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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 1, 2011 - 02:15pm PT
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http://youtu.be/xGzU_sQrMsk
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Pete and I were on top of Washington Column when the blocks cut loose, and I managed to record some of the aftermath.
There are still blocks free falling in this video, but they're much smaller than the first bunch that came down. The sound was BIG.
If the resolution were higher, you'd be able to see lots of material blasting down the slabs approach.
This was an eye-opening 30 seconds for me - enough so that I won't do those slabs again. [Three-year later edit: done the slabs twice more, still kicking. So much for convictions]
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Gunkie
Trad climber
East Coast US
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Flat out terrifying.
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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amazing footage!!!!!!
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Anastasia
climber
hanging from an ice pick and missing my mama.
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Yikes!
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Bump for exceptional shots.
Excellent work there!
John
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Adamame
climber
Santa Cruz
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It seems like everytime I am on the column something is falling off over there. I saw the chopper fly by El Cap that day and just figured it was another mist trail accident/airlift.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
SoCal
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Nice work catching the action on photos and video. A big help to the rockfall researchers I hope.
You can hear something really big rolling down the slabs: kow-kow-kow-kow.
It surely would be a scary sight close up.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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TFPU. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Or should it be knott being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Bump
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Thanks for sharing, le bruce--amazing!!
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OLDRisk
Mountain climber
Lower Merced Pass Lake
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Why do you think they call them the Death Slabs?
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Sioux Juan
Big Wall climber
Costa mesa
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I was on north dome in 2002 and saw the same type of rock fall, in the same place. It was just getting dark and you could see head lamps of climbers near the base and climbimg the slab
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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she is breaking down!
i've always considered the slabs approach a rating in itself!
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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After talking with le_bruce about this experience, it was the tipping point for me.
In July 2005, I was on a bivouac east of washington column (failure to find north dome gully), and 5:30am woke up thinking that fighter jets were below the rim of the valley. Looked over and saw cataclysmic shearing, huge stuff falling a LONG ways and obliterating the HD slabs approach (anyone there would be 100% dead), and dust cloud filled valley over to Glacier Apron. I expected it to be serious news, didn't hear anything else about it, no helicopters, no crowds or news buzz about it.
If my only time on CJ I saw this, and my partner's only time up CJ saw this... and others have seen stuff like this... just too often an occurrence to feel comfortable. It's so massive that hiding behind a boulder or obstruction to "ride it out" is a real long-shot.
I have no issues with Glacier Apron climbing (other than my general inability to dominate it), but the slabs approach to HD just seems unreasonable for people with things to live for.
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gstock
climber
Yosemite Valley
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One way of evaluating the risk posed by a climb or approach is to consider the following:
(1) How tall is the cliff above you? In other words, how much potential surface area is there to produce rockfalls?
(2) How prone is that cliff to rockfalls? How often do rockfalls occur at that location? What is the density of fractures such as exfoliation joints?
(3) How exposed are you to the hazard? Are there possibilities for sheltering behind large trees or boulders, or moving quickly away from rockfall runout areas?
Taking these into consideration, a crag like Swan Slab would rank relatively low, being a short cliff with few rock falls and a quick escape away from the cliff (when belaying at the base at least). In contrast, climbs at the base of El Capitan or the Half Dome slabs approach would rank relatively high.
Greg Stock
Park Geologist
Yosemite National Park
(209) 379-1420
greg_stock@nps.gov
Edit: Great photos and video!
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myterious
Trad climber
Joshua Tree
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Nothin' like a bit o' rockfall to keep the fluff away!
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!
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crossman04
Trad climber
san diego, ca
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What time did that rockfall happen?! My buddy and I had just bailed off of the RNWF of HD and we came down the Death Slabs that day!
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mr p
Big Wall climber
eastside ca
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Jun 10, 2011 - 12:27pm PT
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wow good stuff a big chunk pealed off between the zebra tisasack and the kali/white/zenith
it wont be long till the ragga peals off
see ya
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jon06
Trad climber
California
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Jun 12, 2011 - 01:27pm PT
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Wow, I was planning on heading up the DS (for the first time) on Tuesday. I think we might be going the long way now, dammit.
Thanks for the heads up. Half Dome looks pretty gray and foreboding in those pics. Like a giant, dank mid-evil castle.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jun 12, 2011 - 01:42pm PT
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Great stuff le_bruce. The water running out from under those slabs always made me nervous. Has to be pretty active right now.
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