ElCap Report 10/7/2019

ElCap Report 10/7/19

By Tom Evans

Yo… Today was a beautiful day… right up until 1pm when the Valley filled with smoke from a fire near Midpines which was Zero percent contained.  Needless to say hwy 140 was closed this afternoon.  So I got a couple of hours extra time to finish images early and write this report.  The weather continues to hold.

ElCap Report 10/3/2019

ElCap Report 10/3/19

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Spectacular weather continues to dominate the season thus far.  Now that the Face Lift was successfully concluded, more climbers are here to infest the great rock.  Hopefully you, cubicle pukes, have caught the bug and are headed this way to join the crews up on the cliff or just hang in the meadow to do the “ElCap Lieback”.  Lots of interesting routes to report on this time, so tell the boss you have to take a break and come with old Capt. Tom to share the experiences of climbers on our favorite rock… El Capitan!  Sorry to have had so few reports thus far but I am finding that my available energy at 75 years of age is not what it used to be but I will do the best I can for you readers.

ElCap Report 9/28/2019

ElCap Report 9/28/2019

By Tom Evans

Yo… The weather has changed, the skies are dark and foreboding with some showers.  I am hanging in the café with the crew, staying dry and talking shit.  The Face Lift has, as expected, reduced the action on ElCap.  As a result, I haven’t had much to shoot but the big trade routes… so you get a lethal dose of familiar features today.  It has been unseasonably warm these past days and we await fall weathers return.  Later in the day now... the clouds cleared around noon but the wind is up and the temperature has dropped.  Looking at some rain late tonight or tomorrow morning.  I'm hanging in the Mt. Room Bar this evening.

ElCap Report 9/22/2019

ElCap Report 9/22/2019

By Tom Evans

Yo… Splendid weather has been holding firm here the first several days of my stay. But next week some rain is in the forecast and we are hoping it will not disrupt the Face Lift.  The action on ElCap has been mostly on the big trades with the exception of the huge rockfall scar from a couple of years ago, which you saw a shot of in the last report.  More on that below.  Climbers are coming now for the Face Lift and we expect for things to pick up after the clean-up if the weather holds.  Ok people, a lot of you are showing up on the cliff wearing gray, black, and other dark colors… not good for photos… so don’t expect to have your pic on the report if this describes you.

ElCap Report 9/20/2019

ElCap Report 9/20/2019

By Tom Evans

Yo.. I arrived yesterday after a nice, but long drive from my home in Southern California.  The weather is really fall like with cool days and cooler nights. The great rock is pretty empty with the exception of the Nose which is crowded in clumps.  I didn’t arrive in time to shoot yesterday but did get down to the ElCap meadow to shoot today.  I plan to have some reports this fall as I will be here until late October and will have time to get something up but at irregular intervals most likely.  So… stay tuned for all the news from the big stone along with some reporting on the Face Lift that will start early next week, and has excellent evening shows and fantastic prizes for the hard working volunteers.

ElCap Report 10/27/18 Last report of the Fall season.

ElCap Report 10/27/18  Last report of the Fall season.

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Great weather continued right to the end of the season.  My season that is, as the climbing season continues well into November or until the weather totally caves in.  We had a lot of action on the Cap this season with the big trades getting fully used, as well as climbs we don’t see done so much.  All in all, it was a good season with no really serious injures in the climbing community.  The two big climbing movies came out in Sept. and have been well attended with very positive reviews.  Seems like climbing movies are becoming more interesting to main stream viewers as well as climbers.  BTW if you have not contacted me about drop boxing your shots to you then you have to wait until Dec as I will be gone until then, starting Nov 4.  Let me know and I will put you on the list.... thanks!

ElCap Report 10/22/18

ElCap Report 10/22/18

By Tom Evans

Yo… The weather continues to make this an exceptional season for big wall climbing.  Lots of different climbs are being done along with the Big Trades that are still overloaded on most days.  We have had a few rescues these past days, mostly helicopter driven, of varying incidents… be careful out there folks!

ElCap Report: An afternoon walk in Yosemite, Fall 2018

ElCap Report: An afternoon walk in Yosemite, Fall 2018.

By Tom Evans

Yo… A little change of pace for this Report.  Yesterday afternoon I took an hour or so “off” from shooting down at ElCap, and took a walk starting from Camp 4.  It was so beautiful I have to share some shots with you.  The first few are from around Camp 4, my home for the past weeks.  As you can see they really pack campers into small spaces here… not so great for sleeping but we are just happy to be in Yosemite.  The green tent, in the second shot, is my humble abode.  I won’t describe the shots individually as anyone with a camera could have taken these shots just by walking around. The spacing of these is weird so just keep going down until you hit the next one.

ElCap Report 10/20/18 Speical rescue edition.

ElCap Report 10/20/18

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Very busy here due to the splendid weather so I am a little late getting caught up on reports.. sorry about that.  This is a short report on a recent helicopter involved rescue off he East Buttress of Middle Cathedral rock.  That same day there was a similar rescue off of the climb Super Slide.  Earlier the YOSAR ground team did an all-nighter off the death slabs below the NW Face of Half Dome.  So, the rescue teams here have been busy and fortunately we have had no really serious injuries thus far this season.

ElCap Report 10/18/18

ElCap Report 10/18/18

By Tom Evans

Yo… Man the solid weather has been here for so many days.. will it ever rain again?!  Take advantage of this you Cubicle Pukes, rise up, leave the office, and come to Yosemite asap!  I have had several days of many shots and have fallen behind on the Reports so I am posting them as I finish them…so this one is for Oct.18 and covers the time from the one before on Oct 15.

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