12/21/24
March 15, 2004
School of Rock.: (I'm jumping on Ufez's feel-good train today - see his nice soccer post below.) The San Francisco Chronicle interviews 13-year-old Scott Cory, who will this month attempt to become the youngest person to climb Half Dome and El Capitan -- the biggest rock faces in Yosemite Park -- all in one day. This is not some loony kid with a nutty hobby. He's raising funds for the Mauzy Foundation, a group of satellite schools for autistic and severely disabled kids. Inspiring. And hair-raising. I just pray he gets back in one piece.
posted by worldcup2002 to extreme at 02:58 PM - 4 comments
And I thought I was cool for walking up a steep trail to the top of Yosemite Falls and back in 5 hours. I didn't know people were allowed to climb up the face of Half Dome.
posted by Bernreuther at 05:49 PM on March 15, 2004
If this kid becomes the next Jessica Dubroff, no one's going to be calling it a feel-good story. Considering that only 15 people have done both Half Dome and El Capitan in a day, it seems pretty foolhardy to be putting a 13-year-old up to doing it.
posted by rcade at 09:59 PM on March 15, 2004
It's obviously a risk. But this 13-year-old's been climbing for six years, almost half his life. He's climbed El Cap and Half Dome at least twice. It also looks like he knows what he's doing, he can plan the assault himself, he's been there, he knows what it feels like. Now, he's got to do them both in the same day. Seems to me that's less dangerous than a 7-year old who's had 1 (2?) years flying experience, operating an overweight plane in unfamiliar territory and bad weather. No experience, no judgement. (That goes for the adults, too.) So, unfair comparison. All the same, I will be praying for the boy's safety. It's still dangerous.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:30 PM on March 16, 2004
Looks like 8000 ft straight up, not counting all the side-climbing. Some distance/height info from Compass Monkey: Half Dome: The astounding Half Dome rises 4,733 feet from the valley floor to a height 8,842 feet above sea level. The west side of the dome is fractured vertically and cut away forming a 2,000 foot cliff. El Capitan: Rising 3,593 ft above the valley, El Capitan is the largest exposed granite monolith in the world and is almost twice the height of the Rock of Gibraltar.