Southwest face of El Capitan from Yosemite Valley is a photograph by RicardMN Photography which was uploaded on February 1st, 2016.
Southwest face of El Capitan from Yosemite Valley
El Capitan (Spanish for The Captain, The Chief) is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley,... more
Title
Southwest face of El Capitan from Yosemite Valley
Artist
RicardMN Photography
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Photograph
Description
El Capitan (Spanish for The Captain, The Chief) is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about 3,000 feet (900 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers and BASE jumpers.
The formation was named "El Capitan" by the Mariposa Battalion when it explored the valley in 1851. El Capitan ("the captain", "the chief") was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native American name for the cliff, variously transcribed as "To-to-kon oo-lah" or "To-tock-ah-noo-lah". It is unclear if the Native American name referred to a specific tribal chief or simply meant "the chief" or "rock chief". In modern times, the formation's name is often contracted to "El Cap", especially among rock climbers and BASE jumpers.
The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face; there are many named climbing routes, all of them arduous. Some of these include the iron hawk route, the sea of dreams route, etc.
El Capitan is featured on a United States quarter dollar coin minted in 2010 as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters series.
El Capitan is featured in the opening credit scenes of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Captain Kirk is seen climbing the rock face unaided, until Mr. Spock--hovering nearby wearing rocket boots--offers unsolicited advice. Dr. McCoy is looking at a distance through binoculars and worrying about Kirk's ascent. Spock's talking distracts Kirk, making him lose his grip and fall. Spock then flies down and saves Kirk just before impact.
El Capitan was photographed by photographer Ansel Adams (1922-1984).
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February 1st, 2016
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Comments (7)
Nisah Cheatham
Congrats! This photo has been featured on the •UNESCO World Heritage Sites• group on FAA/Pixels. ||| Featured images are capped around 30, so you are invited to archive your photo to the "2021 Features!" discussion topic.
RicardMN Photography
Thanks to Carol Duarte for featuring my photo on the FAA Featured Images group!
RicardMN Photography
Thanks to Allan Van Gasbeck for featuring my photo on the The Grayscale Outdoors group!
John Bailey
Congratulations on being featured in the Fine Art America Group "Images That Excite You!"