Yosemite Firefall

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Long exposure of the Firefall

The Yosemite Firefall was a spectacle staged at times from 1872 to 1968 , during which the embers of a large, burned campfire in Yosemite National Park were poured over the edge of Glacier Point into the valley. From a distance the falling embers looked like a waterfall of fire. Hundreds of spectators gathered at Camp Curry after sunset to watch the event. On January 25, 1968, the last firefall took place after it was banned by the National Park Service .

history

Postcard of the Firefall

The beginnings of the Firefall date back to the 19th century and are ascribed to the Irishman James McCauley, although exact records from the time are missing. According to tradition, McCauley is said to have dumped the remains of a campfire over the ledge of Glacier Point one evening in 1872. Those who watched the glowing charcoal fall 1400 feet from the valley were delighted. They asked for the spectacle to be repeated and paid $ 1.50 for each performance. Such spectacles then initially took place at irregular intervals. With the departure of McCauley in 1897, the performances ended for the time being.

In 1899 the married couple David and Jennie Curry founded the family campsite Camp Curry at the foot of Glacier Point. Initially, the company was not successful because the location is very cold and it is isolated. In order to make the camp more attractive, Curry relied on entertainment in the form of shows and also reintroduced the firefall, which one had a good view of from the camp. The evening ritual became a tradition and attracted many guests.

During the two world wars, the Firefall was suspended, but then resumed. In 1968, park officials ended the traditional Firefall despite its popularity. She argued that it was an artificial and unnatural phenomenon that did not fit the idea of ​​a national park . Another reason was the ecological burden on the national park from the crowds with congested roads and trampled vegetation. The last Firefall took place on January 25, 1968. As there was no public announcement that it would be the last event of its kind and because of the time of year, there were few spectators.

Course of the ceremony

Nic Fiore, who was responsible for the fire for many years, described the process as follows: In the morning between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. he collected bark for the fire. The bark of the magnificent fir ( Abies magnifica ), of which he needed about 10 wheelbarrows full, had proven to be particularly suitable. Fiore piled the bark into a large heap, which he lit around 7 p.m. so that by 9 p.m. sharp the fire had burned down far enough and enough embers were available for the spectacle.

Downstairs at Camp Curry, the crowds were already crowding at 6 p.m. to get a good seat. The show started at 8 p.m. with various artists on the open-air stage of the camp and ended with the Firefall as the finale. All noises ceased and a man from the camp shouted: "Hello Glacier Point!", Whereupon the answer echoed down from the mountain: "Hello Camp Curry!" This was followed by the command called "Let the fire fall!" fire is falling! ”began Fiore on the mountain, pushing the embers evenly over the edge of the cliff. This created the illusion of a waterfall made of fire.

For the duration of the firefall, an actor sang the song The Indian Love Call on the Camp Curry stage and was accompanied by piano and violin. After the song had ended, there was initially silence until the first spectators began to clap and then people from other parts of the valley joined in.

reception

Art project Firefall by the artist Adam Frelin

Art project Firefall by the artist Adam Frelin (2012)

In 2005, while on a camping trip in Yosemite National Park, the American artist Adam Frelin heard about the former tradition of dropping hot embers over the edge of the cliff at Glacier Point into the valley. He was fascinated by it and first looked for historical photos. Although portable cameras became popular in the mid-1950s , he was only able to find eleven photos, which were insufficient for a planned exhibition.

Thereupon the artist made the decision to recreate and film a Firefall. Since the provisions were now tightened considerably in the use of open flames in the national park, he looked for a suitable in open pit powered quarry . Since the slope of the edge was not steep enough, the approximately 90 m high cliff was redesigned by miners. In June 2012 the art project Firefall was started in front of 400 visitors and filmed with several cameras.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Yosemite Firefall - A History and a Memory (The Mountain House). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 26, 2020 ; accessed on October 10, 2020 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c Nathan Masters: The Firefall, Yosemite's Lost Tourist Tradition. February 28, 2017, accessed October 10, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Remember that time Yosemite's firefall was actual fire? Retrieved October 10, 2020 .
  4. ^ Yosemite Firefall - A History and a Memory (The Stentor). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 25, 2020 ; accessed on October 10, 2020 (English).
  5. ^ Yosemite Firefall - A History and a Memory (The Curry Legacy). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 26, 2020 ; accessed on October 10, 2020 (English).
  6. ↑ a b Kate Nearpass Ogden: Yosemite . Reaction Books, 2015, ISBN 978-1-78023-563-9 ( google.de [accessed October 10, 2020]).
  7. ↑ Emperor James: Yosemite: The Complete Guide: Yosemite National Park . James Kaiser, 2018, ISBN 978-1-940754-32-1 ( google.de [accessed October 10, 2020]).
  8. ↑ Yosemite Firefall - A History and a Memory (The End of a Tradition). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 21, 2020 ; accessed on October 10, 2020 (English).
  9. ↑ a b c Yosemite Firefall - A History and a Memory (Recent Memories). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 3, 2020 ; accessed on October 10, 2020 (English).
  10. ↑ a b c Firefall - California's Gold (706) - Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University. Chapman University, January 8, 1996, accessed October 11, 2020 (American English, video of interviews with contemporary witnesses of the Firefall).
  11. ↑ Rick Deutsch: One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome . Wilderness Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-89997-696-9 ( google.de [accessed October 10, 2020]).
  12. ↑ Adam Frelin: Firefall (The Benefit of Bad Documentation). October 5, 2015, accessed October 10, 2020 (American English).

Coordinates: 37 ° 43 '50 "  N , 119 ° 34'24.6"  W.