ElCap Report 10/7/2015

Submitted by Tom Evans on Thu, 10/08/2015 - 16:10

ElCap Report 10/7/15

By Tom Evans

Yo.. The rush to the Cap has calmed down a bit now and this lull would be a great time for you to head on up. The weather is great, with warm sunlight and cool breezes. My Adidas crew is soon to arrive for a couple of weeks of interesting projects for all to see…stay tuned.

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

1) The Brits are working the upper east side, looking for the right combination to unlock the Secret Passage. Kind of warm over there so a break was in order.

2) Zodiac: The Polish team is making rapid progress on the route and will be off tomorrow…unless they push on into the night, which I doubt. Here they are on the oft photographed, Nipple pitch. Polish dudes.. steppin out on the Zodiac!

3) Kaos had a team fixing on it today.

Trip: The Mikes climbed off this afternoon and a group of 3 climbers are fixing on the VA start.

4) Sea of Dreams: The men are crushing the center of the route, as these two shots show. Here Callum is out on the lead, while Neil was awakened from his nap by a call for slack!

5) Route finding is no easy matter in the black rock. Here Neil is out on the sharp end.

6) Tempest: Yes you read it here first…the Mongolian Team (Jerry, Plaid, and Pete) is on the route! They fixed a couple over the past few days and hauled kit to the top of the second. It was only 2pm when Pete left the belay to start the third. Jerry and Plaid are in charge of managing the junk show and hauling loads…no easy task!

7) Bug Wall: Meg is way up now and was pushing for the Ship’s Bow this afternoon. She has become sort of famous around here, and everyone, from climbers to Tourons, are asking about how she is doing and anxious to see her through the scopes. I’m going to miss watching her climb and shooting her too. You go girl!! Two more days..

8) TOM’S SHOT OF THE DAY!! The Nose is still occupied by a large number of teams but the crowd has thinned out and is mostly moving upward. There are still several teams around Sickle but this is a good time for anyone to get on the route.

9) If you are around here from time to time, you might notice Rob and Elliot working the upper dihedral of the Muir. They are getting close to sending their new additional pitches on their free route, from the ground to the top of the route. Be sure to stay tuned. Here they are this morning.

10) Shield: Saku, the solo climber from Finland, climbed off late in the day. He made a rapid ascent, for a solo climber. Here he is climbing off Chiefton ledge this morning.

Salathe/Freerider: Many suitors still prowl this instant classic from the early 60’s. The spacing has improved between teams and everyone seems to be getting along.

11) Three person team climbing up to the start of the Boulder Problem.

12) I am not exactly sure what this climber is doing, but I liked the lighting, so I took the shot.

13) Two climbers waiting, on the Block, for their leader to get to Sous le Toit ledge, a pitch above them.

14) Never Never Land: A party of two, has jumped on the route and are not having fun, hauling kit up the 7 pitches of slabs to Timbuktu.

15) The recent Remembrance, for Dean Potter, drew a lot of people to the park this past weekend. The legendary, Jim Bridwell (Center of photo) hung in the ECM with the crew for a couple of days… we all got “caught up” on his favorite conspiracy theories and end of the western civilization predictions… next June..watch out!