ElCap Report 10/11/2015

ElCap Report 10/11/15

By Tom Evans

Yo… It was too warm today to draw many climbers to the rock but the ones higher up had to deal with the heat.  We also had smoke in the west end of the Valley for the entire morning but by noon our prevailing west wind cleared the air.  The paving, down by the ECM appears to be finished so parking is back to normal.  The only thing is that the lines haven’t been painted on the road yet, so park off the pavement if you can.

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

1)  I got this shot when I arrived at the line up this morning.  The smoke soon filled most of the west end of the Valley.  By evening the smoke was back, as the wind died down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Secret Passage:  Dan McManus and Pete Whittaker went up today on the route to see if they could work it to the top, over a period of several days.  Here they are where the difficulties commence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Over on Zodiac, the Nipple was done by the time I arrived.  Ken is seen here cleaning a pin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Later in the day Doug got to lead the notorious Block pitch.  Ken shaded up under a sunbrella as the afternoon temps soared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  The Trip team of locals was nearly done when I left and are off for sure by now.  Lower down, Matt Thomsen and Lance Lemkau blasted on the route using the Virginia start.  Here Matt is securing the belay at the end of the first pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  Sea of Dreams:  Callum and Neil climbed off this afternoon after what appeared to be a relatively casual ascent.  We await the details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower down Steve and Paul took a day off, figuring climbing in the heat would do more harm than good.

7)  Over on Tempest the team bivied at the start of the Pecking Order pitch.  Morning in the ghetto!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  Amazingly Pete decided to start climbing at noon..way before his normal time of 3pm.  Pete leading off from the camp as Jerry records it for posterity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nose:  The strange lighting, made by the sun shining through the smoke, made shooting difficult today.

9)  The Great Roof, shot this morning, though the smoke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  Two teams were climbing above the Jardine Traverse this morning and suddenly bailed.  With that large a kit, it must have been a difficult decision to make.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  Later the smoke cleared off and I got this shot of the team in photo #9.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  This team of three started yesterday and were the survivors of the bailing and heat of today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13)  I spotted a German and a French woman hauling kit up the fixed lines this morning.  No fun over there in the heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)  Salathe/Freerider:  Several teams collected at the start of the Headwall Roof this morning.  The first in line climbed over the roof to the headwall while the next one down went left to Freerider and a lower one waited most of the day at Sous le Toit for the others to clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15)  Meg Curry came out to the meadow to hang out before leaving town.  She presented me with some of her vegatable-bug soup... yummmmy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  The recent naming of the two, previously unnamed, golden rectangles on the upper east side, has brought a protest from the climber that put up a route on part of one of those features.  On the route “Pressure Cooker” the respondent claims that he named those huge golden areas, years ago.  When one examines the topo one sees the names of several pitches but nothing about a large, golden rectangle.  It is never mentioned and thus it was never named by the respondent.  The recent naming of those huge features, now called “The Twin Towers” is not a renaming of already named features from a previous time.  The name of the respondents climb, and its pitches have not been changed in any way, nor should they be.  The topo now is the same as the topo has always been. I tried to have a conversation, on line, with this person but he is unable to have a civil conversation about anything, so I am stating the facts here.

So that’s the way it is, for this Sunday, the 11th day of October, 2015.

Capt. Tom

Great pic of the "Bug Lady!"

Always great pics and stories Tom. Thanks for the continued reports. Glad to see the reports here.

Cheers,
Doug

Ta very much

Thanks Tom! I think my Dad (67) is the guy in the white helmet in 9) and 11). Here he is, posting on Facebook fron the rock face: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1637132016562056&id=10...

pete

what in the world is in all of those bags?
Looking forward to a cheater stick shot!
Tom, You ain't NOBODY in Yosemite if Klaus hasn't rubbed you the wrong way!!

Thanks for the excellent

Thanks for the excellent report, as usual!

Thanks Tom

Tom- Thank you for your continued and excellent efforts documenting the majesty of Yosemite Climbing. I have been following your site for some time now and I look to your imagery and commentary for entertainment and inspiration. You do a great job and I appreciate your work.

Thanks,

Zach Orenczak

Klaus is a whiner.

Tom, I think everyone gets it. Klaus is trying to ride on his laurels, and so he needs to stroke his ego, among other things, once every decade since he don't climb no more. Name on!