ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 10/18/11
By Tom Evans

Yo…. Yosemite … Still the place to be in the climbing world!  Exceptional weather continues to dominate the Fall season.  However, replacements are getting hard to come by these days.  You hear a few key words floating up around camp fires and in the Café… words like …“The Creek…I’m over wall climbing for a while… I need some rest…my legs hurt…East Side.. Josh…Red Rocks.. Etc, etc.   Well, let me tell you something Puke…it doesn’t get any better than it is right now in Yosemite!

  All those other places will be good for most of the winter, so you will have your fill of them in due time.  But Yosemite will only be accessible to most climbers for the next few weeks, so you better stop your whining and moaning and take advantage while advantage can be taken!  Take it from the Captain of the Captain…now is the time… Yosemite is the place… period!!
Today’s ElCap Report…written just for you…unique in all the world!

Zodiac:  Leila and Mike were downward bound due to time constraints.

Higher up, Kris and Craig didn’t stop at the start of the Nipple last evening but continued on to the MOZ.  So no shots of the Famous pitch for the lads.  Craig was leading to Peanut when I departed and I think they most likely just kept going to the top.  Speedy one bivy climb after fixing 4 for the men.
1)  Kris leading above the MOZ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Craig closing in on Peanut Ledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ZM:  Regan was up and at early again today.  He climbed the difficult pitch leading to the intro to the Arches above.  Hopefully he was able to get another done.  I left early so can’t tell you.  
3)  Regan starting the climbing today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Regan cleaning the pitch known for some big falls in the past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nose:  I saw Andrew and Alex climbing above camp 5 this morning and most likely they are off now.
Augustino and Carlos climbed off in early afternoon.
A couple of guys did the King Swing this morning and continued into the Gray Bands before I left.  One of the guys had difficulty with the pendulum to the Bands because he chose to pendulum from way too low… eventually he figured it out.
5)  Hard to pull this pendulum off since the pendulum point is nearly as high as the ledge they wanted to reach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solo Dan has spent a lot of time waiting around for several faster parties to pass him.  The custom here is to let faster teams pass, even if it results in the passed team getting slowed down.  The usual course of action is for the passing team to fix the line of the passed team on the next pitch so as to not make the pass so disadvantageous.  Looks like that is the case here.  Dan,  has a lot of tolerance for suffering and it sure can’t be easy up there with all that kit and the warm days…. So I’m pulling for the guy to keep going any way he can! 
6) Solo Dan at the end of the King Swing, which he did with energy and enthusiasm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shield:  I did see Pete and Ian heading up the last pitch early in the afternoon.

Golden Gate:  The crowds on “the most popular route on ElCap” have thinned and just a few are left to work the upper section.
7)  Jugging out on Golden Gate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salathe:  I did see a party come down from GG via the Salathe…most likely to avoid the line above.
The team of Mandy and Nate climbed from Hollow Flake to the Alcove via the monster this morning.

9)  Shots of the Tree taken today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  Real nice today at the Bridge.  Lots of climbers who just topped out stopped to say hi and get their cd of pics.  It seems that the rush at the Cap has gone like the grunion runs down south… here in mass one day and gone the next.  So replacements need to get hoofing to the base.  It would be a real shame for the season to close out in perfect weather!
So that’s the way it is, for this Tuesday, the 18th day of October, 2011.
See you
Tom