Climber killed in massive rockfall on Yosemite’s El Capitan was British | California

The climber who was crushed to death by a massive rockfall in California’s Yosemite national park was British, officials have said.

The Welsh holidaymaker was with his partner, a British woman, when more than 1,000 tonnes of rock fell on them from the face of the El Capitan monolith, the US National Park Service announced on Thursday.

The woman remains in a critical condition after being airlifted from the collapse at about 1.50pm on Wednesday, said a Yosemite park ranger and spokesman, Scott Gediman. The Britons’ identities would not be released until their relatives had been notified, Gediman said.

The pair, found with climbing equipment, are believed to have been scouting out the ascent of El Capitan from a trail when a sheet of granite about 40 metres by 20 metres plummeted from a height of 200 metres.

“With all the craziness, I don’t exactly know where they were going, but chances are they were going up,” Gediman said. “From what I understand they were buried under rock … They were crushed by falling rocks.”

At least 30 climbers were on the vertical wall of the 2,307m (7,569ft) El Capitan when the huge piece of rock fell off. Gediman said the rock appeared to have fallen from the popular Waterfall route on the east buttress of El Capitan.

The two Britons are the only known casualties despite being with a group of other climbers when the series of collapses struck, but a search is continuing.

A Canadian climber, Peter Zabrok, said he saw a piece of white granite the size of an apartment building suddenly peel off the mountain face. Images showed a woman being carried into a helicopter by two rescue workers.

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The massive rockfall was among seven that happened in the same general area in a four-hour period on Wednesday. The park records about 80 rockfalls per year, though they are rarely fatal. This is the first death from a rockfall in the park in 18 years, according to the parks service.

A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in contact with the local authorities and providing assistance to both families at this very difficult time.”