ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 9/14/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… our long national nightmare is finally over and there is rejoicing here in the Valley and on the internet… Why?  Because I am finally at my station at the legendary ElCap Bridge, climbing’s most important span.  I came up yesterday and did some shooting but the drive was long and I was not up to grinding out the ECR for yesterday.  I had a good summer and was able to get another big lens and a new camera and various other things photographic.  I spend a ton of money and really appreciated those of you who donated to the site as it covered nearly half of what I spent.  Unfortunately I botched the new camera settings and most of the shots I took today had a puke green tint to them… not good, not good at all.  I salvaged a few and changed the camera settings, so tomorrow will be better I hope!  Plus some of the shots were improperly oriented... like the first 4 and I have not figured out a way to fix the pics... I will come back  and see what can be done.... but don't hold your breath!
 

The pitter-patter of rain drops awoke me this morning at 5:30 am and I thought… “Oh no.. not another weird climbing season?”  Spring was funky enough without Fall following suit.  But the sky cleared off pretty much and I was down at the bridge after a long breakfast in the café.  The day has been a very cool one with un-seasonally low temperatures..  Tomorrow is supposed to be much better and a solid set of good days appears to be in our future.

So wake up Cubicle, Internet, Poser Pukes and want-a-be wall climbers, because I am not going to go through this twice!  Clear the room, put any rugrats to bed, feed the cat, tell your other half, if you have one, not to bug you for the next few minutes because you are back at the throttle and jonesin for serious news from the greatest climbing wall on the planet. 
Today’s ECR is brought to you by me, ElCap Pics.  Long suffering, mostly in silence, of course… but it is tough duty here on the deck and not many are up to the challenge of doing what I do… maybe they are just too smart to be suckered into such a hobby!!
Today’s ElCap Report…. Right now!

Zodaic:  I arrived just in time yesterday to see a couple of guys bailing from the top of the 6th pitch… not an auspicious beginning to the Fall season to be sure!  Today however, I spotted a new team of two climbers, who appeared to be Koreans, start right off the deck with bags and all and were gunning it.  No fixing for these boys.  I last saw them at the top of the third in mid-afternoon.

1)  End of the First Pitch on Zodiac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Tangerine Trip:  Yesterday I met two guys and a woman who had previously fixed the first 4 pitches on this steep trade route.  They jugged to their high point and did one more pitch.  Today I watched them climb to the top of the 7th by the time I departed around 4pm.  I felt sorry for the woman as she had to jug a free line as the third in the party… she never touched the rock! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nose:  As usual this Uber-classic is the apple of many eyes and seekers of  fame and glory among its’ classic pitches, but few the price will pay.  Yesterday the line of bailers was mighty while today only the strong remained.  The action was all above ECT with a two person French team doing some slick free climbing while the party below them languished in aid slings.  The lower team did do a pretty good job on the KS and were seen at the base of the GR later.

 

3)  King Swinging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Nice free climbing on the Great Roof of The Nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were two teams from yesterday who climbed off late in the afternoon.  One team, I hear, was composed of two Swiss women, one of whom was a paragon of style with a yellow helmet and a sweet orange windbreaker.  The other was nearly invisible in earth toned outer garments which were not too nice.  But that not withstanding, they were climbing the last pitch at 4pm.
I did see a team fixing around Sickle ledge late in the afternoon. 
Tomorrow should be interesting as two strong teams are going for a NIAD.

Shield:  From what I hear, this team of three I spotted low on the headwall yesterday, are French climbers.  They moved well and were climbing onto Chickenhead ledge when I arrived this morning.  I saw them dumping out serious water at Chiefton ledge… I wish they would have left a couple of gallons as it is always nice to have those in need surprised by such a gift.
But it was windy and cold up there and they most likely didn’t want to haul the unneeded weight the rest of the way up.

5)  Two shots from yesterday on this cold windy climb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  Groove pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic Mushroom;  Two teams are working about 10 feet from each other on this not too often done route on the left side of the Shield headwall.  They are composed of two teams of three and several of the climbers are sporting some very colorful clothing… nice for the camera.  They had moved along well enough and are just getting to the dreaded flared corners for three pitches of awkward aiding in their immediate futures.

7)  Heavy traffic on the Shroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salathe:  I did see a team of two climb to the Alcove yesterday and by this morning they had vanished in the mists.  I later learned they were working on Freerider and weren’t going all the way up.  A couple of other teams are set to go with bags already hauled to Heart Ledge.  This SW Face classic could see some traffic in the coming days.

8)  Blast from the past:  Dave Turner and Daniel Oppenheim enjoy a liquid breakfast at JTree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  A few of my posse members are lurking around town having done some fast times on the Dome’s Reg and the Nose.  The boys in green refer to them as “troglodytes“, ie.. those living in caves!  I think the troglodytes would decrease in numbers if the NPS was a little more in tune with the climbing community and their needs.
The bridge saw an equal number of climbers and Tourons in the morning and by afternoon it was mostly Tourons, seeing knowledge from the Ask-a-climber program, that went on all summer in my absence.  Holly Beck, Erik Sloan and Tom Lambert picked up the slack in my absence and the program has been very well received.  Thanks you guys for the hard work.
Anyway the Fall season is off and running and several of our bridge friends are due in any day to give the big stone some fodder to expel.

So that’s the way it is for this the 14th day of September, 2009.
Later Dudes!
Tom Evans