ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 10/3/19

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Spectacular weather continues to dominate the season thus far.  Now that the Face Lift was successfully concluded, more climbers are here to infest the great rock.  Hopefully you, cubicle pukes, have caught the bug and are headed this way to join the crews up on the cliff or just hang in the meadow to do the “ElCap Lieback”.  Lots of interesting routes to report on this time, so tell the boss you have to take a break and come with old Capt. Tom to share the experiences of climbers on our favorite rock… El Capitan!  Sorry to have had so few reports thus far but I am finding that my available energy at 75 years of age is not what it used to be but I will do the best I can for you readers.

Today’s ElCap Report.. Written just for you .. Unique in all the world!

1)  On Zodiac I got this shot of solo climber, Nick Stephens, on his last day, climbing above Peanut Ledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Lower down on Zodiac I spotted this climber jugging his fixed line up to the start of the 2^nd pitch.  Why is his shadow bigger than he is?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Native Son: This seldom done route has some spectacular pitches on it as the three-man crew climbing it will find out.  Here one of the lads is leading the infamous Coral Sea Pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Lots of action on Mescalito this season with several YOSAR mixed teams making good times up this classic track.  Here a mixed team is on the pitch leading to the Molar Traverse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  Late evening cross lighting puts a golden glow on the pitch to the Molar Traverse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  High above the Bismarck this team is heading to the Ship’s Bow to spend their last bivy on the route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  Here another mixed team is finishing the long but not too difficult, Mescalito.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  Shield in a push!  Chris Trull, Jon Rigg, and Sean Warren did the classic Shield in a push a couple of days ago.  Here Chris has passed over the roof pitch and reached the belay above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Chris finished his block by climbing the long, steep, but not difficult pitch to the base of the Groove pitch.  It is a lonely, airy place up there… as Buzz Aldrin said of the moon… “magnificent desolation.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  The Muir saw a rapid ascent by a team of three… I wish they had taken longer so I could have gotten more shots!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  A mixed team is on the North America Wall route.  They are Lani Cahpko and Taylor Smallwood.  Late in their second day they reached Bi Sur Ledge where they spent the night.  The evening cross-lighting brings out the rocks features that in mid-day appear flat.

 

 

 

12)  The Salathe/Freerider has been getting a lot of attention of late as has the off chute from mid height, Golden Gate.  Here I got an early morning shot of ElCap Spire as teams are getting ready for the days climbing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13)  One of my favorite parts of the wall are the upper dihedrals of the Wall of the Early Morning Light.  Here climbing rangers, Brandon Adams and Matt Bernstein are in the good stuff on their last day of 4 on the route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14) Here the ranger team is heading up to the huge “Harding Rood” high on the WEML.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15)  Over on the Tangerine Trip a team of three is doing the route in a “shove”… a “push” is one continuous effort while a “shove” is like a push but stopping sometime to sleep.  This is the traverse to the slab belay leading to the start of the upper corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16)  Lots of crew members come to the meadow to relax and watch teams working their way up the Captain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17)  Coast Guard fly-over of the Valley.  Always fun to watch the military aircraft that pass over Yosemite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  Tom Herbert and Roger Putnam did an impressive double the other day… Nose and Lurking Fear in a day.  They did both routes in the exact same time of 7.5 hours!  Tom is still killing it at 50 years old.  A couple of days later he climbed Lurking Fear with Hans Florine, who is making a slow but good recovery from his accident last year. 

There is a team low on The Sea of Dreams and we watch with interest as they work their way up the route.

Lurking Fear is getting a lot of action as the Nose is getting more crowded.  This season there seems to be a higher than normal bail rate on the Nose…for all the old reasons. 

Marek Reganowicz has arrived to do his annual ElCap climb. Several climbers are teeing up for a run at the Free Nose.

So the season is shaping up nicely… stay tuned to the ElCap Report for all the updated.

So that’s the way it is, on this Thursday the 3^rd day of October, 2019.

Capt. Tom… here just for you.