Home

ElCap Report 5/25/17

Submitted by Tom Evans on Thu, 05/25/2017 - 15:25

ElCap Report 5/25/17

By Tom Evans

Yo.. Great weather is the prime motivator these days.  The traffic is at best discouraging and at worst static.  The season has taken off with the big three still in high demand but other interesting routes are going on too.  In the past my reports have been highly organized which take some time to arrange… so now it will be more random.  I keep reading that the ElCap Report is back... no... I only do a report once a week now, unless something special happends... before I did reports every day... every day...every day was just too much for me to do anymore so I have stopped the daily reports.  Expect one a week about climbing on ElCap.  Thanks for your support!  If you see yourself in any of the shots below make a comment showing the shot number and who you are and how your climb went.  Contact me to get the shots I took of your team.

Today’s ElCap Report..written just for you..unique in all the world!

1) Climbers at ElCap Tower in the afternoon, Nose route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Hauling bags to the top of Texas Flake, Nose route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Hauling kit to the top of the third on South Seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  BAIL OF THE DAY!!  South Seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is a selection of King Swings on the Nose.  Wearing a pack will change your center of gravity, tending to force your face down and your legs up…check it out!

5)  King Swing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  King Swing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  King Swing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  Connor Herson getting some serious air and speed while sending a perfect King Swing… BTW he is 13 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Can you see the Camp 5 surfer in this shot from the pitch above Camp 5 on the Nose?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  Hollow Flake in the morning.  Salathe/Freerider.

 

 

 

 

 

11)  Belay, Salathe/Freerider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  Early on New Dawn, YOSAR team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13)  Solo climber, high on the Muir Wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)  Last day for the solo on the Muir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15)  Pitch 6 North America Wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16)  Working the three man system, pitch to Peanut, Zodiac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17)  Junk city, Adrift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18)  Swimmers going for a cold dip in ElCap Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19)  The Meadow Crew.  Kevin Thaw, one of the best climbers here in Yosemite during his tenure, is the second person standing, from the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  The NPS is planning on having most of the road construction done by the weekend… a huge effort on their part.  I suggest you park in the public lot across from Camp 4 if possible and take the bus the rest of the day.  That way you can just exit the park later without having to deal with the traffic.  Or, ride a bike.  There will be crazy people parking in all kinds of places… so get here early and get a spot.  Forget about driving between 2 and 7pm.  After 7 you will probably be able to drive around with some delay.

So that’s the way it is, on this Thursday, the 25th day of May, 2017.

Capt. Tom… working hard.. just for you.

#1Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 10/30/2020 - 17:40.

Muir Wall soloist

I believe that is Andy Hanwright.

#2Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 05/27/2017 - 00:42.

Zodiac Team

Hey Tom,
My name is Ryan. I really appreciate all the hard work you've done. It has always been one of my favorite things to follow parties on El Cap. Last week I finally got to be one of those parties along with my 54 year old father and younger brother. For us brothers it was our first big wall, and for our father, his 13th lap up the captain (1st in 20 yrs). Us youngsters (Im 30 and Peter is 23) had limited aid climbing experience and learned as we went through the climb. It was a goal of such intimidation and trepidation that we somewhat blindly committed ourselves after our first night, to finish it (CLEAN) no matter how long it took. We fell short of our progress goals day by day and on that last day, pushed for 22.5 hrs, dry and hungry, into the night to finish it off. I cannot describe the cloud I'm riding right now and I can now relate to all those who have experienced the joy of topping out. I would love to see any other pics you captured of us on the wall. You can e-mail me at Chef@barofamerica.com.

Thank you again!
Ryan

#3Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 05/31/2017 - 21:15.

Nose Team

Hey Tom,

Thank you for the report and for capturing myself (Billy) and my partner Chris on El Cap Tower! We made it to El Cap Tower around 3:00pm and fixed a line up to Texas Flake for the next morning. The second night was spent on Camp 5 and we topped out on the third day around 2:30pm.

~ Billy