ElCap Report 9/22/2015Submitted by Tom Evans on Wed, 09/23/2015 - 16:04 |
ElCap Report 9/22/15
By Tom Evans
Yo…Continued heat and the Facelift are keeping the wall population in check. The heat is supposed to break on Friday so we should have some good action on the hill from now on. The showing of the Reel Rock Tour, at the evening Facelift, was well attended and everyone had a great time. There was a little excitement in the meadow this afternoon…read about it below.
Today’s ElCap Report..written just for you..unique in all the world!
1) Pacific Ocean Wall: Regan and Magda are moving along smoothly on the lower part of the route.
2) Regan on the lead.
3) Magda cleaning after letting the bags out.
4) Mescalito: The Italian Team, we watched on the Trip last week, finished fixing to Stork ledge yesterday. They are planning on starting in two days.
5) Nose: Bronson and Shayna did an 11 hour NIAD. Here Shayna is leading the pitch off Eagle Ledge to start one of her blocks.
6) There were a couple of teams lower on the route and this team continued to ECT while I was shooting.
7) 3D: Anita, Mike, and Pete topped out on the Nose part in mid afternoon. Here they are at the start of the last pitch.
Salathe/Freerider:
8) I spotted a two man French Team climbing the Half Dollar this morning. The light was right and I was able to shoot right into the Half Dollar chimney... I thrashed up that thing on several occasions myself.
9) A real speedy team, dressed in white, cruised up the route and are seen here on the pitch to the Alcove.
10) At the Hollow Flake, a large contingent of climbing rangers and Dlack Diamond athletes are seen in this shot as they are starting a several day effort to clean all the “trash” on the route. We all appreciate the effort!
11) Higher on the route I saw a two person team climbing above Sous le Toit ledge this morning.
The woman’s Salathe in a Day (SIAD) team bailed from the top of Mammoth for various, good reasons.
The Fire!
12) While part of the crew was hanging in the meadow, someone noticed some smoke in the middle of the meadow. The crew ran to the scene of the fire and started putting it out. Other people came running too and soon dirt and water were being put on the fire.
13) People working the fire.
14) The Fire Dept arrived on the scene and went into action.
15) The fire was pretty much under control by the time the ground crew went out and knocked down the last embers.
16) Dumb Ass move of the Day!!!!
So that’s the way it is, for this Tuesday, the 22nd day of September, 2015.
Capt. Tom
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Fire in Elcap Meadow
I (Stan) spotted the smoke when I turned my chair around. Robbie and I grabbed our water bottles and ran to the fire only to discover that the fire was bigger than we thought and our 30oz of water wasnt going to be enough. It was a 3+ft diameter downed tree with about 10ft of the upper half of the tree partially covered with redhot coals in cracks on the outer 3 inches and a sticker bush just erupting in flames next to it. I think Robbie tried to rip out the bush with his bare hands. After dumping the little water we had on the flames, we looked for dirt and only found sand about 30ft away which we ran back and forth trying to smother it. Soon another guy joined me while Robbie was digging up dirt from another location. Then a couple people brought some more water. Then a guy had three gallons. Then Erik showed up with a half full 5 gallon jug. Then another guy had a full 5 gallon jug and by then we had 20 ppl dousing the fire with one guy even trying to put it out with his bare hands. There were pretty good coals about 3 inches into the out layers of the tree so we started tearing it open and dousing the coals. By the time a LEO arrived the flames were all out. By the time I left 3 firefighters were heading out but the job was done. I got a call later from the fire investigator to get some info to see if he could determine the cause of the fire. My best guess is it was smoldering at least overnight. Doesnt seem likely a cigarette butt would start that big tree on fire but who knows. I was told the firefighters werent rushing because fire doesnt spread fast on flat ground.
And now you know the rest of the story.
Hyung...What happen on your
Hyung...What happen on your machine?? Is it OK?
The van is fine... only my ego was bruised!!
Welsh hopefulls
Hey Tom, heading over in a couple weeks via Zion. Gonna be following your posts till then. Looking forward to stopping by and saying hello. Andy and John from Wales.
Real action!!!
Tom, thanks for the live reporting of all the news. See you with a delivery in a few hours. Fattrad