Incredible footage has captured the moment an avalanche hit Yosemite.

The video shows ice and snow cascading down from the top of Half Dome, one of the California national park's most distinctive landmarks.

After a loud thunder-clap is heard, the snow pours down the face of the mountain onto the floor below.

The hiker who recorded the stunning drop and posted it on Facebook wrote: 'You're walking on the Mirror Lake Loop trail, enjoying the sounds of Tenaya Creek flowing by when, suddenly, you hear a loud booming noise!

'Perhaps your first thought is "rockfall!" and you search the cliffs that surround you. Your eyes land on Half Dome and see the cause of the sound: snow and ice crashing down the face of this epic mass of granite.

A hiker in Yoesmite National Park, California, head a thunder-clap, and then turned to see ice and snow starting to fall from a mountain

The avalanche cascades down the front of the mountain to the floor below Half Dome - one of the park's most distinctive landmarks