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ElCap Report 10/20/2014

Submitted by Tom Evans on Tue, 10/21/2014 - 00:00

ElCap Report 10/20/14

By Tom Evans

Yo… The action, on ElCap, has subdued somewhat, in spite of the perfect weather.  Teams reached the top of the Shield, ZM, Salathe, and the Nose.  I’m calling up the reserves!!  All aspiring ElCap climbers report to the Bridge, IMMEDIATELY!!  Be sure to get instructions on the Dress For The Day!  Anyone in Gray, Brown, Black, and dark earth tones, need not bother!  Several Big Guns have arrived in the past few days so get ready for some interesting climbing…only, of course, on the ElCap Report!!  Capt. Tom is your man, here on the front lines, at the vortex, of the epicenter, of the universe!  So don’t stray too far from your computer or you will miss all the breaking news!

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

1)  Surgeon General:  My good friend, Marek, continues to climb at a very deliberate pace, putting the pitches behind him at a rate of one a day.  One a day is A-OK!  Here he is starting out at the start of his climbing day.  He is out of the Circle and into more featured rock to the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Marek later in the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Zodiac:  It turns out that the team of Aaron and Tomas didn’t climb past Peanut yesterday, and neither did Sean the Brit.  In this shot the Aaron (This is a guess folks!  50% chance of getting it right you know!) is leading the slab pitch, around noon today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Lower down, Brant Didden, is seen this afternoon in the center of the Circle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  A longer view of Brant in the Circle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  Trip:  The two man team, still unidentified, help me out here folks, is seen here climbing to the first bolt ladder this morning.  I think they will be off this evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  Lower down on the Trip, Danny Coltrane, is moving along smartly.  Here he is at the top of the 6th this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  I didn’t see Jim Beyer today but did see his home for the day.  Even a hard boiled guy, like Jim, takes a day off every now and then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Nose:  The team of Chris and John hauled to Sickle and soon departed toward the Legs.  When I left they hadn’t gone very far.  Maybe it is not such a good idea to haul to Sickle and continue toward Dolt Tower the same day.  Half the day is gone before you even get to Sickle, and Dolt is a distant dream, shimmering in the heat, high above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  These guys were the first out of the gate today and moved along well to Dolt by early afternoon.  But you probably won’t be seeing the lads again as they are in violation of the dress code!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  Salathe:  I’m not sure who these two guys are, but we see them here, on the pitch to the Block, this afternoon.  Far below, other teams are slogging up the Freeblast, with hopes of sending Freerider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  It seems like this season has gone by really fast. Probably, because I do the same thing every single day… work hard to document the events on ElCap, share my photos with the people in them, and give you readers, updates on the people you care about.  For me this has been a difficult season, as the internet has been a continuing daily hassle.  The weather has been storm free for most of the Fall and that makes shooting much more fun.  People say that photography and this report are my “passions”.  I think it is more like my “obsessions”!  An obsession is a passion on steroids, and the obsessed have no recourse but to continue no matter the difficulties.

So that’s the way it is, on this Monday, the 20th day of October, 2014.

Stay tuned.. Capt. Tom… out!  

 

 

 

 

 

#1Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 10/22/2014 - 02:19.

You are 100% right!

That was indeed me leading the slab pitch on Zodiac. We topped out that afternoon and made it down just as it got dark. Thanks for the great shots!

Oh and it was fun climbing near Marek. When he made it to the top of the pitch, he would yell with as much excitement as most climbers do only upon topping out. Seriously inspiring!

-Aaron

#2Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/21/2014 - 23:22.

Continued Awesome Reports!

Hey Tom,

Thanks for the continued photos and reports. They are always informative and fun to read. Marek seems to be motoring up Surgeon General without problem although I'm sure he has the odd "adventure" while on the lead. It was great to see you this past fall and spend some time at the bridge. Keep the reports coming (if it's not too much work) and don't let the obsession take up too much of your time. An evening sitting at the picnic table in the campsite sharing a few drinks and laughs is where it's at.

Jamaican MF'n Doug

#3Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/21/2014 - 12:09.

hey tom

awesome reports. makes being outside the valley a lot easier.
cheers