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Yosemite park closes more cabins due to rock-fall risk - USA TODAY

Eighteen cabins in the popular Curry Village area of California's Yosemite National Park have been closed after they were identified as being in danger of getting struck by falling rock. Also in the hazard area: some employee housing and eight walk-in campsites, which have been relocated.
The Curry Village closings came last week, but weren't announced until Thursday, after a National Park Service survey made to assess which rocks are in danger of falling – and where -- pinpointed structures in harm's way. The seven-by-one-mile Yosemite Valley, site of Curry Village, is the hub of visitor activity in the popular park. About 90% of its nearly 4 million annual visitors congregate in the valley, which was formed by glaciers – and tumbling boulders.
"Obviously, the hazard is there and there's no way to completely mitigate the hazard," says park spokesman Scott Gediman. "Rocks are going to fall. It's a wild place. But what we can do is mitigate the risk by closing some cabins, campgrounds and employee housing."
The impact on visitors will likely be minimal. The 10 hard-sided and eight canvas tent cabins in the new off-limits zone are a fraction of the total 503 accommodations in Curry Village. Even when lodging is sold out months in advance, last-minute cancellations free up rooms, says Lisa Cesaro, a spokeswoman for Delaware North, which operates the park's concessions. At worst, she adds, some visitors might get an upgrade.
Delaware North's other Yosemite lodgings, the historic Ahwahnee Hotel and the larger, 245-room Yosemite Lodge, are unaffected.
In 2008, rocks from 3,000-foot Glacier Point, which rises dramatically above Curry Village, rained down on the century-old camp, striking 17 cabins. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured. A study after the incident resulted in fencing off 233 cabins.
The latest study undertook a survey of the entire valley using new methods, including laser technology that more accurately dates rock, thereby helping to predict when boulders might break off from a larger mass.
Falling rocks in the valley have killed 15 people and injured 85 since the record-keeping began in 1857.