ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 9/27/09
By Tom Evans               
Yo… Killer day with almost killer heat up on the Big Stone.  The weather people say it will moderate in two days and get into the 70’s… I sure hope so!  The big Trades seem to be bearing the brunt of the action up on the cliff.  A couple of parties are on other stuff but the Nose is the king of traffic right now.  The Face Lift drew to a close today with the goal of 60,000 lbs.  A good amount of old asphalt was gotten out of the Cathedral Beach area.   Looks like another successful event for the “Boss”, Ken Yager. 

Today’s ElCap Report is brought to you by the Boss himself.  Hard working, honest to a fault, self-effacing, Ken is our point man here in Yosemite and we are lucky to have him.
Today’s ElCap Report… written just for you .. Unique in all the world.

Zodiac:  Turns out that the Italian team spent the night on Peanut Ledge after all.  I saw them topping out in mid morning.  Smart move, as these pushes can go south in a hurry when climbers become silly with exhaustion late in the climb.  Nice climb guys!
Lower down, Ottawa Doug and his two Canadian pals, Dennis and Behrooz (nice French-Canadian name!), started the day fixing on the route.  They did one yesterday and are aiming for 3 more today.  They got the word on the proper attire for visiting pukes on the Stone. 
Canadian Mafia on Zodiac’s 2nd pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip:  Well… I don’t know, Dude… these two Itallians continue upward!  They climbed from the top of 7 to the end of 9 by afternoon.  Guess the men are serious about this thing!  Kind of high to be coming off at this point.  Hang in there guys, you can and must do it!

Iron Son:  Mike Ward, Simon Peck, and Dave Melchior are moving right along on the Son part of the route.  They were dusting off the Machine Head Wall as I departed a bit after three this afternoon.  Maybe off tomorrow?
Dave Melchior jugging on the Machine Head Wall on Iron Son.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nose:  I could see a team high in the upper dihedral as I arrived and I imagine there may be others up there.  I didn’t see anyone topping out this afternoon but I wasn’t really looking very hard. 
The two teams who came up to ECT yesterday were on the King Swing as I arrived this morning.  The faster team, of good free climbers, was in the lead.  The Swing itself was managed pretty well by the slower team.  Surprisingly the “free climbers” bailed from the top of the pitch above Eagle ledge early in the afternoon, while the slower “aiding” team continued on.  Something about the hare and tortoise?  The descent was going well as I left this afternoon. 
Yo.. Did you guys find a set of car keys over there?  King Swing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two teams worked their way up the Stove legs, one being a British team with a big old white bag.  They are Elliot and Mike and were approaching Dolt when I left.  Above them a team with a sweet yellow bag were well on the way to ECT by late afternoon.

Shield:  I did manage to get out west for a few shots around 4pm.  I noticed a team hauling some bags and a ledge to the Muir/Shield junction and I am guessing they are Shield bound.  Nice to see so many people on this great Charley Porter classic.

Salathe:  I did see two teams high on the route this morning and afternoon.  The top team climbed the Headwall to Long Ledge early in the afternoon and the other team was a couple hours behind them onto the Headwall.  I didn’t see anyone lower and I suspect the heat has put a hold on a couple of teams plans to blast.
Early morning, cleaning on the Salathe Head Wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing to Long Ledge on the Salathe Wall Route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Octopussy:  I did spot Big Wall Kate and her minion, PTPP, climbing on the route in early in the day and went out west to get some closer shots in the afternoon.  Kate was on the sharp end all day and did a nice hooking traverse across the base of what I call “Half Dome on ElCap” aka the Octopus Head.  A really a cool feature, to be sure.  Pete was tending to house keeping chores as he seldom climbs until late in the day anyway.  Cool looking route!!
Kate climbing while Pete deals with the Show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kate traversing under Half Dome on ElCap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset:  In the next several reports I am going to post some of the fabulous sunsets I get from the back deck of my house.  Sweet Stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  Quiet in the Valley today and most likely it will remain so until the leaves really start to glorify.  John Blair stopped by for a few minutes today to chat.  He was a powerhouse here several years ago, climbing with Mark Garbolini (sp?) and Denita, and is augured into Tahoe now, I recall him saying.  Mike and Windy Graham came by a couple of times over the weekend and are always a pleasure to have around.  All in all it has been a good weekend with lots of climbers coming by from the Face Lift. 
On a personal note:  Today is my son Tom’s 37th birthday.  He has grown into a fine man and I couldn’t be prouder of him!
So that’s the way it is for this the 27th day of September,2009
Later Tom