On the afternoon of 27 Sept. 2017, thousands of visitors to Yosemite National Park were enjoying scenic attractions in Yosemite Valley. Dozens of rock climbers were scaling El Capitan, a 900-m-tall granitic cliff famous for its challenging climbing routes. Suddenly, at 13:51 Pacific Standard Time (PST), a rock slab detached from 230 m up the southeast face of El Capitan. Tragically, rock debris struck two rock climbers walking along the base of the cliff, killing one and seriously injuring the other. Over the next three hours, as the park's search and rescue team worked to extract the climbers, six more rockfalls originating from the new scar pummeled the base of the cliff.
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