SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two days of cracking, thundering falling rock at Yosemite National Park have left one man dead, two people injured, and even experienced climbers stunned by the spectacle.
A massive new hunk of granite broke off Thursday at the park's mountaineering mecca of El Capitan, injuring an elderly man and sending huge plumes of white dust.
"There was so much smoke and debris," said climber Ryan Sheridan, who had just reached the top of El Capitan when the rock let loose below him. "It filled the entire valley with smoke."
The slide came a day after a giant slab of granite plunged from the same formation, killing a British man on a hiking and climbing visit and injuring his wife.