ElCap Reports

ElCap Report Farewell Tour 10/13/23
By Tom Evans

Yo… Smoke, smoke and more smoke here in the Valley these mornings.  Fortunately, down at ElCap, the normal 11am west wind has been pushing it eastward into the more populated regions.  I did take 10/11/23 off for a shower and procuring some needed items at the store. Much cooler now as the action is heating up. The climbers are still talking about Nick Ehman’s rapid solo of the Nose, a couple of days back, and opinions vary as to the possibility of Honnold returning to retake the record.  I included some shots, not seen in the last report, for your enjoyment.
Today’s ElCap Report.. Written just for you … Unique in all the World!
 

1)  Marek Raganowicz is still plodding along on Bad Seed and has passed the principal difficulties, and is expected to finish in the next couple of days. Here he is under the Devil’s Brow in the early afternoon.

 

2)  Over on Zodiac the crowds have somewhat diminished but this route is still a big favorite this season.  Here a team is on the 4th pitch, leading up to the bolt ladder pitch.

 

3) The Nose is as popular as ever but not over-crowded.  Here a team is seen hauling kit to the Glowering Spot high on the route.

 

4) A two-man team has appeared on the upper regions of the, highly vaunted, Muir Wall. They are seen here doing the short but interesting pendulum leading up to the slab below the so called “stemming” or “nutting” pitch.

 

5)  The Salathe and Freerider are seeing some traffic now as the heat makes free climbing more realistic.  The Salathe headwall is becoming more popular these days as seen in this shot.

 

6)  Not to be outdone, the Freerider is getting some notice as the aspiring free climbers are working hard on the Monster Crack.

 

7)  Higher up on the Salathe I caught this team hauling kit, near-by to Long Ledge.

 

8)  Here is Nick Ehman finishing the Jardine Traverse on his recent record-breaking ascent of the Nose.

 

9)  Later, I got Nick as he untied the loop of rope he used very sparingly on the route.  This was at the end of the difficulties on the pitch into Camp V.

 

10)  Nick is seen here on the last part of the last pitch… the tree at the finish is in view.

 

11)  Here we see a couple of climbers who, actually look like what the public perceives climbers should look like…. Talking it up to some tourons.

 

12)  Smoke?  Yeah we got smoke here at the ElCap Bridge!  

 

13) My friend, Earl Bates, is an excellent portrait photographer and conjured up this shot of me looking at ElCap through the smoke.

 

14)  Later in the morning the smoke cleared off and I gave a little talk to and let the kids, on a nature tour, look at some climbers on my cameras screen.  Earl took this shot.

In other news:  With the weekend almost hear we understand that the burn piles will give it a rest for a few days… that should make a lot of weekenders happy.  Pete and Luke are moving up on Hole World and a crew I missed on Never Never Land topped out. Stay tuned for all the local happenings…

So that’s the way it is, on this Friday, the 13th day of October, 2023.

Capt. Tom… your eyes and ears here in the incomparable Yosemite Valley.