El Cap Report 09/20/07

ElCap Report 9/20/07
 By Tom Evans
Yo... yep... I got your Elcap report for today right here.. bounced straight off the balding head of Logan (aka Chuck Pratt) who happened by the bridge today on his way home.. It rained a little last night and snowed above 6000ft but the valley got very little... just enough to quench the controlled burns and end the smoky valley syndrome. Partly sunny and cool today.. not bad.. mostly sunny this afternoon. Not much to report but here it is for this day...

 El Nino: Missed these guys yesterday but picked up their portaledge on Mazatlan ledge this afternoon and spied them working off Big Sur ledge doing the free climbing thing on dry rock.. they are an Australian team of two and the guy who lead the pitches we watched today look really strong and smoked up the route with no apparent effort.
Ivo Direct: The lad called KFC today while we all were in the cafe having breakfast... safe and comfortable high on his link up of anything that goes straight up to the top of the Dawn wall. There was a slight scare this afternoon when Thomas, Alex and later Steve Schneider came up to look through the scope at what appeared to be Ivo hanging upside down above his portaledge... turned out it was a little overhang that looked like a climber and Ivo was sacked out inside the ledge...
DNR: Talked to Dave this afternoon and he was doing fine with his new line turning out to be some great climbing on mostly natural features for many pitches... he did take a look to the west where he wanted to go but found it would take miles of rivets and he was not wanting to do that so is heading up the WEML to Wino tower and then he will see what gives... He, like Ivo, took today off to let the weather settle.
Nose: The two guys Thomas and Alex passed yesterday were seen finishing the rappels to the ground today in good order... I didn't get down to the west side as the traffic is screwed up by construction there...
In other news.. the cafe was pretty full of climbers this morning as the weather looked gloomy at first, later to improve greatly... very tame storm down here. Anna aka Little Biscut.. happened by after climbing Half Dome in a semi-epic climb of a day and a half with cold conditions and general misery but had a good learning experience with her partner Charlie... Then Chuck came by having a similar experience the next day but he and his partner James did get caught in the storm and topped out with a foot of snow on top... they suffered mightily which is a good thing as they are heading off to the Himalayas at months end. I told them that these conditions would probably be considered good over there!! Henry, from Germany, came by and we all watched the guys on El Nino. Henry is seeking a partner for some grade 5 and has tons of gear and much experience...check the board for details. Brenda came by with news of PTPPete who is over on the Prow with a buddy. A smart team would get fixed to Sickle ledge tomorrow as it will be cool and pretty nice... If you get the chance, come on by the lodge Sat. evening and watch my program around dark... hopefully it will be warmer by then...
Well that is the way it is for Sept. 20, 2007.. take care and come on by.... ElCap-Pics signing off... Tom Evans