El Capitan
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- This article describes El Capitan in California. For other meanings, please see El Capitan (disambiguation).
| El Capitan | |
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 El Capitan from Yosemite Valley | |
| Elevation: | 7,569 ft (2,307 m) |
| Coordinates: | Template:Coor dms |
| Location: | California, USA |
| Topo map: | USGS El Capitan |
| Range: | Sierra Nevada |
| Type: | granite rock |
| Age of rock: | Cretaceous |
| First ascent: | unknown |
| Easiest route: | hike |
El Capitan is a 3,000 foot vertical rock formation in the Yosemite Valley, which is very popular with rock climbers.
The name "El Capitan" was a translation from the Native American name "To-to-kon oo-lah", which was named after "To-to-kon", a chief of the natives of the area [1] (http://www.yosemite.ca.us/history/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/e.html).
The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face; there are dozens of named climbing routes, all of them long and difficult.
Climbing history
The most prominent part of El Capitan, the "Nose", was first climbed in 1958 by Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore after 47 days of actual climbing spread over seventeen months. The team used rope, pitons and expansion bolts to make it to the top, using aid climbing much of the way. The route was repeated in 1960 by Royal Robbins, Joe Fitschen, Chuck Pratt and Tom Frost, who took seven days. The first ascent of the Nose in one day was accomplished in 1975 by John Long, Jim Bridwell and Billy Westbay.
Efforts during the 1960s explored the other faces of "El Cap", including the North America Wall on the southeast side. As it became clear that any face could be conquered with sufficient perseverance and bolt hole drilling, some climbers began to eschew the use of bolts and attempted to find El Cap routes that could be climbed either free or with a minimal use of aid. Even so, the West Face was not free climbed until 1979 (Ray Jardine and Bill Price), the Nose was only freed by Lynn Hill in 1993.
El_Capitan,_Yosemite_NP.jpg
Reference
- George Meyers and Don Reid, Yosemite Climbs (Chockstone Press, 1987)