ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 10/15/18

By Tom Evans

Yo… Killer weather these days, including some cold nights!  Lots of climbs going on now but the Nose has been virtually empty as has the Salathe.  Lots of traffic has been seen over on the North America Wall.  The season is in full swing now AND for the most part the NPS has taken Camp 4 back from the wild west show it had turned into.  So now you will need that parking pass to use the lot and they are checking sites for poachers and unregistered tents.  There is a $180 fine for failing to register! 

The leaves are rapidly turning their fall colors and the days are warm in the sunlit meadow but rather cool in the shade.. bring a jacket!  Remember these reports are not complete coverage of all the teams climbing, as the daily ones were in the past… your team might not get a mention or a shot in the report.  Get used to it, as I am not going back to the daily reports.

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

1)  A solid trio of climbers, including Dino, Dan, and Tim just finished Mescalito and we have a few shots of them in action.  This is one of Dan lowering out on the 7^th pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Higher up the Molar Pendulum went off without a hitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  On day three I got this shot of the crew hauling kit in mid-afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  By popular usage, Zodiac has returned to being the king of the SE face.  Here a climber is entering “The Pearly Gates” the portal to the Great White Circle.  I took a 30 footer on that pitch back in 95.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  Oli Warlow is seen here (partnered with a woman named Cath) leading to the start of the Nipple pitch in the GWC.  The feature on the left of the shot is the Sawblade Flake, which is climbed on Zenyatta and the Straw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  The Great White Circle is seen here with two teams climbing through it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  The second member of the three-man team is seen here jugging to the end of the pitch above Peanut Ledge on Zodiac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  On the Nose a party on Texas Flake stops to watch a climber ahead of them do the King Swing… it was not pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  We did have a couple of cold, threatening days.  Here the wind has come up and conditions went from good to not so good rapidly.  When combined with cold, the wind can really bring misery to a fun day on the Nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  I spotted a Czech Republic team high up on El Nino working the free moves.  I hear they sent the route!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  Marek Raganowicz (aka Regan) is over half way up the NA now after moving over from Nightmare on California Street.  He did the crux of the first pitch but found a blank section that had suffered rock damage and needed a rivet…Marek refuses to drill on anyone’s route so he came down and moved onto the NA.  Here he is after the pendulum to the corners leading to the Black Cave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  A colorful climber on the Enduro Corner of Salathe/Freerider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13)  Seen here is the traverse over to the round table on Freerider, done not so free here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)  A Salathe Headwall climber is seen with a Freerider jugger high on the headwall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15)  Nina Caprez is seen here working on freeing the pitch to the Glowering Spot.  She has teamed up with Lynn Hill in an attempt to free the Nose, later in the season.  They have ropes strung from the top down to the Gray Bands so they can work Changing Corners and the Great Roof.  Hopefully they will figure things out so the Nose climbers will not have to contended with fixed lines on the most beautiful part of the route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16)  Paul Gagner is seen here leading on his and Erik Eriksson’s climb of Heart Land.  They are about 4 days out now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17)  Out west, on Aquarian, a mixed team is moving smartly up the route.  Here the woman is seen at the belay among some huge roofs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18)  Fixing on the first pitch of The Shortest Straw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19)  My old friend, a red tailed Hawk, often circles the thermals in front of ElCap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20)  I spotted this old Navy Albatross flying over the Valley.  This one has been fixed up for civilian use as can be seen by the windows and the old USA markings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  Great weather continues to hold and you continue to satisfy your climbing itch by reading the Report… get out of cyber space and get into big air on your chosen route in Yosemite!

So that’s the way it is, on this Monday, the 15^th day of October, 2018.

Capt. Tom… Loves shooting climbers!