Yosemite Rocks

The north-facing wall below Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park is being monitored daily by rangers and geologists since a rockfall there on June 13 killed a Colorado man. There have been a series of rockfalls since then and about a dozen new cracks formed within 24 hours of the June 13 fall, prompting the National Park Service to close off a section of Curry Village directly below. All hiking trails remain open. Geologists say another large rockslide is imminent.

Yosemite Valley is vulnerable to rockfalls because it is narrow and has steep walls, left behind when glaciers retreated millions of years ago. Earthquakes, erosion and the resulting rockfalls are all part of the constantly changing landscape of Yosemite, although it is rare to witness the development of new cracks and impending rockfalls.