El Capitan is renowned for its massive bulk of largely unbroken rock and its sheer vertical face rising 3,000 feet into the air. This monolith is made of a particularly durable granite that has allowed it to withstand the pressures of glaciers and erosion. It was first scaled in 1958, and since then climbers have explored nearly a hundred climbing routes. The Ahwahneechee name for El Capitan is Tutokanula, and Ahwahneechee legend says it was created in the time of the animal people, when two bear cubs sleeping on a large flat rock near the river were carried upward as the rock grew until they scratched their faces against the moon, and the inchworm, called tutokanula, slowly reached the top and led them safely down.