Yosemite’s “El Capitan” vertical cliff-face may well about to be immortalised in a Mac OS X update, but that’s not the same as climbing it for yourself. We’re probably not going to ever do that, but we can still try virtually thanks to Google.
Google has been taking its Street View crew up to new heights this week, with a trip up one of the sharpest most vertical cliff faces the world knows about, Yosemite’s El Capitan.
If you’ve read the name and said “wait, I know that”, you absolutely do, because while the cliff has made appearances in at least one movie — “Star Trek V” anyone? — it is also the name of Apple’s next Mac OS X update, rolling out later this year.
Google isn’t going to be outdone, however, and has trekked up the side of the mountain with its Street View cameras to show what it’s like to scale the cliff face, which has this week joined the likes of Tanzania, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and even Antarctica to provide digital excursions for those of us who will likely never set foot in any of these places.
The experience is just like the Google Street View experiences you’ve seen in the past, and you’ll be able to look around with your mouse as per normal, though with virtual reality headsets on the way and Google expanding its Cardboard program, we can’t wait until treks like the El Capitan one are ready and compatible with these new forms of entertainment — and indeed edutainment — mediums.
For now, El Capitan is just a mouse click away, and you don’t even have to worry about falling, so go on, look down, you’re totally safe.
