Pete Zabrok captured terrifying footage of the rock falls on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, CA. These videos are raw footage and were released a few days after the events occurred. Image how scary it had to be witnessing this below you.
“This was Rockfall #5 and #6 on Day 1. Remember, this was the “small” rockfall! The rescue and recovery efforts had been completed by this point. I was pretty gripped, for sure, and incredibly thankful to still be alive. We had climbed directly under this rockfall for the preceding five or six days, and but for the infinite mercy of God [or at least 24 hours’ worth of mercy] I’d be singin’ in the Heavenly Choir*, rather than on my portaledge,” stated Pete Zobrok on his YouTube Channel.
“Ryan Sheridan, Patrick McRedmond and I – “Pass the Pitons” Pete Zabrok – completed our ascent of Waterfall Route safely, only to watch the first two-thirds of the route fall off beneath us in this spectacular and terrifying rockfall!
We had been in the line of fire for the previous six days directly underneath, and had we been one day slower – my usual pace – we would have been dead for sure. Subsequent observation from the base revealed the slab of rock which peeled off to be over a thousand feet high!
We literally felt the granite of El Capitan shaking beneath our feet like an earthquake!
You’ve heard of the First Ascent of a climbing route? Well, this was the Last Ascent! The first rockfall the day before was the most amazing spectacle I had ever witnessed in forty years of adventure high above and deep beneath the earth. And this one was in my estimation one hundred times bigger – roughly 10 to the 8 pounds of granite!
Waterfall Route was my 58th different El Cap route, and I have spent 724 nights on the side of El Cap, not counting base or summit bivys.
We surely cheated death on this one!” stated Pete Zobrok on his YouTube Channel.
