Half dome
| Half dome | ||
|---|---|---|
 View from Glacier Point into Yosemite Valley with Half Dome (top right) |
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| height | 2693 m | |
| location | California , USA | |
| Mountains | Sierra Nevada | |
| Coordinates | 37 ° 44 '45 " N , 119 ° 31' 59" W | |
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| First ascent | 1875 by George G. Anderson | |
The Half Dome (also Ti-sa-oh in the language of Ahwahnee ) is a 2,693 m high mountain in Yosemite National Park in the US state of California . It is at the eastern end of the Yosemite Valley . Ever since the photographer Ansel Adams made the mountain with its characteristic hemispherical shape known to a wide audience in one of his most famous photographs ( Monolith, The Face of Half Dome ) , it has been the symbol of the national park and, together with El Capitan, represents one of the most photographed motifs represent.
geology
The Half Dome is made of granodiorite . The Half-Dome-Granodiorite is a very massive rock, which is hardly traversed by steep fissures (in contrast to the Cathedral-Peak-Granodiorite, for example ). Its rounded shapes near the summit were created by desquamation . Its vertical northwest flank facing the valley can be explained by a relatively small Ice Age glacier above Mirror Lake , which undermined this mountain side by frost blasting and caused overhanging parts to plunge down to the course of a larger, northeast-southwest trending fault or main fracture area.
Ascent
Thousands of tourists climb the mountain every year. The summit of Half Dome can be reached via the normal route with appropriate fitness. Experienced hikers need eight to twelve hours for the approximately 25 km route and almost 1500 vertical meters in ascent and descent.
On the last 120 meters of altitude, wire ropes enable less experienced mountaineers to cope with a gradient of up to 45 ° or 100% on the smooth, uneven granodiorite. For this purpose, holes were drilled in the rock as early as 1919, into which vertical supports are inserted in summer. The wire ropes are held by these at a little above waist height. In addition, there are wooden planks on the rock on the supports, which provide support for the foot. In winter, supports and planks are removed. In this case, as well as in wet or thunderstorm conditions, we strongly advise against climbing. Up until 2007 there was no known fatal accident on the steel cables, since then several people have died every year.
Since the beginning of 2010, registration has been required to climb the summit, the number of which is limited per day.
Half Dome can also be climbed freely , several routes lead over the almost vertical north-west face or the rounded flanks. In 1957 the Northwest Face was first climbed by Royal Robbins together with Jerry Gallwas and Mike Sherrick . This was the first "Grade VI" climb in America.
additional
The Half Dome gained great fame through a photo ( Monolith, the Face of Half Dome ) by the American photographer Ansel Adams in 1927. Half Dome is used in stylized form as a logo by a variety of companies , including mountaineering and outdoor clothing and equipment manufacturer The North Face . Apple uses the Half Dome in the OS X Yosemite (Yosemite) operating system in a number of wallpapers and advertising campaigns.
Web links
- National Park Service: Half Dome Day Hike (English)
- National Park Service: Video about Half Dome as a landmark (English, running time: 11:32 min, formats: Flash or Quicktime )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dayton Duncan, Ken Burns : The National Parks . Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. ISBN 978-0-307-26896-9 . Page 260
- ↑ Ansel Adams : Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California. Afterimage Gallery, 1927, accessed December 14, 2011 .
- ↑ National Park Service: Yosemite National Park - Half Dome
- ↑ Halfdomehike: Half Dome fall thoughts , August 24, 2011
- ↑ Half Dome Permits. Retrieved December 14, 2011 .