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2 However, there’s another way to get to the top of El Capitan—
climbing straight up the sheer rock face of the granite cliff.
Climbers have been ascending the rock formations of Yosemite
since the 1940s. El Capitan was always seen as the ultimate
challenge. It wasn’t until 1958 that a climber, Warren Harding,
was able to make it from the base to the top of the cliff over the
course of 18 months. That happened five years after Edmund
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited Mount Everest!
3 Harding’s route up El Capitan was along the middle of the
cliff, called the Nose. Today, expert climbers can ascend that
route in less than a day.
El Capitan, Yosemite, CA 3,000 ft. (914 m)
One World Trade Center, New York, NY 1,776 ft. (541 m)
The Willis Tower, Chicago, IL 1,450 ft. (442 m)
The Bank of America Plaza, Dallas, TX 921 ft. (281 m)
These skyscrapers look tiny compared to the massive El Capitan.
sheer A sheer cliff is extremely steep or completely vertical.
ascending If you are ascending a hill or cliff, you are climbing it.
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