Geologists say no increased risk after Yosemite rocks fall
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — A geological analysis Friday found there was no more danger than usual of another giant rock fall after two huge slides, including one involving a slab of granite the size of a 36-story building, occurred this week on the famed El Capitan rock formation.
One person was killed and two injured in the successive rock falls on Wednesday and Thursday at the climbing mecca.
“If we felt any area was unsafe we wouldn’t be allowing people in there,” Yosemite geologist Greg Stock said Friday.
He and a U.S. Geological Service geologist were studying the mountain after the rock falls that awed but did not deter people in the close-knit climbing community. The park typically sees about 80 rock falls a year.
Elite climbers who make their way up the sheer rock faces with ropes and their fingertips understand the risk but also know it’s rare to get hit and killed by rocks.
In addition, Stock said it’s impossible to predict when and where a rock fall will strike. Detecting shifts in rocks could be a sign that one will break loose days or maybe years later, he said.
Geologists don’t think climbers who pound stakes into the granite wall or hang from ropes during their treks have much effect on the mountainside.
“I am a scientist, so I won’t rule it out entirely,” Stock said. “We don’t see a strong link between climbing and rock falls.”
The slide on Wednesday featuring the building-sized boulder killed Andrew Foster, 32, of Wales. His wife, Lucy, was seriously injured.
Jim Evans of Naples, Fla., was also injured by that rock fall.
Ryan Sheridan, 25, of Buffalo, N.Y., had been scaling the route for days when the granite slab fell Wednesday and said he was spooked after hammering a pin into the wall that didn’t sound right. “The entire wall seemed to be making hollow noises. When you hit the wall, you could hear echo all around you,” he said.
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