How Google's Street view scaled Yosemite's El Capit谩n
Google鈥檚 Street view just went vertical, letting people climb the world's hardest big-wall free climb from their couch.
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Google Street View already helps you know what your destination looks like, and it even lets you feel as though you鈥檙e standing in that exact spot with its 360-degree view capability.
But now, with Google's vertical Street View, you can virtually climb the sheer, -high vertical rock face of Dawn Wall, part of El Capit谩n in California's Yosemite National Park, making it possible for billions around the world to from their computers.
This week, 聽capability. The industry innovator filmed the footage for the (and the world) this past January, with the help of climbers Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold, and Tommy Caldwell.
Ms. Hill and Mr. Caldwell are the to have successfully completed an all free, one-day ascent of The Nose, a famous wall climb in Yosemite National Park. Mr. Honnold is an American rock climber and in January 2014, he became the (the Shining Path), a rock climb in Mexico, alone and without ropes.
The team took a camera designed for the interior of a restaurant in order to capture the vertical views. However, fitting a camera to a rock face was just one of the 鈥渁bsurd challenges鈥� that faced the crew, Caldwell mentioned in a Google .
鈥淭hese 360-degree panoramic images are the closest thing I鈥檝e ever witnessed to actually being thousands of feet up a vertical rock face 鈥� better than any video or photo. But my hope is that this new imagery will inspire you to get out there and see Yosemite for yourself鈥� whether you travel up a rock wall or just down the trail.鈥� said Caldwell in the Google . He wanted to be a part of the team because, 鈥淵osemite has been such an important part of my life was right up my alley.鈥�
For many, the thought of climbing any vertical rock face, regardless of height, is exhilarating at best. And for others, the park may be inaccessible. In 2014, Yosemite welcomed . That same year, the United Nations reported that there were just under , although The lived without access to the web. Now Internet users around the globe have the ability to access some of the world鈥檚 most scenic views, virtually opening up a portion of the park to billions. 聽
The rock-climbing journey is part of a larger series of adventures made possible through Google . In the interactive maps and videos, users can 鈥渧isit鈥� tourist destinations such as and the , as well as explore less crowded destinations such as and a .