Re: Large rockfall from the face of Half Dome

see: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/07/07/colossal-rock-fall-changes-face-of-yosemites-half-dome/

FRESNO, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Officials at Yosemite National Park say a massive sheet of rock has fallen from the vertical face of Half Dome on the most popular route used by climbers.

Park geologist and climber Greg Stock said Tuesday that officials are now determining how the new route changes the climb.

Nobody was injured or witnessed the fall believed to have happened one night last week.

Stock says the relatively thin sheet of rock that peeled off measured roughly 100 by 200 feet.

This rock fall really changed the face of Half Dome:

kcra.com article

(In the unlikely event that the above webpage is updated, the stock photo used in the article is of El Capitan...)

It also seems to have impacted the weather, and possibly ended the drought:

cbslocal.com article

(This article's photo is at least of Half Dome, but with a "fresh dumping of snow" per the caption...)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2015 03:28PM by basilbop.

You'd think they could at least have gone with a stock photo of Half Dome!

Anybody seen any shots of the "new" Half Dome (or started a pool on how long before Half Dome gets whittled down to half the dome)?

Quote
DavidK42
Anybody seen any shots of the "new" Half Dome (or started a pool on how long before Half Dome gets whittled down to half the dome)?

I really should know better than asking a question like that before I google it!

Scroll down this discussion to the entries from 7/5, around 8:17pm and later and there are some before-and-after shots (including some really cool closeups when you get to the posts from 7/6 that most of us (well, certainly me!) will never get to see in person). As usual with the media, "changes the face of Half Dome" is a bit of a dramatic way to put it. I'm sure the change is significant for climbers but it doesn't look like the crowds of photographers gathered along Sentinel Bridge are likely to notice much.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2015 02:46PM by DavidK42.

The National Geographic picture of Alex Honnold and the ledge he is standing on is apparently now gone.

Actually, it's still there. Thank God Ledge (the one in the National Geographic) is near the top of Half Dome. The ledge that fell is Belay Ledge, further down (around pitch 11-12). Thankfully no climbers were there when it happened.