ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 6/1/22

By Tom Evans

Yo… The weather is clear and warm with a daily breeze blowing from the west which is normal for this time of year.  The Captain is not crowded at all and everything is open for your climbing pleasure. I am starting to get a little overwhelmed with all the folks who want their shots drop boxed to them… you will have to wait folks as the internet is not fast enough to upload all those high rez shots… so you might have to wait until July when I get back to the land of the fast internet.  Send me a reminder in 2 weeks and I will keep you on the list.  My first obligation is to do daily photos and processing right here. Also, if you are in the Valley, please come get your shots in person to save me time and effort.  I am in the Lodge Café from 7 to 9 am daily.  When I am shooting at the tree, I can’t download shots for you.

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

The shots are not in any particular order today.

1) Morning on the Groove pitch up on the Shield with Sam Stuckey, Thomas Bukonski and Cam Peters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Nose Route: Waiting at the belay on the start of the Great Roof pitch early in the morning. Austin Donisan in red and Christian Hersh in blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Texas Flake late in the afternoon, as the sun is going west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4) Late afternoon hauling and cleaning on the Boot Flake, Nose Route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5) Light fading on the King Swing, late afternoon on the Nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6) Early morning finds two climbers at the start of the Gray Bands traverse on the Nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7) Interesting rock formations high on Zenyatta Mondotta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8) Solo climber, Black Tower, Zodiac. I think it is Blake Berghoff just down from a three man ascent of VA/Trip a few days ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9) Jordan Cannon and partner Brent Barghahn working the Golden Desert pitch on the shared finish of El Corazon with Golden Gate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10) Late light, low on the headwall above Gray Ledges, on the Muir Wall. French climber hauling kit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11) This shot goes with the one above... French team hauling kit and cleaning on the Muir Wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12) Turning the Great Roof, late afternoon on the Nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13) Herd of three guys, with a big Junk Show on the top of the 4th pitch of Zodiac… banner is for the Golden State Warriors. They all bailed from this point this morning.

BAIL OF THE DAY!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLAST FROM THE PAST!   All of the shots below were taken, by me, at the ElCap Bridge in May of 2007.

14) Cedar Wright, Kate Robertson, Matt Thomsen, Aaron Jones hanging at the Bridge. Our local woman, Kate is the best woman wall climber I ever saw on ElCap and did only hard routes, some solo, all in excellent style.  A private person, I only reported on her when she wanted me to and it was a treat for all of us when she did.  Cedar was just a local dirt bag before later becoming a sponsored and relatively famous climber, who now is big into Paragliding.  Aaron became a guide for Yosemite Mountain Services, Matt is a highly educated nail pounder in Bishop, California and we don’t see much of any of them here anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15) The Montana Girls, Amanda and Emily, caused quite a stir on their climb of the Nose. This was when the report was on Super-topo site before I had a website and that audience couldn’t get enough about them.  Famous for a week! They haven’t been back in years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16) My German friends, Martina and Peter, setting off to climb the Nose with full kit. They later climbed several other routes including the classic Zodiac and were married in the ElCap Meadow several years ago. Peter is presently climbing the Salathe Wall route on ElCap with a friend also named Peter and should be down tomorrow. Martina, a doctor, didn’t make the trip this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s the way it is, on this Wednesday, the 1^st day of June, 2022.  My parents, Murray and Margret Evans were married on this day in 1940 and I miss them every day.

Capt. Tom … making new memories for my climbing friends every day.