ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 6/4/07

 By Tom Evans

Yo... All right it is the worst day of the work week... work week? Oh yeah, that’s that thing about spending your time trying to get some $$$ so you can live way above the standard you could be living... and spending all week doing it?? Man.. Don’t think I could do that again... retirement you know... every day is a Saturday for me!! So I have time to sit on the veranda of the Heartbreak Hotel high on ElCap and watch the O'Neil gong show roll their way up the face... good fun... so here it comes direct from Dave Turners mom who showed up last night and wanted to drive it to the ISP in her old Mercedes... the one smoking up the valley... so here it is all the delights and debacles.. the good and the bad and everything in between...Today's ElCap Report.

 Zodiac... the team of three make the top today after a night on the lunar ledge... they had flagged their ledge yesterday and rumor has it that it was not in any condition to be slept on.. come on guys... close the thing or haul it right.... The push team posse members did a 28 hour climb including the two hour lunch break on the top of the BT pitch and some sleep on peanut ledge.. the guys looked pretty good this morning but soon were asleep... nice fun for them. There is a two man team low on the route and were doing the BT on the free climbing side when I left..

NA Wall: The team of two was seen climbing to Big Sur ledge this afternoon as cloudy weather came into the valley with some wind later in the day... so far so good for them.

SSPO: Ragon has picked up the pace and will be sleeping on Island in the sky tonight.. the lad is pecking away at it and is relentless.. no distress signals or seeming problems in the first 10 days... go son!! Saw a party of 5 on the 4th pitch today.. they are using the fast system and were at the rubber band man pendulum when I left at 5 pm ... moving well.. they could give team O'Neil a lesson on logistics.

Nose: Two teams were seen on the route today... one climbing in the lead and going to ElCap Tower when I left... the other slowly moving up the stovelegs to dolt and were a pitch short of it at 5pm.. may spend the night there...did see the team of 3 go over the top today at 5pm... some locals from curry I think..

Muir... the Muir guys were two pitches from the top when I last saw them and will be off tonight I calculate...

Shield. The two who suddenly appeared on the groove yesterday were pushing hard to chickenhead ledge as I left.. off tomorrow.. who are those guys?!

Salathe/Free Rider... the O’Neill dog and pony show continues to roll up the Salathe like a juggernaut in a Cadillac.. DPotter climbed hollow flake pushing a green #5 camelot on a tether for protection.. the man is smooth and cool... the rest of the crew packed up the tents and moved up to hollow flake ledge and from what I saw just hung there for the rest of the day... moving in their wake is R and Amee doing free rider... Jean and Anna doing the Salathe ... there is said to be a gathering of climbers at the bottom of the heart fixed lines ready to strike for the upper part of the Cap on who know what routes... those lines will be gone soon so if you are going to use them you had better get going as they are gone in an instant!

I didn't go down to the west side today as it was late and the action was not anticipated to be worthy of moving the great road locomotive to the west..

In other news:   Slow day at the bridge as the climbing not too exciting and as it is monday the weekenders were gone.. so we rested and hung out eating chips and salsa and doing elbow exercises.. Some of the SAR lads floated by to supposedly "check on the wall" .. several locals guys and girls showed up to relax and just look at the rock... nice quiet day here on the climbing worlds most famous bridge.. So the van is packed and the folks are settling in on the routes as night approaches.. the moon has been a help to several of the teams but now comes up pretty late... the weather is changing but it doesnt look like it will rain here by the cap... maybe further up the Valley... So settle in yourself and unwind from your toils and just remember that it is hell here everyday trying to keep track of the climbers and not get a sunburn... plus we have all that food and drink to deal with and the touron groupies to fight off..  we will somehow try to press on here inspite of the difficulty.. I will keep the eye on the big stone because you can't... Remember that no one gets out of life alive so please try to take some quality time for yourself... your life will pass rapidly enough as it is so treat yourself well... Later ElCap-Pics