ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 6/3/2022

By Tom Evans

Yo… Excellent weather continues to bless this season but climbers seem to be few and far between. The Nose remains pretty empty save a few NIADS now and then.  If this keeps up I might as well go back home. So come on out and keep me here!

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

1) A Korean team that was here 8 years ago has showed up under the direction of world renown MD, PhD, neurosurgeon Kyung Gi Cho.  I had a wonderful dinner with the team a few nights ago. No Bum, Park is his partner.  Here they are on the third of Tangerine Trip. Hard not to notice the "Black Cat" sitting on the somberero or Space Ship as some call it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) On the Nose I liked the colors of this team but they had some logistical troubles in the Legs and retreated from Dolt Tower yesterday. ElCap Salute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Also this morning, I did spot this team heading out of Camp 5 on the Nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4) On Zodiac, Blake Berghoff continues to put the pitches behind him with seemingly little difficulty.  Here he is leading the Mark of Zorro (MOZ) pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5) As you know, solo climbers go up, and then go down, and then go up again. Here Blake is going down to free the kit and then clean the pitch he just led.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6) I caught this team above the Changing Corners pitch on the Nose yesterday, with a long shot from way, way out west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7) On Mescalito, Ryan Huetter and Chance Traub teed up their kit and moved onto the route two days ago. Here they are on the “two bird” pitch off Stork ledge. They are better climbers than this route requires and are just out for a fun climb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8) Josh Helling and Camden Clements are guiding Marne Smiley up the Muir on a fund raising mission. Not sure of the cause but will find out and insert here later. Here she is jugging off the sloping ledge they spent their last bivy on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9) This long splitter aid pitch is just above the one mentioned in #8 which just turned a good French team away a few days ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10) Still on the Muir.. This pitch is the one leading to the good ledge at the base of the long, beautiful final dihedral leading to the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11) I have tried this shot many times before but atmospherics have caused  distortion of previous shots. However, for some unknown reason a series of this shot turned out perfectly. Like shot # 6 above, they came out crystal clear.  Here is the long shot and the next one is a crop of it, close up. Notice the huge image of an Inuit woman's head on the on the sunlit face to right of the lead climber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12) Close crop of #11. Which is “Tom’s Shot of The Day”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13) Yep… The “Green Dragon” is back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some oldies of Old Tom.

14) When I had a smaller kit back in the 90’s I was able to ride my bike down to ElCap and shoot, but as my kit improved that was no longer possible. Shot from mid 1990’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15) I climbed the Prow on the Washington Column with Ian Watts in 1986 and basically taught him how to aid climb. He got this shot of me on the ledge at pitch 3 where we bivied the first night. His leads took 4 hours mine took 1 hour so it all averaged out in the end.  He was killed soon after with two other Americans when the North Face of Mt. Cook, NZ, collapsed  while they were on the route.  I was 42 at the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16) I got out of the Army in May of 1969 and drove to straight to Yosemite. I met up with by climbing partner, Bob Williams, and one of the routes we tried was the NW Face of Half Dome. Here I am on the small ledge at the top of the 7^th pitch where we spent the night. We later took the escape route straight up and over the shoulder above which turned out to be a minor epic of route finding and confusion. We should have stayed on the regular route but were NFG’s who were afraid we would run out of water. Duh!  Notice the home-made harness and the plastic chlorox water bottle. Two-liter soda bottles had not yet been invented. Good training… ha!  I was 24.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s the way it is, on this Friday, the 3^rd day of June 2022.

Capt. Tom had a little free time this afternoon so you got this report!