The historic elevator that has thrilled visitors for over one hundred years has been made obsolete, ironically, by an even older lift. A hiker, reportedly just leaning against the base of El Capitan to catch his breath, was suddenly sucked off of his feet and whisked to the top in a matter of moments. Apparently the hiker, David, who has asked us not to use his last name, is also an avid and well known local climber. David estimated his ascent to take no more that a minute and a half, an amazing speed for the 3000 foot rise in elevation.
Although there were many skeptics when David's adventure was reported, this journalist can verify first hand that the natural elevator does indeed exist. David consented to show me the entrance and to provide advice on the ascent and descent involved. Without David's expert guidance there is no doubt that this story could not have been told.
The physical aspect of the lift is difficult to describe because of its lack of visible markings. Both the top and bottom of the shaft's openings makes them nearly invisible to the naked eye. The shaft can be viewed only where it is near the surface. Note the curving - nearly vertical line - in the center of the photo on the left. The photographs accompanying this article were made with a newly developed sonarspectography.
The Sonarspectograpic Laser Imaging Process, or SLIP, uses a rapid bombardment of ultra-high frequencies alternating with ultra-low frequencies onto a solid structure (El Cap) at multiple resonance amplitudes in a sine wave pattern. The minuscule physical responses to the rapid change of frequency by the targeted structure are then captured by laser as the structure oscillates at thousands of times per second. The resulting images are then composited into the images included with this report.
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