ElCap Reports from May 2010

ElCap Report 5/31/10

ElCap Report 5/31/10

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Another nice day for climbing, with the popular routes seeing some action. The traffic wasn’t too bad today either. The Bridge was quiet most of the day, which is typical of Holidays. We got some high clouds late in the day and they continue to thicken as I look out of the window here in the Mountain Room Bar.

The climbing season is full on now and we should have several weeks of “typical” Yosemite weather, whatever that means!!

So here it comes, direct to you.

ElCap Report 5/30/10

ElCap Report 5/30/10

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Whoa Dude… very nice weather we are having now here in the Valley of your dreams. Sunny and warm for the foreseeable future. Climbs are being done on every face of the rock, with the exception of the far east side of the SE Face, which is still influenced by Horsetail Falls. I am at the Bridge as I write these words because there is no way I am going “into town” with the traffic messed up in a way that only professionals can do.

So direct from my vantage point here at the Bridge…

ElCap Report 5/29/10

ElCap Report 5/29/10

By Tom Evans

Yo… Wow the weather is great and the rock filling up rapidly. Sorry this is being posted later than usual. Unfortunately, Memorial Day Weekend is here and the traffic is the worst I have ever seen it here in the Valley. Who ever the head traffic engineer is, should be fired immediately, if not sooner. The plan was worse than if they just let cars go where they wanted. It took an hour to get to Curry from the Bridge as they made every car go to Curry, even if you had no need to go there. Thus there was a massive jam there like I have never seen before. So I never did get to the Lodge to do the report and thus am posting it the next morning. Anyway, don’t come here this weekend!! Other than that, there was lots of action on the Captain.

ElCap Report 5/28/10

ElCap Report 5/28/10

By Tom Evans

Yo… Remember that little rant I made about “sissy storms”? Well we had a storm last night that was way more than the stuff we have been having lately, not a sissy storm! It started raining around 7pm and kept going until long after 11pm when I passed into unconsciousness. But the dawn broke clear and sunny with lots of snow just above the level of the Valley floor. Nice stuff to see and photograph…. So you are going to get some scenic’s with this report. The lurking teams made a run for it on several routes and with the weekend here I can’t think of a better place to be than on ElCap!!

ElCap Report 5/27/10

ElCap Report 5/27/10

By Tom Evans

Yo… all the news from a rainy day here in the Valley. Mostly it was on and off showers that didn’t bother anyone climbing on the SE Face of the Captain. Tomorrow we have hopes of a long term change in the weather and lots of folks are poised to launch. The smart ones took my advice and went hauling loads and fixing pitches today. We are all pretty sick of the Spring conditions thus far. So here it is without the opening mush…

Today’s ElCap Report … written just for you… unique in all the world!

ElCap Report 5/26/10

ElCap Report 5/26/10

By Tom Evans

Yo… Storms? What storms? Last night it sprinkled for a few minutes and today it did so again. Hello?! These are not storms, these are Spring showers. The weather reports, not the weather itself, are killing the climbing season. It is a bit on the cool side but the Captain is damp, not wet. Tomorrow is supposed to be bad but my confidence in the forecasts has evaporated in the mists of ElCap. I need to get Sloan in here with the charts and darts and get a real forecast! Anyway the action continues on the SE Face for the most part.

 

ElCap Report 5/25/10

 

ElCap Report 5/25/10

By Tom Evans             

Yo… Today was supposed to be the stormy one and it was really nice all day long. Sunny and warm until 3pm and now cloudy but nice. Like Bobby D said … “you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Anyway, storms are expected tonight and tomorrow and then the forecast looks good for a while. It was a slow day on the Captain as most of the prospective Wall Rats are cowering, in fear in the Café, at the very mention of the word, precipitation! So without further adieu….
Today’s ElCap Report…written just for you…unique in all the world!

ElCap Report 5/24/10

ElCap Report 5/24/10

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Well the metrological pontificators said this was to be the best day of the week. I sure hope not, as it was cold and dark at the bridge all day. The cliff had that ominous grey look about it that said, “come on up, let’s see what you got Puke!” The action was limited, for the most part, to the parties you have been reading about these past few days. A few new faces came and went… mostly went! The weather has been bringing them down faster than gravity ever could. That said, the SE Face is still the place to be on the Captain and the scene of most of the action today.

ElCap Report 5/23/10

ElCap Report 5/23/10

By Tom Evans

Yo… well the rains came yesterday evening but not the pounding kind, just short showers, and were gone by 9pm. Today it was nice until around 1pm when a snow squall blew in hard from the West, accompanied by some thunder and lightning to spice things up a bit!! Now here’s the deal … these days are very similar to the pattern we saw last Spring. A few minutes of showers some time during the day, then partly cloudy for the rest of the time. This seems like bad weather to the Café Rats but for Wall Rats it is just fine if you pick your routes accordingly. The Nose and West side routes are not the best for these mixed days, but the stuff from the Trip to Zodiac are ideal. Forget about Lurking Fear!! Don’t just sit around lamenting the passing of your vacation time, get out there with your Gortex and deluxe ledges and get on a route!!

ElCap Report 5/22/10

ElCap Report 5/22/10

By Tom Evans

Yo… Cold, windy but clear here in the valley… well some puffy clouds going by too. I was down at the Bridge today for part of the morning but there is not much action on the Great Rock. I did talk to Stefan Brunner this morning about the recent accident on the Salathe. He was right there face to face with the French climber when he fell. The details are not as previously reported and thus I have changed the Report for yesterday. So if you are interested then go back and read it again. The weather is supposed to get worse in a big way tomorrow… so … we wait.  Later... it started raining around 3pm this afternoon but eased off by dark.

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