Vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Capitan</span>

El Capitan

<p><b>El Capitan</b> (<a href="/en/Spanish_language" title="Spanish language" class="wl">Spanish</a><span>: </span><i lang="es">El Capitán</i>; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical <a href="/en/Rock_formations_in_the_United_States" title="Rock formations in the United States" class="mw-redirect wl">rock formation</a> in <a href="/en/Yosemite_National_Park" title="Yosemite National Park" class="wl">Yosemite National Park</a>, on the north side of <a href="/en/Yosemite_Valley" title="Yosemite Valley" class="wl">Yosemite Valley</a>, near its western end. The <a href="/en/El_Capitan_Granite" title="El Capitan Granite" class="wl">granite</a> <a href="/en/Monolith" title="Monolith" class="wl">monolith</a> is about <span>3,000 feet (914</span><span>&nbsp;</span><span>m)</span> from base to summit along its tallest face and is a popular objective for <a href="/en/Rock_climber" title="Rock climber" class="mw-redirect wl">rock climbers</a>.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: El Capitan, Highest&nbsp;point, Elevation, Pr...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vcard mobile-collapse-element" style="width:24.5em; line-height:1.5em;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above fn org notheme" style="background-color: #E7DCC3;">El Capitan</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image" style="padding: 0.3em 0.2em 0.2em 0.2em;"><span><a href="/en/File:Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg/272px-Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="3072" data-file-height="2048" data-file-type="bitmap" height="181" width="272" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg/408px-Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg/544px-Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg 2x" alt="Yosemite_El_Capitan.jpg"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption" style="padding: 0.2em 0em;">Southwest face of El Capitan from <a href="/en/Yosemite_Valley" title="Yosemite Valley" class="wl">Yosemite Valley</a></div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #E7DCC3;">Highest<span>&nbsp;</span>point</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Summit" title="Summit" class="wl">Elevation</a></th><td class="infobox-data">7,573<span>&nbsp;</span>ft (2,308<span>&nbsp;</span>m)<small><a href="/en/North_American_Vertical_Datum_of_1988" title="North American Vertical Datum of 1988" class="wl"><span>&nbsp;</span>NAVD<span>&nbsp;</span>88</a></small><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-PeakbaggerElCapitan_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-PeakbaggerElCapitan-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Topographic_prominence" title="Topographic prominence" class="wl">Prominence</a></th><td class="infobox-data">9 feet (3<span>&nbsp;</span>m)<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-PeakbaggerElCapitan_1-1"><a href="#cite_note-PeakbaggerElCapitan-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Topographic_isolation" title="Topographic isolation" class="wl">Isolation</a></th><td class="infobox-data">1.5 miles (2<span>&nbsp;</span>km)<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-PeakbaggerElCapitan_1-2"><a href="#cite_note-PeakbaggerElCapitan-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Geographic_coordinate_system" title="Geographic coordinate system" class="wl">Coordinates</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1073938472" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=El_Capitan&amp;params=37_44_32_N_119_38_09_W_type:mountain_scale:100000" class="external text" target="_blank"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms"><span class="latitude">37°44′32″N</span> <span class="longitude">119°38′09″W</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-gnis_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-gnis-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #E7DCC3;">Naming</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Native name</th><td class="infobox-data nickname"><span><i lang="skd">To-tock-ah-noo-lah</i></span><span>&nbsp;</span><span class="languageicon" style="font-size:100%; font-weight:normal">(<a href="/en/Southern_Sierra_Miwok_language" title="Southern Sierra Miwok language" class="mw-redirect wl">Southern Sierra Miwok</a>)</span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">English translation</th><td class="infobox-data">"the captain" or "the chief"</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Pronunciation</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt"><a href="/en/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English" class="wl">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span>ɛ</span><span>l</span></span><span class="wrap"> </span><span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span>ˌ</span><span>k</span><span>æ</span><span>p</span><span>ɪ</span><span>ˈ</span><span>t</span><span>æ</span><span>n</span></span>/</a></span></span> <a href="/en/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key" title="Help:Pronunciation respelling key" class="wl"><i title="English pronunciation respelling">el <span style="font-size:90%">KAP</span>-i-<span style="font-size:90%">TAN</span></i></a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #E7DCC3;">Geography</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><div style="padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.5em 0.2em;"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r997900035" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .locmap .od{position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .id{position:absolute;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .locmap .l0{font-size:0;position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv{line-height:110%;position:absolute;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv>div{display:inline;padding:1px}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:left}</style><div class="center"><div class="locmap" style="width:200px;float:none;clear:both;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"><div style="width:200px;padding:0"><div style="position:relative;width:200px"><span class="notpageimage"><a href="/en/File:Relief_map_of_California.png" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" title="El Capitan is located in California" data-hash="File:Relief_map_of_California.png"><img loading="lazy"alt="El Capitan is located in California" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Relief_map_of_California.png/200px-Relief_map_of_California.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="681" data-file-height="780" data-file-type="bitmap" height="229" width="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Relief_map_of_California.png/300px-Relief_map_of_California.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Relief_map_of_California.png/400px-Relief_map_of_California.png 2x"></a></span><div class="od" style="top:45.028%;left:46.89%"><div class="id" style="left:-8px;top:-8px"><span class="notpageimage"><span><img loading="lazy"alt="El Capitan" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/39/Red_triangle_with_thick_white_border.svg/16px-Red_triangle_with_thick_white_border.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="270" data-file-height="240" data-file-type="drawing" height="14" width="16" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/39/Red_triangle_with_thick_white_border.svg/24px-Red_triangle_with_thick_white_border.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/39/Red_triangle_with_thick_white_border.svg/32px-Red_triangle_with_thick_white_border.svg.png 2x"></span></span></div><div class="pv" style="font-size:91%;width:6em;top:9px;left:-3em"><div>El Capitan</div></div></div></div><div style="padding-top:0.2em">Location of "El Capitan" in <a href="/en/Yosemite_National_Park" title="Yosemite National Park" class="wl">Yosemite National Park</a>, California</div></div></div></div>
            </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Location</th><td class="infobox-data label"><a href="/en/Mariposa_County,_California" title="Mariposa County, California" class="wl">Mariposa County, California</a>, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Mountain_range" title="Mountain range" class="wl"><span class="nowrap">Parent range</span></a></th><td class="infobox-data category"><a href="/en/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)" title="Sierra Nevada (U.S.)" class="mw-redirect wl">Sierra Nevada</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Topographic_map" title="Topographic map" class="wl">Topo map</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/United_States_Geological_Survey" title="United States Geological Survey" class="wl">USGS</a> El Capitan</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #E7DCC3;">Geology</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Geologic_time_scale" title="Geologic time scale" class="wl">Age of rock</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Cretaceous" title="Cretaceous" class="wl">Cretaceous</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/List_of_mountain_types" title="List of mountain types" class="wl">Mountain type</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Granite" title="Granite" class="wl">Granite</a> rock</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #E7DCC3;">Climbing</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/First_ascent" title="First ascent" class="wl">First ascent</a></th><td class="infobox-data">November<span>&nbsp;</span>12,<span>&nbsp;</span>1958<span style="display:none"><span>&nbsp;</span>(<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1958-11-12</span>)</span> by <a href="/en/Warren_Harding_(climber)" title="Warren Harding (climber)" class="wl">Warren Harding</a>, <a href="/en/George_Whitmore_(mountain_climber)" title="George Whitmore (mountain climber)" class="wl">George Whitmore</a>, and Wayne Merry<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;" data-mw-group="note"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[note 1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Normal_route" title="Normal route" class="wl"><span class="nowrap">Easiest route</span></a></th><td class="infobox-data">Hike</td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>



El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet from base to summit along its tallest face and is a popular objective for rock climbers. 