climb of the Dawn Wall after 19 days, one of the hardest climbs in the world. In November 2016, Czech climber Adam Ondra free climbed the Dawn Wall in 8 days. In decades of hiking, no trail has elicited emotions in us like the Half Dome hike did. Now all that was left was to rest and prepare mentally for the climb of his life.

Even the slowest hikers can cover a considerable distance if they have the time to spare. At a pace of 2 mph , you can comfortably hike 10 miles in a day. A group of plutons that are considered to be part of the same magmatic event and thus related are called intrusive suites. Intrusive suites typically are emplaced over about 10 million years and are often interpreted as being the roots of a single volcanic system. There are seven intrusive suites in Yosemite National Park. The Tuolumne Intrusive Suite is the youngest and most extensive, occupying about 1/3 of the park’s area.

Is El Capitan The Same As Half Dome?

A geologist maps granitic rocks 2,000 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley on El Capitan. Geologic map of Yosemite Valley showing the extents of different granitic rocks and their respective intrusive suites. The thermal history of a granite—how fast it cooled and how long it spent at different temperatures—dictates the size of the mineral grains, and thus the rock texture.

Looking at a granitic rock’s composition tells geologists much about its formation. Different granites have unique chemical compositions that produce different mineral proportions. In fact, granitic rocks are generally classified by their mineral proportions and given names such as granite, granodiorite, tonalite, and diorite.

Base Jumping

Its distinct shape lead geologists to believe that the other “half” eroded away. Today, many believe that it is quite possible that there never was another half, at least not one as well formed as the eastern slope. Another great but lesser known spot to view from is at Cathedral Beach located off Southside Drive. It’s pretty remarkable that anyone would have ever considered this feat and now thousands of people do it every year.

In 1980 the National Park Service experimented with issuing BASE-jumping permits. The first permitted BASE jump was performed on August 4, 1980, by Dean Westgaard of Laguna Beach. These legal jumps resulted in no major injuries or fatalities. After a trial lasting only ten weeks, the National Park Service ceased issuing permits and effectively shut down all BASE jumping on El Capitan. On October 22, 1999, BASE jumper and stuntwoman Jan Davis died in a jump conducted as part of a protest event involving five jumpers.

This seemed possible looking at my solo time of 14 hours on the Nose a few years earlier, combined with Dean’s time of 4 hours on Half Dome would allow for a day ascent of both. Of course the cumulative affect of doing both routes alone would be taxing to say the least. So of course I started setting my mind to do it also if not first in the 99 season. In 1986 John Bachar and Peter Croft climbed EC and HD via the “big routes” in under 24 hours. I believe their time on The Nose was 9.5 hours and their time on The Regular North West Face was 4.5 hours.

It was formed millions of years ago when less resistant granite was carved away by glacial ice, leaving the most impervious granite to remain standing. El Capitan in Yosemite National Park rises nearly 3,600 feet above the valley floor making it one of the most prominent features in the park. Horsetail Fall is an ephemeral fall meaning that it can dry up if there isn’t enough melting snow above the fall to produce a waterfall. That means that in dry years, there may simply not be enough water in Horsetail Fall to catch the light of the evening sun. Hikers ascend the “back” side of Half Dome, the rounded side, not up the sheer rock wall. Granitic rocks of different compositions are juxtaposed on the southeast face of El Capitan.

This means that if you turn up when it’s busy, you’ll spend some time waiting on the side of the cliff, standing on the wooden planks whilst people move along. Some of his poise can be attributed to his detailed preparation. He also spends hours perfecting, rehearsing, and memorizing exact sequences of hand and foot placements for every key pitch. He is an inveterate note-taker, logging his workouts and evaluating his performance on every climb in a detailed journal. Freerider tests nearly every aspect of a climber’s physical abilities—strength of fingers, forearms, toes, and abdomen, as well as flexibility and endurance. Environmental factors, like sun, wind, and the potential for sudden rainstorms, are also factors that Honnold had to carefully calculate.

From 1919 when the cables were erected through 2011, there have been seven fatal falls from the cables. As late as the 1870s, Half Dome was described as “perfectly inaccessible” by Josiah Whitney of the California Geological Survey. The summit was finally reached by George G. Anderson in October 1875, via a route constructed by drilling and placing iron eyebolts into the smooth granite. Climbers Tommy Caldwell, Lynn Hill, and Alex Honnold photographed their El Capitan climbs using 360 degree spherical VR photography.

Whilst people have died on the cables , this is put into context when you realise 300 permits are issued per day in cables season . After trusting his skill and endurance over hundreds of handholds and footholds and controlling his fear for just under four hours, Honnold pulled his body over the last ledges. The route Honnold chose to reach the top of El Capitan, known as Freerider, is one of the most prized big wall climbs in Yosemite. The route has 30 sections—or pitches—and is so difficult that even in the last few years, it was newsworthy when a climber was able to summit using ropes for safety.

On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson topped out El Capitan’s Dawn Wall in Yosemite Valley to a circus of friends, family, and media. Their 19-day push to complete the first free ascent of the wall captured attention far beyond the climbing community. The hardest free solo single pitch climb could be the 5.14a / 8b+ by Dave McLeod in 2008.

So, when talking about the level, I will concentrate on free ascents. The unique wall formations of El Capitan and Half Dome were mostly created by glaciers which gouged their way through the valley. “There were times when Yosemite Valley was completely full of ice,” says Stock.