ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 5/30/15

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Another great climbing day is in the books.  The only problem, on this day, was the horrendous traffic!  The Park Service did a good job of keeping the traffic moving, so it only took about an hour to get from the Bridge back to the Lodge.  We did have lots of climbing on the Hill… so….

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

1)  Zodiac:  Charles Sherwood and Andy Kirkpatrick showed up today and blasted on the route.  Here we see Andy cleaning the 3^rd pitch to the belay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Shortest Straw:  John Selove is climbing well and putting the difficult pitches behind him.  Here he is on the 6^th pitch on some cool looking, but shitty rock!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Tangerine Trip:  Seems I was wrong yesterday saying that solo climber Cameron Nicoll finished last evening.  Here he is hauling kit to the end of the climb at 1pm this afternoon.  Nicely done solo of the Trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  The Vegas Boys were headed to Big Sur Ledge when I departed.  Here they are a couple of pitches away from that ledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  The women’s trio blasted on the route this morning and here we see Gena doing some free climbing to reach the ledge on Easy Street.  Jenna, Shayna, and June are the women in this team.  So far, so good for the ladies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  Mescalito:  Hiroki and Lorna did make the Ship’s Bow bivy last night and were finishing the last pitch when I departed.  Here they are two pitches from the top this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  Nose:  The traffic jam that has been on the route for several days now has moved to the center of the route.  Four teams were playing butt tag for most of the day as you can see from this shot of the Boot Flake this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  New Zealand Dan is among the cluster of climbers but was able to break away and get to the end of the King Swing pitch.  Nice power move here Dan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Higher on the Nose the cluster from 3 days ago moved to the upper part of the route.  This team brought up the rear this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  Dan, in red, is seen with two other teams in the Gray Bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  The lead teams passed the roof and went onto the upper pitches.  Phil and Helen are seen here letting another party pass as they watch from the Glowering Spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  On Golden Gate, it appears that Emily Harrington is sending the pitches.  Her support crew includes, Adrian Bollinger, John Glassber, and Walker Emerson.  Here we see Emily asking for safe passage by giving the Captain the ElCap Salute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13)  Over on Freerider, Chris Bevins, and Bronwyn Hodgins are seen getting a belay from Jacob Cook, on the Sous le Toit ledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)  Out west, on Lost World, Pete, Rhett and Anita got another pitch climbed and hauled to the nice ledge, before the Grand Traverse start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  It looks like weekend traffic will be pretty bad from now until after Labor Day… so plan accordingly!

So that’s the way it is, for this Saturday, the 30^th day of May, 2015.

Capt. Tom.. hangin in the EC Meadow… just for you.