El Capitan

The largest rock monolith in the Yosemite Valley, El Capitan draws rock climbers from around the world hoping to scale its vertical face. Nearly 3000 feet tall, the face was first climbed in 1958 by Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore in 47 days. Today, two or three day climbs are the average, but the speed record was set on November 6, 2010, by Dean Potter and Sean Leary, who climbed the imposing rock monster in just 2 hours 36 minutes.