El Capitan
South Face of El Capitan
The El Capitan is about 1,000 meters high monolith in Yosemite National Park in the U.S. state of California. Its highest peak is at an altitude of 2,307 meters above sea level, its up to 1,000 meters high rock walls make it an attraction for free climbers.
The name " El Capitan " is a translation of the word " Tu- tock - ah -nu - lah " in the language of Ahwahnee into Spanish. The Ahwahnee from the ethnic group of Paiute Indians as indigenous people of Yosemite Valley named the mountain after " To- tock - ah ", one of their chiefs.
Rock climbing
Although the summit of El Capitan can be reached on a simple trail, the challenge for climbers is to climb one of the steep granite walls, which are crossed by numerous long and difficult climbing routes.
The most famous route on El Cap, as it is often abbreviated among rock climbers, is probably The Nose opened at the South Rim, which is distributed in 1958 by Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore after a total of 47 days of climbing over 17 months in technical climbing. Due to the natural line it follows, and its length and exposure of it is still the dream destination of many climbers.
During the 1960s, numerous efforts on all the walls of El Capitan were made that led to the realization that each of the walls with enough tenacity and bolts could be defeated. After this realization began some of the climbers to reject the locomotion of bolts and to seek routes that could be climbed free or with as little as possible of technical climbing. Although this ethic prevailed and the number of free climbing attempts were always more, it took until 1979 until the exposed west wall had a committed free route. This commission succeeded Ray Jardine. The nose was not until 1993 that climbed freely for the first time by Lynn Hill.
Even today, the El Capitan is repeatedly the scene of outstanding climbing performance: Still new and more difficult lines are developed or old, previously only technically kletterbare routes freeclimbed:
On 17 June 2004, the brothers Alexander and Thomas Huber in the Zodiac route could push its own record for the fastest climb-through a route on El Capitan in 1:51:34 hours. Usually need cliques for such a route three to four days. Even more important for the speed climbing The Nose but is: The current best time is 2:23:46 and was achieved by Hans Florine and Alex Honnold in June 2012.
Base Jumping
The 1,000 -meter-high, above partially overhanging south face of El Capitan makes it an ideal place for base jumps. The first base jump from the top of El Capitan made Michael Pelkey and Brian Schubert on July 24, 1966, with both knights treat injuries sustained fractures. Once in the 1970s, the equipment and technology had improved significantly, many base jumpers jumped successfully and safely from El Capitan.
1980 tried the National Park Administration to regulate the number of hops through the granting of permits jump. As a result, the National Park administration granting permits again and banned the Base Jumping at El Capitan all, as some of the Springer applicable in the national park rules were grossly violated. Since then, a number of groups have formed to fight for the re- opening of the El Capitan for Base Jumps; on October 23 died in 1999 and the Basejumperin Stunt wife, Jan, Davis, when she made an illegal protest jump to the jump ban.
Trivia
More images
El Capitan with the Merced River
East Face of El Capitan; the route " The Nose " runs approximately at the light - shadow boundary