YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Officials at Yosemite National Park in California say a chunk of rock broke off El Capitan along one of the world’s most famously scaled routes at the height of climbing season.
Ranger Scott Gediman said Wednesday that witnesses made multiple calls reporting the rock fall around 2 p.m. PDT. He estimates 30 or more climbers were on the wall at the time, but he could not confirm injuries or the size of the rock fall.
El Capitan is one of the world’s largest granite monoliths towering vertically 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) from the Yosemite Valley floor. Mountaineers worldwide travel to the park to scale the sheer face.
Gediman says the park’s helicopter is helping assess the damage.
The rock fall happened along the Waterfall route on El Capitan’s eastern buttress.
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