ElCap Report 10/16/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… Whoa!… Another sweet one is in the books here.  Perfectamondo!!  Spectacular weather and lots to talk about too.  The Big Trades are being flogged mercilessly by battalions of fresh meat.  The Captain is showing some mercy with this stellar weather, but in a strange coincidence, threw off two big rock falls this afternoon within a couple of hours of each other.  A large section of the 5th pitch on the Shortest Straw fell to the ground at 12:25 with a thunderous roar that must have scared the hell out of the teams at the base of and on, nearby Zodiac.  Scott  Deputy was at the base of LA and ran, like a flushed quail, for his life into a small depression in the wall, as the rock exploded nearby.  Huge slabs went crashing far down the scree slope in tumbling concussion.  A couple of hours later the west end of the ElCap Tree overhang cut lose with another thundering roar.  I took some after the fact shots that will be interesting to look at later tonight.  I may post some at a later time. 

ElCap Report 10/15/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… Today was probably the most beautiful Fall day I have ever seen in the Valley… you missed it!!  Also it was a great day because Regan showed up in the Café this morning after a super duper epic on the Trip where he was stranded at the start of the last pitch for 2 days in horrendous conditions… I won’t go into it further as he is going to do a report himself.

ElCap Report 10/14/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… The storm has past and the most wonderful thing has happened… it’s Spring in the Fall!  It poured and poured and poured for 24 hours straight.  I have never seen anything like it here before.  This morning around 8am it cleared off and the sun came out.  Presto, it was Spring again.  Yosemite Falls is in full flow and the Tourons are going wild.  The river is fast and deep.  It was very mild today and everyone was in shorts and shirts. 

ElCap Report 10/13/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… If this storm was a few weeks later it would be a season ender.  It finally started raining early this morning, thus allowing all the teams who were pushing for the top late yesterday to make it off and get down before the drenching began.  I talked to Ivo just moments ago and he said he had some line up there and could have left it for Regan, on the trip, but the tough Polish ElCap vet has it under control.

ElCap Report 10/12/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… The weather did change today as predicted but as of 5pm has not crashed.  It was warm this morning with overcast skies and moisture in the air.  I went down to the bridge after breakfast and checked on the parties still on the wall.  Most teams got the word and have bailed or are presently making a run for the top.

ElCap Report 10/11/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… The weather, my God the Weather!  Still totally sweet.  Today was a slow one on the bridge and the wall.  Seems the teams have delayed starting until after the big storm, forecast to begin late tomorrow.  Some teams are taking these good days to fix and haul to the routes they are interested in.  Good plan!  The teams presently on the face are getting up high and heading off.  There are a couple of parties who will have to face the wrath of the weather in the coming days as there is no way they can get off in time.

ElCap Report 10/10/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… the weather continues to tame the wild beasts.  Yesterday a ring-tailed cat had the misfortune of getting into a transformer and blew out the power for an hour last night and knocked off the internet until today sometime.  There is a pretty certain early season storm coming late tomorrow night and it may last several days.  I suggest fixing in this good weather the next two days but not going on the wall until the weather sorts itself out.  Lots going on here so without further blah, blah, blah…
Today’s ElCap Report… written just for you… unique in all the world!

ElCap Report 10/09/09
By Tom Evans                 

Yo… Killer day, just like yesterday!  More parties starting out on the big trades!  My man, ES, says that the weather may be questionable next week some time… so we will keep that in mind as the days go by.  But that doesn’t diminish one bit the excellence of the day!  Hell, even Jody showed up today, on his way to the East side to shoot the fall colors!  I could have done a few more moon shots but the climbers were not in the right place and the moon was an hour later, when I needed to be shooting elsewhere.
However, there were so many climbers on the routes that it was all I could do to keep up with the action.
 

ElCap Report 10/08/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… Wow… the weather, the wonderful weather!  It is impossible for it to be any nicer.  The rock is crawling with climbers.
TODAY WAS MOON DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The one day of the year when the Moon is far enough north, and  just 3 days after full, that it can be lined up with the Nose of ElCap.  It happens from 9 to 10am and that’s it!  Well, I was there and so were the climbers on the Nose!  Boot Flake had a climber, and so did Texas Flake.  I ran around in the woods like a crazy man and even fell into a hole because I was not looking at the ground!  I think I got the shots, but am writing the report first and processing later… so I am psyched to get this done!!!

ElCap Report 10/07/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… So Sweet here today!!  Climbers are showing up on the routes now that the solid weather is entrenched for the foreseeable future.  The leaves are not poppin yet but get ready for some fine days Autumn days anyway!  The Bridge was as quiet today as it was busy yesterday.  The free shuttle to the bridge is going away on the 12th of this month…so… get ready for that.   This is the quiet time of year with the killer weather, so if it is not in your plans to be here then you screwed the pooch!