| El Capitan | |
|---|---|
 Southwest face (left, in light) and southeast face (right, in shade) of El Capitan fromYosemite Valley; the Nose lies between the two faces | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 7,573 ft (2,308 m) NAVD 88[1] |
| Prominence | 9 feet (3 m)[1] |
| Isolation | 1.5 miles (2 km)[1] |
| Coordinates | 37°44′32″N119°38′09″W / 37.74222°N 119.63583°W /37.74222; -119.63583[2] |
| Naming | |
| Native name | To-tock-ah-noo-lah (Southern Sierra Miwok) |
| English translation | "the captain" |
| Pronunciation | /ɛlˌkæpɪˈtæn/elKAP-i-TAN |
| Geography | |
  El Capitan Location of "El Capitan" inYosemite National Park, California | |
| Location | Mariposa County, California, U.S. |
| Parent range | Sierra Nevada |
| Topo map | USGS El Capitan |
| Geology | |
| Rock age | Cretaceous |
| Mountain type | Granite rock |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | November 12, 1958 (1958-11-12) byWarren Harding,George Whitmore, and Wayne Merry[3][note 1] |
| Easiest route | Hike |
El Capitan (Spanish:El Capitán;lit. 'the Captain') is a verticalrock formation inYosemite National Park, on the north side ofYosemite Valley, near its western end. Thegranitemonolith is about 3,000 feet (914 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is a world-famous location forbig wall climbing, including the disciplines ofaid climbing,free climbing, and more recently forfree solo climbing.
The top of El Capitan can be reached byhiking out ofYosemite Valley on the trail next toYosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face. There are many namedclimbing routes, all of them arduous, includingIron Hawk andSea of Dreams.
The formation was named "El Capitan" by theMariposa Battalion when they explored the valley in 1851.El Capitán ("the captain") was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the localNative American name for the cliff,Tutokanula, meaning "Rock Chief" (the exact spelling of Tutokanula varies in different accounts as it is a phonetic transcription from theMiwok language).[4]
The "Rock Chief" etymology is based on the written account of Mariposa Battalion doctorLafayette Bunnell in his 1892 book.[5] Bunnell reports thatAhwahneecheeChief Tenaya explained to him in 1851 that the massive formation, called Tutokanula, could be translated as "Rock Chief" because the face of the cliff looks like a giant chief made of rock. In Bunnell's account, however, he notes that this translation may be wrong, stating: "I am not etymologist enough to understand just how the word has been constructed... [If] I am found in error, I shall be most willing to acknowledge it, for few things appear more uncertain, or more difficult to obtain, than a complete understanding of the soul of an Indian language."[5]
An alternative etymology is that Tutokanula is Miwok for "Inchworm Rock".[6]Julia F. Parker, the preeminent Coast Miwok-Kashaya Pomo basket-weaver andYosemite Museum cultural ambassador since 1960, explains that the name Tutokanula, or "Inchworm Rock", originates in the Miwok creation story for the giant rock, a legend in which two bear cubs are improbably rescued by a humbleinchworm. In the story, a mother bear and her two cubs are walking along the river. The mother forages for seeds and berries while the two cubs nap in the sun on a flat rock. While the cubs sleep, the rock grows and grows, above the trees and into the sky. The mother bear is unable to climb the rock to get to her cubs and she becomes afraid and asks for help. The fox, the mouse, the mountain lion, and every other animal tries to climb to the top of the giant rock but they each fail. Finally, the lowly little inchworm tries the climb and successfully makes it all the way to the top and rescues the cubs. All the animals are happy to see that the little inchworm has saved the two bear cubs and the rock is named in the inchworm's honor.[7]
The "Inchworm Rock" version of the meaning of Tutokanula is also described in the storyTwo Bear Cubs: A Miwok Legend from California's Yosemite Valley byRobert D. San Souci[8] and in the First People Miwok recounting of the El Cap legend.[9]
El Capitan is composed almost entirely of a pale, coarse-grainedgranite approximately 100MYA (million years old). In addition to El Capitan, this granite forms most of the rock features of the western portions ofYosemite Valley. A separateintrusion ofigneous rock, the Taft Granite, forms the uppermost portions of the cliff face.
A third igneous rock,diorite, is present as dark-veined intrusions through both kinds of granite, especially prominent in the area known as the North America Wall.[10]
Along with most of the other rock formations ofYosemite Valley, El Capitan was carved by glacial action. Several periods ofglaciation have occurred in theSierra Nevada, but theSherwin Glaciation, which lasted from approximately 1.3 MYA to 1 MYA, is considered to be responsible for the majority of the sculpting. The El Capitan Granite is relatively free ofjoints, and as a result the glacial ice did not erode the rock face as much as other, more jointed, rocks nearby.[11] Nonetheless, as with most of the rock forming Yosemite's features, El Capitan's granite is under enormous internal tension brought on by the compression experienced prior to the erosion that brought it to the surface. These forces contribute to the creation of features such as theTexas Flake, a large block of granite slowly detaching from the main rock face about halfway up the side of the cliff.
Between the two main faces, the Southwest (on the left when looking directly at the wall) and the Southeast, is a prow. While today there are numerous establishedbig wall climbing routes on both faces (for bothfree climbing andaid climbing), the most popular and most historically famous route isThe Nose, which follows this prow.
The Nose was climbed in 1958 byWarren Harding,[12] Wayne Merry andGeorge Whitmore in 47 days using "siege" tactics: climbing in an expedition style using fixed ropes along the length of the route, linking established camps along the way. The fixedmanila ropes allowed the climbers to ascend and descend from the ground throughout the 18-month project, although they presented unique levels of danger as well, sometimes breaking due to the long exposure to cold temperatures.[13] The climbing team relied heavily onaid climbing, using rope,pitons and expansion bolts to make it to the summit. The second ascent ofThe Nose was in 1960 byRoyal Robbins, Joe Fitschen,Chuck Pratt andTom Frost, who took seven days in the first continuous climb of the route without siege tactics.[12] The first solo climb ofThe Nose was done by Tom Bauman in 1969.[14] The first ascent ofThe Nose in one day was accomplished in 1975 byJohn Long,Jim Bridwell andBilly Westbay.
Efforts during the 1960s and 1970s explored the other faces of El Capitan, and many of the early routes are still popular today. Among the early classics are theSalathé Wall (1961,Royal Robbins,Chuck Pratt andTom Frost) on the southwest face,[15] and theNorth America Wall (1964, Royal Robbins,Yvon Chouinard, Chuck Pratt and Tom Frost) on the southeast face.[16] Also climbed in the 1960s are routes such as:Dihedral Wall (1962, Ed Cooper,Jim Baldwin andGlen Denny);West Buttress (1963,Layton Kor andSteve Roper); andMuir Wall (1965,Yvon Chouinard and TM Herbert).[17] Later ascents include:Wall of the Early Morning Light, now known asDawn Wall, on the Southeast face, adjacent to the prow[18] (1970, Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell);[19]Zodiac (1972, Charlie Porter (solo));The Shield (1972, Porter and Gary Bocarde);Mescalito (1973, Porter, Steve Sutton, Hugh Burton and C. Nelson);Pacific Ocean Wall (1975,Jim Bridwell,Billy Westbay, Jay Fiske and Fred East);Sea of Dreams (1978, Bridwell, Dale Bard and Dave Diegelman);Jolly Roger (1979, Charles Cole and Steve Grossman); andWings of Steel (1982, Richard Jensen and Mark Smith). Today there are over 70 routes on El Capitan of various difficulties and danger levels.[20] New routes continue to be established, usually consisting of additions to, or links between, existing routes.
After his successful solo ascent of theLeaning Tower,Royal Robbins turned his attention to theYvon Chouinard-T.M. HerbertMuir Wall route, completing the first solo ascent of El Capitan in 10 days in 1968. The first solo ascents of El Capitan's four classic "siege" routes were accomplished by Tom Bauman onThe Nose in 1969;[21]Peter Hann on theSalathé Wall in 1972;[22]Robert Kayen on theLayton Kor-Steve RoperWest Buttress route in 1982;[23] andBeverly Johnson on the Cooper-Baldwin-DennyDihedral Wall route in 1978.[24] Other noteworthy early solo ascents were the solo first ascent ofCosmos byJim Dunn in 1972,Zodiac byCharlie Porter in 1972;Tangerine Trip by David Mittel in 1985; andThe Pacific Ocean Wall byRob Slater in 1982. These ascents took 7 to 14 days that required the solo climber lead each pitch, and then rappel, clean the climbing gear, reascend the lead rope, and haul equipment, food and water using a second haul rope.Alex Honnold was the first to free solo El Cap entirely on June 3, 2017. It took him 3 hours and 56 mins to climb 2,900 ft (880 m) via theFreerider route.
Beverly Johnson successfully ascended El Capitan, via the Nose route, with Dan Asay in June 1973. In September 1973, Beverly Johnson and Sibylle Hechtel were the first team of women to ascend El Capitan via the Triple Direct route, which takes the first ten pitches of the Salathe Wall, then continues up the middle portion of El Capitan via the Muir Wall, and finishes on the upper pitches of the Nose route.[25] In 1977,Molly Higgins andBarb Eastman climbed the Nose, to become the second party of women to climb El Capitan and the first to climb it via the Nose.[26] In 1978, Bev Johnson was the first woman to solo El Capitan by climbing the Dihedral Wall. In 1993,Lynn Hill established the first free Ascent of The Nose (IV 5.14a/b).[27]Hazel Findlay has made three free ascents of El Capitan, including the first female ascent ofGolden Gate in 2011, the first female ascent ofPre-Muir Wall in 2012, and a three-day ascent ofFreerider in 2013 and 'Salathe' in 2017.[28] The oldest woman to climb El Capitan is Dierdre Wolownick, mother toAlex Honnold, who was 66 at the time when she first became the oldest woman to climb El Capitan in 2017, and later broke her own record and again became the oldest woman to climb El Capitan in 2021 on her 70th birthday.[29][30] On June 12, 2019, 10-year-old Selah Schneiter became the then-youngest person to scale El Capitan, via The Nose route.[31][32] On November 4, 2020, AmericanEmily Harrington became the fourth woman to free climb El Capitan in a single day and the fourth person (and first woman) to have done so via the routeGolden Gate.[33]
As it became clear that any non-crumbling face could be climbed with sufficient perseverance and bolt-hole drilling, some climbers began searching for El Capitan routes that could be climbed eitherfree or with minimal aid. TheWest Face route wasfree climbed in 1979 byRay Jardine andBill Price; but despite numerous efforts by Jardine and others,The Nose resisted free attempts for another fourteen years. The first free ascent of a main El Cap route, though, was notThe Nose, butSalathé Wall.Todd Skinner andPaul Piana made the first free ascent over 9 days in 1988, after 30 days of working the route (graded 5.13b on theYosemite Decimal System).[34]The Nose was the second major route to be free climbed. Two pitches onThe Nose blocked efforts to free the route: the "Great Roof" graded 5.13c and "Changing Corners" graded 5.14a/b. In 1993,Lynn Hill came close to freeingThe Nose, making it past theGreat Roof and up to Camp VI without falling, stopped only onChanging Corners by apiton jammed in a critical finger hold.[13] After removing the piton she re-climbed the route from the ground. After four days of climbing, Hill reached the summit, making her the first person to free climbThe Nose. A year later, Hill returned to free climbThe Nose in a day, this time reaching the summit in just 23 hours and setting a new standard for free climbing on El Capitan.[13]
The Nose saw a second free ascent in 1998, whenScott Burke summitted after 261 days of effort.[35] On October 14, 2005,Tommy Caldwell andBeth Rodden, then husband and wife, became the third and fourth people (and the first couple) to free climbThe Nose. They took four days on the ascent, swapping leads with each climber free climbing each pitch, either leading or following.[36] Two days later, Caldwell returned to free climbThe Nose in less than 12 hours.[37] Caldwell returned two weeks later to free climb El Capitan twice in a day, completingThe Nose with Rodden, then descending and leadingFreerider in a combined time of 23 hours 23 minutes.[38]
On January 14, 2015, American climbersTommy Caldwell andKevin Jorgeson completed the first free climb of a route on the southeast face of El Capitan (known asThe Wall of Early Morning Light), which they calledThe Dawn Wall; the climb took 19 days and created the world'sfirst-evermulti-pitch climbing route at the grade of9a (5.14d).[39][40] In November 2016, Czech climberAdam Ondra made the first repeat ofThe Dawn Wall in 8 days, leading every single pitch himself.[41] TheDawn Wall was repeated for the fourth time by Belgian climber Sébastien Berthe in January 2025.[42]
In 2016,Pete Whittaker became the first person to make an all-freerope solo ascent—which means on every pitch one free climbs to ananchor,abseils to retrieve gear, and thenjumars up again to the high point–of El Capitan'sFreerider in one day. He left the ground at 3:02 pm on November 11 and finished at 11:08 am on November 12; a total of 20 hours and 6 minutes.[43][44]
Free solo climbing is a form ofrock climbing where the climbers do not use anyropes,harnesses, or otherprotective equipment. This forces the climbers to rely on only their own individual preparation, strength, and skill.
On June 3, 2017,Alex Honnold completed the first and onlyfree solo climb of El Capitan.[45] He ascended theFreerider line in 3 hours and 56 minutes, beginning at 5:32 am and reaching the peak at 9:28 am. The climb was filmed for the 2018 documentaryFree Solo.
The speed climbing record for the Nose has changed hands several times in the past few years. The current sub-two-hour record of 1:58:07[46] was set on June 6, 2018, byAlex Honnold andTommy Caldwell after two other record-breaking climbs in the days before.
Mayan Smith-Gobat andLibby Sauter broke the speed record for an all-women team with a time of 4:43 on October 23, 2014.[47]
In October 2016, the American disabled athlete and professional adventurerEnock Glidden scaled El Capitan after doing more than 800 pull-ups a day to train for the climb.[48] He was born withspina bifida, a neural tube defect that damages the spinal cord and nerves.[49] Glidden was carried in a rescue basket and the descent took 12 hours.[49]
Over thirty fatalities have been recorded between 1905 and 2018 while climbing El Capitan, including seasoned climbers. Critics blame a recent increase of fatalities (five deaths from 2013 to 2018) in part on increased competition around timed ascents,social media fame, and "competing for deals with equipment manufacturers or advertisers".[50]
El Capitan has a controversial history regardingBASE jumping, and theNational Park Service uses an old regulation, known as the aerial delivery regulation, that predates the existence of BASE jumping to criminally prosecute modern day BASE jumpers.Michael Pelkey andBrian Schubert made the first BASE jump from El Capitan on July 24, 1966. Both men sustained broken bones from the jump. During the 1970s, with better equipment and training, many BASE jumpers made successful jumps from El Capitan. In 1980 the National Park Service experimented with issuing BASE-jumping permits. The first permitted BASE jump was performed on August 4, 1980, by Dean Westgaard of Laguna Beach.[51] These legal jumps resulted in no major injuries or fatalities. After a trial lasting only ten weeks, the National Park Service ceased issuing permits and effectively shut down all BASE jumping on El Capitan.[52] On October 22, 1999, 60-year-old Jan Davis died after BASE jumping from El Capitan while using borrowed equipment, with which she was unfamiliar, so that her own equipment would not be confiscated byNPS rangers waiting to arrest her. She was part of an event to protest the death of Frank Gambalie,[53] who had landed safely but drowned after being chased into a river by park rangers.[54]
El Capitan is featured on a United States quarter dollar coin minted in 2010 as part of theAmerica the Beautiful Quarters series.[55]
In the opening title sequence ofStar Trek V: The Final Frontier,James T. Kirk, portrayed byWilliam Shatner, attempts a free solo climb of El Capitan.[56] It is also an important setting in the Netflix seriesUntamed.
Apple named its 12th major release ofmacOS after El Capitan.
TheEl Capitansupercomputer located inLawrence Livermore National Laboratory is named after El Capitan. It is currently the fastest supercomputer in the world.[57]
"El Capitan" is a song by Scottish rock bandIdlewild from their fourth studio album,Warnings/Promises (2005). It was released as the third single from the album on 11 July 2005 and charted at No. 39 in the UK Singles Chart.
"El Capitan" is a song by Omaha-based indie rock bandBright Eyes from their eleventh studio album,Five Dice, All Threes (2024).
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