Folks who are not familiar with the Yosemite Valley might not be aware that El Capitan is the name of a 3,000 feet high rock wall and not just Apple’s latest Mac update, though in all fairness Apple has taken inspiration for the update from the real El Capitan itself. To launch its first ever vertical Street View collection Google partnered with legendary climbers Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell to provide amazing views of the El Capitan rock wall.
Google has been able to capture some truly stunning images thousands of feet up in the air, live now are 360-degree panoramas of the climbers midway in the climb and even when they’re hunkered down for the night. There even a Street View route now to climb up the Nose of El Capitan.
Tommy Caldwell writes in a post on the official Google blog that “Climbing is all about flirting with the impossible and pushing the boundaries of what you think you can be done. Capturing Street View imagery 3,000 feet up El Capitan proved to be an extension of that, especially when you take a camera meant for the inside of a restaurant and mount it thousands of feet up the world’s most iconic rock wall.”
The company has shared behind the scenes footage of this seemingly impossible exercise and it is certainly a treat to watch, particularly those who like rock climbing.