ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 10/12/07

 By Tom Evans

Yo Dogs... the weather has gone south for the time being here... more rain on the radar coming this way.. I was down at the Captain a while ago and here is what is up...

Surgeon General: Capt. McNeeley was out and about rather early for him as I am sure the pitter patter on his rain fly must have told him that he needed to be on deck. Around 11am he started to lead, wearing an orange rain jacket... it looked to be slow going and he needs to do this one and another to be off the rock.. as I write this there is a short break in the weather so maybe he will skate off before it comes in harder...

Zodiac: I did hear from Michael, the guy on Zodiac next to Ammon when he took the big plunge,  reported that it was at least 70ft and that he saw Ammon go by through the air in the full spread eagle position and that he hit the wall and bounced off before the rope came tight. Ammon was out for a few moments he reports and that when he took his helmet off there was blood inside it from part of his scalp being mashed under the helmet... so if you are thinking about not wearing a helmet then you need to rethink it friends!!! Anyway he hung there for a while and then lowered to a ledge where I saw him... Ammon told him right away that he felt that he was going to be ok and not to come over to him... so glad that the tough old salt is well now and climbing upward... the best possible outcome! Aaaarrrrrhhhh! Zodiac: Michael, mentioned above, is down now after suffering with stomach problems and dehydration and an injured shoulder.. he is ok and has decided not to go back up again this time. Talked to him this morning and he looks fine. Lower down a two man team with only a backpack and shortfixing everything is going for a one day ascent.... didn't pick the best day for this one lads... did see them near the end of the black tower pitch as I left around 11:30am.

Mescalito: The three man team with T2 in it is hunkered down on the spacious Bismarck ledge and waiting out the weather for a while. Another team higher and to the left is portaledged out for the day it seems..

Nose: Did see 4 climbers at camp 5 ... one party lead to the Glowering spot and the others seem to be following, must be Charlie’s team in there ... They could fix and retreat to 5 if the weather folds... Lower down saw a team camped on ECT ... then two guys climbed to the top of the boot and came back down to ECP as the rain picked up a bit...

West of the Nose: Gerhart stopped by to say that they had jugged out on the line that Alex has fixed down to the block... didn't see anyone else so maybe Fosberg is off now too... the crew on GG was not visible to me but they may be off if the climbing went well for them... PTPP.. who knows?

In other news: The German contingent has departed and the rain is rapidly clearing out camp 4, perhaps the rats are leaving the ship!!... most of the teams on the Cap are high up and will be off in a few days at the most... some climbers are headed east over the pass before it closes for the winter... some going on to Bishop and beyond to Red Rocks, Zion and the Creek... hope the sun shines on all you folks!! So that is about it from here in the Valley for 12 October 2007...take care and be happy... we are! Tom Evans