El Capitan is a prominent rocky outcrop in Yosemite National Park in the US state of California.
The formation consisting of monolith granite is 900m high. It is visited by rock climbers all over the world. El Capitan rock is the largest mass of granite ever found on the earth’s surface. Alex Honnold became the first person to climb El Capitan with the free solo method on June 3, 2017. The ascent, which started at 5:32 am local time and lasted 3 hours and 56 minutes, inspired the 2018 documentary film Free Solo.
Due to its size, El Capitan is a prominent landmark in Yosemite Valley. It is considered one of the landmarks of the national park. Its rock faces make it a magnet for climbers.
Access : Coordinates: 37.742222, -119.635833 / Location : Mariposa County, California, U.S.
Highlights :
- The name El Capitan comes from Spanish and means something like ‘leader’ or ‘captain’. It is said to have been coined in 1851, relatively soon after the US annexed California, by members of the Mariposa Battalion, a guerrilla force of US settlers who were the first whites to set foot in Yosemite Valley.
- Base jumping : El Capitan’s 1,000-meter high, partially overhanging southwest face makes it an ideal location for base jumping. The first base jump from the top of El Capitan was made by Michael Pelkey and Brian Schubert on July 24, 1966, with both jumpers suffering fractures. After equipment and technology had improved significantly in the 1970s, many base jumpers successfully and safely jumped off the El Capitan.
- Version 10.11 of Apple’s OS X operating system was named El Capitan./ The film The Dawn Wall documents the first free-style climb of the Dawn Wall route by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson / The film Am Limit documents the attempt by the Huber brothers Thomas and Alexander to break the speed record on the nose.
The film Free Solo documents Alex Honnold’s first free solo ascent of the Freerider route. / The song El Capitan by the Scottish indie band Idlewild is about the El Capitan. / In 1988/89, the rock served as a filming location for the movie Star Trek V: At the Edge of the Universe.
Go next : Yosemite Falls , the highest waterfall in Yosemite National Park / The Middle Cascades / Lower Falls.
