ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 5/16/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… Pretty freakin hot today in the Ditch.  As a result of the heat there were not many takers stepping up on the Big Stone.  You may have noticed in recent days the pictures were not as sharp as the ones from the Fall.  The sun is very high in the sky now and most of the light is not reflected back to my camera and the view is kind of stark.  Also, the air is hazy with water vapor from the falls and pollen from the pines.  Plus… who dresses these pukes anyway?!!  Fall is the time to shoot ElCap but what the hell… I am here anyway because my band of followers, that’s you guys, would not make it to fall without  the ElCap Report.  So here I am suffering in silence as I always do!

Today’s report is brought to you by Dean Potter, who in a very rare moment of socializing, happened by the Bridge to hang with the Bros!  The lad looks as fit as always and shared some of his recent adventures with us… nice Dean!
So anyway, sober up Pukes, turn off any electronic distractions, and pay attention because I am only going to write this stuff once!
Today’s ECR, such as it is … to you right now!

Zodiac;  There was a party seen on the first pitch this morning and it looked a bit on the hot side if you ask me.  The guys from fixing 4 yesterday wisely didn’t show up today that I could tell.

ZM: Team ZM did get on the route today and worked their way up to the 5th pitch by the time I departed.

1)  PO Wall:  The French team continued their upward progress today making it to the Continental Shelf by the time I left around 4pm.  They are in possession of a really nice looking cheater stick and were not afraid to use it.  Clip it up boys!!  Below is the view of the lower PO taken from the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Sticking it on the PO Wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Nose:  I saw two teams high in the upper dihedrals this morning and another climbing off Camp V later in the day.  I did manage to catch a shot of one team at the end of the last pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Salathe:  There were two teams around the vicinity of the Alcove, one having climbed from the Ear in the morning.  They had no bags so it might be a recon mission or perhaps they have stuff stashed from another jaunt on the route.  One team might be Golden Gater’s.  Climbing the 13d pitch above the Ear as A1 on the Salathe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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5)  In other news:  The roads were crowded but there didn’t appear to be that many folks actually on foot.  The Bridge was pretty calm but we did have the heroes from Tribal Rite, and Lost World hanging for most of the afternoon.  Several other climbers of considerable note drifted in and out and enjoyed the shade of the west side tree.  Quite a few of the regular Bridge Posse members were also in evidence.  It was quite nice to be able to walk around on the Deck and not fear being squashed like a bug by the traffic.  Excitement was provided by Pierre, from Sweden, who, on a practice run up to Dolt, plunged 70 feet out of the Stoveleg crack and fortunately was only slightly injured!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather should be getting cooler later in the coming week, but be smart and try to avoid the Memorial Day weekend… read…. ZOO!
If you are coming to climb on the Cap then please try to be particularly careful about discarding human waste on the routes… not good, not good!
Haul it up and out, especially urine on the Nose and Salathe… I know, I know, that is quite a request but come on people.. You know how bad it can be if you don’t so man-up and do the right thing.
So that’s the way it is for this the 16th day of May 2009.
Bye Bye  ECP’s