ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 6/15/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… Cloudy and on the cold side today… but no rain.  The Captain is sparsely populated now that the Korean teams have finished their routes.  The SW Face is pretty empty.  The Nose had a team going over the top and a team in the lower stove legs.  So the place is wide open to anyone with the time and the plan.  The strange spring continues. 
Today’s report is a brief one so don’t blink or you will miss it…
Today’s report…

The Prophet:  Leo Houlding was out and about on this work in progress  today.  It is a bit right of Eagles Way and has been ongoing for quite a while.  He had a friend belaying him as he worked on a couple of the upper sections, after rapping in from the top.
Leo Houlding looking for a way home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zodiac:  The team I thought would be off last night bivied at the so called “Sidewalk” at the start of the last pitch and were soon off in the morning.
Lower down, what I thought was a solo yesterday, was not.  This team started in earnest today but lost time on the third pitch by stopping too soon, at the false belay 20ft below the real belay.  They need to pick up the pace or will have to go down in the near future.
Leading out from the false belay on the 4th pitch of Zodiac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower down a team of two Brits started fixing today.
Brits on the 2nd pitch trying to reduce the rope drag on the traverse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LA:  The two Koreans made it down and stopped by the bridge to give their regards to the crew.
The climbing team of two on the left with their friends in support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Higher up the team of three, Seth, Brian and Justin finished the LA part of the route this afternoon and are now pushing for the top on ZM.  They may not make it off today but could if they pushed it into the night.
Three man team heading onto the ZM part of the route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nose:  I saw a team from yesterday top out early in the afternoon today.  I thought they had gone off yesterday … but no… wrong again!!
I saw OK Tony, his partner Clay, and Clay’s son, Grant who is 11 years old, climb into the Stovelegs in the late morning but bail in the early afternoon.  It was windy and cold there today and no one else ventured out to test themselves on the now empty route.
Clay, Tony and Grant in the Stoveleg crack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blast From the Past:
Jim Bridwell’s old truck in a 1997 photo… read the bumper stickers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  The Captain is pretty deserted now… amazing… there are bags fixed up to 4 on Mescalito and also on Reticent.  I hear that one of the Reticent team members has a woman arriving in a few days and that may be holding the proceedings up… Word … Never let a woman delay an ElCap climb!  But then again, it might be a horny man gumming up the works!   A Moab team is in line on Zodiac, mostly waiting for someone in front to bail…. They may not have to wait long!  A Nose/Dome link up by the Colorado Kid and KFC is in the wind.  Also the Kid and Spaz are looking to send Golden Gate soon too… we will see soon enough.
I am out of here for a few days and will thus not be writing the Report for a while.  Take some time and go back to some of the more memorable reports and enjoy the nostalgia!!
So that’s the way it is for this the 15th day of June 2009.
See you later… Tom