X-Nico

9 unusual facts about El Capitan


Ammon McNeely

He is recognized as having climbed El Capitan by the most number of different routes - 75 times via 61 routes.

Ammon has been the conductor of many ascents on El Capitan, most of them in a day (under 24 hrs): Plastic Surgery Disaster, Wall of the Early Morning Light, Atlantic Ocean Wall, and most recent climbing one of the hardest routes on El Capitan, The Reticent Wall along with Dean Potter & Ivo Ninov in 34 hours and 57 minutes, shaving the existing time by more than five days.

John Middendorf

In the 1980s, he climbed the hardest walls of Yosemite (including El Capitan and Half Dome), and in 1992 he climbed the largest rock wall in the world, Great Trango Tower

Mari Gingery

From 1979-83 Gingery climbed with Lynn Hill every weekend in Yosemite, completing an ascent of The Nose and then the first female-only ascent of The Shield on El Capitan over a period of six days.

Marianne Pretorius

Here they climbed in 9 different states over a period of 5 months including Yosemite, where they started on the "Leaning Tower" and then went on to climb "The Nose" and "The Zodiac" on El Capitan in August 1999 - their first experience of big walls.

Mark Wellman

Mark Wellman is an author, filmmaker, paralympian, and motivational speaker, who is best known for his 1989 ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, which was the first ascent of the cliff by a paraplegic.

Michael Pelkey

On 24 July 1966 Pelkey and Brian Schubert, two 26-year-old skydivers from Barstow, California, made the first parachute jumps from the top of the El Capitan mountain in Yosemite National Park.

Portaledge

These heavy cots were used on multi-day climbs on granite monoliths like El Capitan, and then sometimes tossed off the summit for later retrieval.

Rick Sylvester

In 1971, he skied off the top of El Capitan and descended approximately 914 metres (3000 feet) by parachute.


Alex Honnold

He has broken a number of speed records, most notably the only known solo climb (95% free climbing with a few points of aid) of the Yosemite Triple crown, an 18 hour 50 minute link up of Mount Watkins, The Nose, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome.

Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California

Based on sketches made during a visit in 1863, Bierstadt paints the valley from a vantage point just above the Merced River, looking due west with the prospect framed by El Capitan on the right, and Sentinel Rock on the left; the spire of Middle Cathedral Rock is visible in the distance.


see also

Capitán Trueno

El Capitán Trueno has been the subject of several popular songs; by Asfalto, in their eponymous 1978 debut album, and by Spanish pop veteran Miguel Bosé in his song "El Hijo del Capitan Trueno" (Captain Thunder's Son) from his 2001 album Sereno.

Carl Boenish

Boenish's cinematography work included the 1969 John Frankenheimer parachuting film classic The Gypsy Moths, starring Burt Lancaster and Gene Hackman, and a National Geographic Explorer segment on jumps from El Capitan.

Craig Calonica

He is also a climber and has climb many big walls in Yosemite National Park and to date has climbed over 28 big wall routes mostly on El Capitan.

El Capitan Books

El Capitan's first release was Stray Bullets #1 in 1995, and the company is still best known for publishing this comic book series which continues today.

El Capitan High School

El Capitan High School (commonly known as El Cap) is a public high school in Lakeside, California, United States, a census-designated place in San Diego, and serves students in grades nine through twelve.

Kyra Sundance

Kyra and her Weimaraners perform live acrobatic shows, and have appeared at professional sports halftime shows, and on television shows such as The Tonight Show, Ellen, ET, Worldwide Fido Awards, Animal Planet's Pet Star, Showdog Moms & Dads, and Disney’s Underdog stage show at the El Capitan theater in Hollywood.

Los Rodríguez

The album contains Mucho Mejor (with Coque Malla), Todavía una canción de amor (with lyrics by Joaquín Sabina, whom they toured with that year) and Milonga del marinero y el capitán.