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Llewelyn Moss
Big Wall climber
LZ Loon
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 17, 2017 - 08:56am PT
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All –
Beware. On 9/16/17 we intended to climb the West Face of El Cap and discovered that the area has been completely obliterated by rockfall. The gully has been wiped out completely. The climber’s bivy has filled in with 2’ of fresh talus. It is unrecognizable. There are huge craters in the ground and the surrounding walls in the gully have been hit hard by huge rock. Many of the trees in the gully have simply disappeared. White dust covers everything. This was huge.
After climbing a very dusty, rock-impacted first pitch of the West Face (and getting a bird’s eye view of the destruction) we made a decision to get out of there. Rockfall barely missed the West Face P1 bolt anchor. We climbed KP Pinnacle and then walked over to Ribbon Falls where we were able to get a better vantage point of the source area.
It appears that a massive section of wall immediately above the end of the West Face’s Thanksgiving Ledge Traverse has fallen off. There is a huge white impact scar right on Thanksgiving, on the part of the easy traverse where there may not be much gear. The source area is very high on the wall. Rockfall fanned far up the gully, past Beyer’s route, all the way down to Mirage. We even saw evidence of the rockfall on the west side of KP Pinnacle!! Yowza. The rock fall scar and path of destruction are visible without binoculars from Ribbon Falls.
Please be careful!!!
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zip
Trad climber
pacific beach, ca
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Sep 17, 2017 - 09:01am PT
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DAAAMMMN!
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 09:14am PT
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Damn. Makes me think of rolling dice.
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 09:19am PT
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Yikes! Hope no one was hurt.
I hope Greg Stock sees this and chimes in after he has a look see.
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Sep 17, 2017 - 11:20am PT
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Place is falling apart . . . glad no one was in the way.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 17, 2017 - 12:17pm PT
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Thanks for such a complete report.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Sep 17, 2017 - 03:17pm PT
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Just wear your magic helmet, you will be fine.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 06:05pm PT
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Thanks for the report, get any pics of either the base area or the fresh scar area above Thanksgiving?
Must have been creepy making your way up the gulley through the rubble, good call on bailing!
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anita514
Gym climber
Great White North
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Sep 17, 2017 - 06:22pm PT
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Any news about a recent rockfall on Waterfall route?
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 08:06pm PT
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Who says geologic time is slow?
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Sep 17, 2017 - 08:14pm PT
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Damn it, people! I've only done two Grade VI's--The NWF of Half Dome and the West Face of El Cap, and you had to go and ruin both of them. Knock it off. Actually, I spent the night on that pitch 11 ledge that fell of HD. Freakin' spooky. As with this rock fall, it's amazing that no one was at the base. Climbers be having some luck with these two rock falls.
BAd
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 08:48pm PT
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BAD, how do you deal with such guilt?
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WBraun
climber
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Sep 17, 2017 - 09:55pm PT
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Sh!t is supposed to fall off.
It means it is still alive.
If it was dead it would be Disney Land ......
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Sep 17, 2017 - 10:04pm PT
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hey there, say... Llewelyn Moss...
thank you for the warning, for all the folks here...
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EdBannister
Mountain climber
13,000 feet
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Sep 18, 2017 - 12:16am PT
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Mr. Braun says it well.
besides,
for the things to be exfoliation domes....
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Sep 18, 2017 - 06:55am PT
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Hah, Jim, good point, although certainly many hundreds have done the climbs since I did them. Still, I can now say, "Well, when I did that climb, it was much different, far more aesthetic, better in every way. Too bad about that rockfall that changed it forever...." Gotta work on my old guy, snide commentary. The Smoking Duck has turned it into an art form.
BAd
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Mr_T
Trad climber
Northern California
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Sep 18, 2017 - 10:30am PT
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That's a huge bummer. I'd done the first 2/3 of the route only to get blasted off by a storm. Never got a chance to go back...
Any photos of the base area?
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elle_no
climber
Bay Area, CA
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Sep 18, 2017 - 12:50pm PT
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Is there any more info on this? I can't find anything about anywhere online.
VERY glad to hear no one was hurt, let alone killed!
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Crazy Bat
Sport climber
Birmingham, AL & Seweanee, TN
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Sep 19, 2017 - 06:48am PT
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I guess we will have to wait for a post about pass the petons pete getting stuck on the wall again to find out more about this rockfall.
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rwedgee
Ice climber
CA
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Sep 19, 2017 - 08:19am PT
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Nobody on this forum climbs anymore
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WBraun
climber
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Sep 19, 2017 - 08:22am PT
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Quit crying like girls,
The rockfall didn't do sh!t on your precious little rock.
You people are such wankers ....
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Sep 19, 2017 - 08:31am PT
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Nobody on this forum climbs anymore
speak for yourself...
...I'll try to get some comparison together in the next couple of weeks...
I don't know where the idea that rock fall doesn't happen came from, it is happening all the time. Anyone whose spent real time in the Valley is aware of the changes that are occurring.
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Mr_T
Trad climber
Northern California
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Sep 19, 2017 - 09:00am PT
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The description of this sounds like there's a ton of crap up on the wall at Thanksgiving ledge. That ton of crap would be poised to fall down on a climber. So for those of us who did give the route a go in 2015 and were hoping to go back this fall/next spring, it's a bit concerning.
Is this Rixon's-Pinnacle/Koko Ledge-like rock fall (keep out) or is it run-of-the-mill Middle Cathedral (happens all the time)? I don't recall 2' of new talus periodically appearing at the base of MCR.
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couchmaster
climber
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Sep 19, 2017 - 02:43pm PT
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Wbraun quote: "Quit crying like girls,
The rockfall didn't do sh!t on your precious little rock.
You people are such wankers .... "
Haha! ^^ Too funny Werner. ^^ Meantime get yer ass off the net and over there to get some photo shots of the rockfall up will ya? Hopefully this gives folks some alternative ideas to work on till we see photos.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sep 19, 2017 - 05:18pm PT
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Can't we dramatize it like fake news for the candy eaters?
In the parlance of geology, gnarly is a fairly recent term, but is gaining acceptance, especially among Millennials.
Lithomorphic ecdysis has claim to be one of the fastest-growing branches of geology, also, according to this article I saw in Rock and Eyes magazine.
National Lithographic says the same in one of their recent issues, if I'm not mistaken, which has happened, believe it or not. (And the time that it did, the sh!t really came down.)
But things move very slowly in geologic time, so just give it a rest and mellow out and there will be a Stock Report soon, surely.
Oh, and America thanks YOU, Dingus, for the metaphor!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 19, 2017 - 05:27pm PT
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You Valley prancers need to get into some real mountains more often where it's news if there isn't rockfall. :-/
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sep 19, 2017 - 05:31pm PT
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Reilly, you have THE BEST ROCKFALL PICTURE OF ALL TIME. You know the one.
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Inner City
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Sep 19, 2017 - 06:02pm PT
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R2Driffic
That was hilarious!
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Petch
Gym climber
knapsack crack
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Sep 19, 2017 - 09:11pm PT
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Quit crying like girls,
No sexism here
Doesn't sound like a yogi to me
Love
Proud father of a Girl
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ec
climber
ca
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Sep 20, 2017 - 06:46am PT
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erik griffith
Trad climber
Sacramento, CA
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Sep 20, 2017 - 08:54am PT
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Climbed route day after rockfall. (Yes I know, yrr gonna die. Aren't well all)
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. All anchors and route are still intact and unharmed by the rock fall. Climbers left of the wall was completely peppered and the gully itself seems pretty unstable. Sounds of silt and granite shifting all day below us. We found the huge block that had stopped on Thanksgiving ledge and made the easy 4th class traverse a little trickier to navigate. The feeling of being over there was definitely one of high caution and felt like we entered no man's land. I'd be careful going over there, and probably won't be treading on that side for some time. The route still goes and didn't seem to have any damage besides dusty holds. For how stable the big rock clinging on thx giving ledge, I have no idea.. could be there for the next 1000 years or 10 days. Thankfully it stayed put as we climbed under, on, and around it.
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gstock
climber
Yosemite Valley
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Sep 20, 2017 - 04:25pm PT
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Sep 20, 2017 - 05:27pm PT
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That's what I was waiting for, Greg Stock rocks!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 20, 2017 - 05:44pm PT
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That doesn't look like a lot of cubic footage in comparison to all the lamentations.
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aldude
climber
Monument Manor
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Sep 20, 2017 - 05:58pm PT
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Cool....missed Allied Forces !
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Sep 20, 2017 - 06:05pm PT
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Thank you GStock! Looks pretty normal. Still glad nobody got hurt.
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john hansen
climber
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Sep 20, 2017 - 07:47pm PT
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Greg Stock, thanks for the photos. Can you give us any idea how this compares (cubic meters or?) with some other falls?
Maybe the Half Dome one on Reg Route,,,
The "two feet of new talus makes me curious, hard to see the scale in your photos but does look fairly small.
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gstock
climber
Yosemite Valley
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Sep 21, 2017 - 09:37am PT
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From the photos I posted above, I estimate the volume of this rockfall at about 40-50 cubic meters, or roughly 130 tons. Volume-wise, that's a bit more than a Sprinter van. That is certainly large enough to create a lot of debris at the base, but it's not big by Yosemite standards. For comparison, the July 2015 rockfall from the Northwest Face of Half Dome was about 45 times larger at 1,800 cubic meters.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Sep 21, 2017 - 01:18pm PT
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Thanks, Greg!
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erik griffith
Gym climber
Yosemite National park
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Sep 21, 2017 - 01:26pm PT
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Wow! Awesome photos. Half of that rock is just sitting on Thanksgiving ledge at the start of the final 5.6 pitch. We climbed around it and slightly on top of it for a couple moves. Seems like it's going to be hanging out there for a while. The Yosemite landscape is definitely an ever changing one.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Sep 21, 2017 - 05:45pm PT
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Dang, those rock-fall source before and after pictures are so interesting. They make you immediately see how it probably works. That downward-projecting triangle of rock is heavy.
Always had a thing for mass-wasting.
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Tom Patterson
Trad climber
Seattle
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Sep 21, 2017 - 06:38pm PT
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Having had two pretty hairy experiences with rockfall through the years, this kind of gives me the willies.
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Sep 21, 2017 - 07:31pm PT
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6/10
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Sep 21, 2017 - 09:51pm PT
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Here's the base in April - remember noticing a number of white blocks with that semi-fresh look to them, like the big field of boulders that the south side of the Mirror trail cuts through. But who knows how long they may have been there.
And looking up the West Gulley from the start
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Sep 22, 2017 - 03:11am PT
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Gstock: do you use some sort of software to identify the before/after differences, or it that based on a well-trained eye? Thanks for the images, very interesting.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Sep 22, 2017 - 04:21am PT
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Look for fresh rocks/dust.
Then look straight up! :-)
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Sep 23, 2017 - 08:55pm PT
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I was waiting for Greg's post for several days, then I got distracted and forgot to check back. Thanks for your excellent posts and commentary. Whenever there's a rockfall event, I've learned to expect Greg to give us the real news. As always, you don't disappoint.
John
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Sep 23, 2017 - 10:15pm PT
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Greg, did you ever figure out the origin point for the one I mentioned to you when I did LF with Gomz in May 2009?
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Mr_T
Trad climber
Northern California
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Sep 27, 2017 - 08:07pm PT
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Maybe the rockfall took care of that annoying fixed rope just to the right?
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Jim Pettigrew
Social climber
Crowley Lake, CA
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I'm obviously late on this one! Yes! It is alive! Look Igor it pulsates with vigor and energy! No not Disneyland only the current messed up concessinare!
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Llewelyn Moss
Big Wall climber
LZ Loon
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 9, 2017 - 06:03pm PT
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Bump for Jim's reply.
Had a good laugh reading his post, made me smile.
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