El Cap Report 06/18/07

ElCap Report 6/18/07

 By Tom Evans

Yo... you made it past another Monday and are feeling like the week is still a long dreary struggle... well suck it up dog because you still have a long way to go and I am here in the lap of luxury at the glory hole doing what you would kill to have a chance to do... make meaningless pronouncements about worthless events and have fun doing it... so here they come.. straight from the beat up Subaru of Lori’s that just barely made it to the valley today....so crash into that favorite chair of yours and let out a long sigh and a blast of air from the posterior vent... no one will know.... ok? So now you are ready for today’s ElCap Report

 

Zodiac: As promised, the Korean team of three, AKA the former Lost in America team, was seen sneaking up the scree and jumping on the direct start before Zodiac even knew what hit it... but the route recovered quickly with a blast of heat and a flash of glaring sunlight that took the lads by complete surprise ... they started around 10am when I showed up and were just finishing off that pitch when I left at 3:30pm...mmm seems to me that the route won the first round in this one... tomorrow the German team of Peter and Martina are returning to the fray with a decided advantage of having been up to the black tower ledge and have ropes fixed to their high point and more water to even the odds a bit... see you on the wall!

 

The Trip: Todd is slugging it out higher on the route now and hopefully in cooler conditions... he climbed steadily today and seems to be unphased by the smallness of his haulbag and the steepness of the route... doesn’t seem possible to me that he could have enough water but I suppose he is rationing by now (this is all speculation on my part without any evidence to back it up) so if you are Todd’s wife reading this then please don’t panic.. he knows what he is doing and you should have confidence in his judgment) and is comfortable with the situation or he would come down... got some nice shots of him today.... soon he will be on part of the route that goes faster and I expect he will climb more rapidly.. the man is tenacious to be sure...

 

Aurora: Check out the photos that my good Bro Werner posted for me today on SuperTopo and see the Koreans in action... Speaking of Koreans... they are going right up the route without any sign of understanding that this is a pretty hard route!! They have two lead teams and seem to be having fun up there ... they have a lot of bags and barrels so are well equipped... They say there is a woman in the party but I haven’t looked close enough to see who is who up there... they are a flashy looking crew and I would love to have more chances to photograph them.... see photo #4 in the Tom Evans Monday Morning photos posted by WB earlier today.

 

The Ranch:... As you can imagine, after yesterdays reveal, it was with a certain trepidation that I moved the camera into position to photograph this team..... I was even considering sacrificing a Touron by having them look, unknowingly, into the scope and telling me what they saw so as to avoid facing another image of Pete, in all his naked splendor, burned into my retina. I just couldn’t do it ....so I manned up and took one for the team. You can imagine my relief to find that Pete, while shirtless, which is no picnic, had the lower portions of his anatomy covered. They had done the magic trick of having another pitch fixed and were in the process of moving the train upward. Later in the day as the great shadow of El Capitan passed over them I witnessed Pete actually leading out on the next pitch... AaaHaa... so the mystery was solved by direct viewing. They do lead but only during the cooler parts of the day... very smart.. now if Pete would only be more considerate of the world at large and do his "exposures" at night then things would really be great... all kidding aside, they are moving right along and seem to understand how to manage the beast they have created...

 

NA Wall: The sneaky team that blew past my eagle eye until yesterday was seen climbing toward the roof pitch up the black dihedral this afternoon... not a push as I earlier thought...

 

New Dawn. Did see Josh and Ian high on the wall this morning as Ian lead over the great Harding Roof and onto the big ledge above... they were headed toward the last pitch when I last saw them around 4pm... so what can I say but that I was way wrong about these lads... and I really hate to admit it too!!!... they got the job done with an excellent ascent in a very good time... congrats to the lads for a climb well done... no walk of shame for them...

 

The Nose: The team higher on the route... possibly the worst dressed climbers I have ever photographed... are moving along well... I shot them on the KS at 9:30am and they were last seen at camp 4 at 4pm... I heard that one of them is about to get married... for God's sake woman, dress this man properly for climbing on the big stone... he needs help... looks like they got their clothing out of a dumpster!! Also on the Nose but lower is the Cheese Head team, BTW a much better looking crew than the homeless looking posers above them, were in the stovelegs for most of my viewing and were about to make Dolt tower when I left...

 

Salathe: The line up of three teams is still intact.. at the head of the column is John and Julia who were seen on the bitch...ugh oh typo... that should be PITCH below the roof and seem to be making a run for Long Ledge. The next party, two men were climbing to the block late in the day and I imagine they will stay there... a couple pitches lower was found the team of a man and a woman who go more slowly and their bivy is anyone’s guess..

 

. In other news... the weather was nice today and quite comfortable at the bridge.. the Tourons were in vast numbers for a Monday and were constantly wanting to know how climbers got those ropes up there and if the climbers actually would all reach the top today... various climbers drifted about making plans that most likely would never come to fruition but sounded really killer... Around 4pm I left the west side where I was shooting some Koreans across the face and Salatheiers, strange word, and Nosers directly in front of me... another great day here but there was a lack of food and drink brought by visitors this day and thus the conditions were harsh... I fell back on my reserve of "Extra Beers" but at the end am down to the final one...READERS!! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!! PLEASE BRING FOOD AND DRINK WHEN YOU COME TO VISIT. WE CAN”T HOLD OUT MUCH LONGER... IT MAY BE IN SAR'S HANDS TO SAVE US AND WE ARE UNINSURED!!!!!

So that's the way it is here in the glory hole for June 18th 2007.... goodbye and good luck,

Signing off,  ElCap-pics