ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 6/13/11
By Tom Evans

Yo… Another of many beautiful days here in the Valley.  The river is higher today and going up further.  The falls are really booming… you should be here Puke!!  Good climbing conditions and an influx of Korean climbers from Team Extreme will insure some good shots in the coming days.  The school actually instructs their students to dress brightly and not to carry sticks!  American’s take heed!

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

Zodiac:  One of the two routes of choice these days.  The Korean’s have deemed it the route to do this season and yet another team is about to go on the route.  The present Korean team climbed faster today and was leading its third of the day as I departed… they may make Peanut Ledge this evening.

Koreans on the Nipple pitch early this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organization is the strong point of Korean climbing as shown on the MOZ pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower down, Steve and Dan stayed in late, but got moving by late morning to do the Black Tower pitch.  They were headed into the Circle as I departed.

Sleeping in on the top of the 5th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Jones relaxing at the Black Tower belay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much lower down some guys climbed to the 2nd pitch in the afternoon.

ZM:  Mark was out on lead as the sun got to him.  He climbed out of the circle by mid afternoon.  The old duffer is climbing solidly and appears to be having a good time, as he usually does on ElCap!

Mark on the first lead of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip:  A team of two climbed up the first pitch and promptly got lost on the second pitch.  Several teams of late have been suckered too far up the ramp to the left and have had to come back and start again.

Mescalito:  Mike Donaldson was up and at it as I got there an hour early today.  He seems convinced he can do the route and is consistently moving along.  He would be hard pressed to get down from where he is!

Mike out early.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike in the warm afternoon sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower down, Greg and Wally from the Denver area were seen on the 4th pitch after fixing some yesterday.  They are on the route now.

Nose:  A couple of teams climbed past the KS today and were seen heading for and above C5.  Two teams came up the Legs and another flashed by them.  Turns out the flashers had one Hans Florine in the lead and the other parties stepped aside to watch the show.  He disappeared in a heat wave with his friend.  
Hans cruising into the Grey Bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salathe:  A three man Slovakian team of Oleg, Stanley and Vlado is on the route, smartly dressed in red shirts.  They were at the Ear when I departed.  Another team was seen hauling to Hollow Flake.

Excalibur:  Eric Ericson and Bill Leventhal are on this route but I have yet to make it out there to see them.

Our West… ??????????????????

RESCUE ON ELCAP TODAY!!
The YOSAR pros decided to get Matt Seymour off the Muir this morning after he was injured yesterday when he fell and broke his ankle.  The rescue was based at Crane Flat instead of the EC Meadow which was a good idea as there was no traffic to worry about and disruption of the scene there.
They flew a crew to the top in the NPS Fire chopper and in very quick time had  Ranger Jesse McGahey  lowered down to Matt.  It was all over in just a few hours with a successful extraction.

Climbing Ranger Jesse McGahey and Matt Seymour blasting off from the slab pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nearing the top after an 800ft haul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topping out on the rescue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  The Bridge was pretty quiet today after a busy weekend.  My co-worker Erik Sloan was off today as his wife, Suz, delivered their first child yesterday.  Congratulations to the new parents.
An good buddy of mine from the old days back east, Pat Milligan, stopped by the Bridge and visited for a time.  Been a long time since our last visit and it took quite a while to catch up on our lives.  Always great to see old friends at the Bridge!

Tom Evans and Pat Milligan at the Bridge today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s the way it is, for this Monday, the 13th day of June, 2011.
Later, Tom