ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 6/7/07

 By Tom Evans

Yo... Thursday here and this will be just enough to get you to the weekend so you can work on some projects of your own.. today the report comes direct from the water bottle that someone dropped today from Sus Le Toit ledge about 3 in the afternoon... Was that you Timmy? So flop down wherever you are and forget whatever it was that you were supposed to be doing and take 4 minutes for yourself to stay in touch with all the doings on the Cap from the Roof of the Salathe to the last pitch of Zodiac.. here it is ... Today’s ElCap Report.

Zodiac: The two guys without the rain fly were seen climbing above peanut early this afternoon and should be off by the time this reaches your computer.. Someone is fixing on the first two pitches today and I also noticed a guy fixing the 1st pitch on neighboring Shortest Straw.. will keep you posted... the big question is "Bailers, flailers, Senders?"

NA Wall: Saw the two guys go over the top early in the afternoon as that orange shirt I lent one of the guys was lighting up the right side of the Cap.. Nice climbing guys..

SSPO Gang of 5.. the gang topped out about the same time the NA Wallers did... they were a smooth operation and made excellent time... who are they?   Ragon was seen climbing above the High Brow bivy and will most likely be off tomorrow unless he pushes it tonight.. been a long journey for the man from Poland and I am hoping to hear the story within the next few days.. patience, tenacity, determination have been the earmarks of this climb... See you over the top tomorrow!!!

Nose: Empty save for a few stragglers hanging around the lower pitches... did see what looked to be a Mark 7 torpedo on Sickle ledge today...is the navy doing testing on the Cap now?! Mikey and Madlin fixed lines today up to dolt tower for the filming that is about to happen there under the auspices of Linc Inc... another drama unfolding under the title.."Pose down on the Captain"... or climbing the Cap from the top down, the film!! More film news.. did see TC and BR walking to the car with a ton of gear and asked if the filming on EC went ok... with an unusual burst of verbiage and enthusiasm they both turned and in one voice said... "It was OK"... more words than I have heard from the dynamic duo in as many years... Thanks for the interview guys!!!

Salathe/ Free Rider: It appears that the girls make it to ElCap spire late last night as I spotted them sacked out at the alcove in someone else’s portaledges and they didn’t move until the sun hit them at noon and then they ate a leisurely breakfast and just sat around... they did climb to the spire around 2pm and that is all I know as I left to get some gas at Crane flat.. $3.89 a gallon it was too... Saw R and Amee a couple of pitches above the spire around noon and later in the day at the block. Timmy's Team of hardy, swarthy lads spent the night on the block as planned and waited until the sun got around on them to proceed up to Sus Le Toit... saw Dean the Machine climb to that ledge in fine style and later went down to the west side on old 120 above the woodyard to shoot them at the roof pitch... saw Sean jug to Sus Le Toit with some difficulty as there appeared to be a pretty stiff wind blowing on them... I think they were headed to long ledge at the end of this day but I was not able to stay to shoot that... off tomorrow if the filming allows... Did see Micah D and partner on freeblast taking a break on top of the half dollar in the early afternoon.. they were on it yesterday but were forced off by wind and cold... Cedar is going tomorrow with ? (maybe Nick) to give the FR another run this time in a day? Or maybe not a day... accuracy is not my forte!!!

Lurking fear... Was over there for a change to shoot Timmy and noticed at least 3 parties on the route, two were rather low on the route and another was about half height... looked warm over there for a change...

In other news:  The Bridge was mine alone for a few hours and then some friends dropped by and we lounged around trying to keep in the sun... the day dawned clear and was very nice with strong sun and warming temps with a firm breeze out of the west.. another nice day in the valley... the East side of the Cap is wide open... maybe a solo starting on Mescalito... maybe who knows what.. So there it is another report from the heart of the heart at the Hotel of Heartbreaks and from the epicenter of the center of the big wall climbing scene here in the Big Ditch... hope your day was a worthy one that made your life a little better... mine was ...

Signing off from the Capitol of climbing... ElCap-Pics