(Peter Zabraok | AP Photo) In this photo provided by Peter Zabrok, climber Ryan Sheridan who had just reached the top of El Capitan, a 7,569-foot (2,307 meter) formation, when a rock slide let loose below him Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Yosemite National Park, Calif. It was not immediately clear if there were new casualties, a day after another slab dropped from El Capitan, killing a British climber and injuring a second.
In this Wednesday Sept. 27, 2017, photo provided the National Park Service, a cloud of dust is seen on El Capitan after a major rock fall in Yosemite National Park, Calif. An official says the man killed when a massive hunk of rock fell of Yosemite National Park's El Capitan monolith was a British climber. Yosemite park ranger and spokesman Scott Gediman said Thursday that the man was with a British woman who was seriously injured. (Tom Evans/National Park Service via AP)
In this Wednesday Sept. 27, 2017, photo provided John P. DeGrazio, a cloud of dust is seen in the distance on El Capitan after a major rock fall in Yosemite National Park, Calif. All areas in California's Yosemite Valley are open Thursday, a day after the fatal rock fall. (John P. DeGrazio/YExplore Yosemite Adventures via AP)
This Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 photo provided by The National Park Service shows a rock fall off the iconic El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park, Calif. A massive new rock fall hit Yosemite National Park on Thursday, cracking with a thundering roar off the iconic El Capitan rock formation and sending huge plumes of white dust surging through the valley floor below. (The National Park Service via AP)
A second rock fall occurs at El Capitan Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Yosemite National Park, Calif. Yosemite National Park says another rock fall has injured one person in the park, one day after a huge chunk of granite killed a British tourist, Andrew Foster, 32, of Wales, while he and his wife were hiking at the bottom of El Capitan. An immense mass of granite plunged from the side of El Capitan on Thursday and filled the valley below with a cloud of dust. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP)
In this photo provided by Peter Zabrok, climber Ryan Sheridan who had just reached the top of El Capitan, a 7,569-foot (2,307 meter) formation, when a rock slide let loose below him Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Yosemite National Park, Calif. It was not immediately clear if there were new casualties, a day after another slab dropped from El Capitan, killing a British climber and injuring a second. (Peter Zabrok via AP)
Yosemite National Park, Calif. • Two thundering rock falls in as many days at Yosemite National Park’s landmark El Capitan left experienced climbers stunned as huge plumes of dust enveloped the valley below.
Photographs taken by climbers and local residents captured the moments after the falls, which left a British hiker dead and two other people injured. Later images from the National Park Service show the scar left behind on the face of El Capitan.
The falls came during the peak of the climbing season on the massive rock formation. At least 30 climbers were on the formation when the formation first gave way Wednesday.
Park officials say rocks at the world-renowned park’s climbing routes break loose and crash down about 80 times a year, but injuries are rare.
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