ElCap Report 10/16/2014

Submitted by Tom Evans on Fri, 10/17/2014 - 15:53

ElCap Report 10/16/14

By Tom Evans

Yo…More interesting climbing going on now, in mid season October. A new route is being worked on and some speed work is going on, in the near future too. Nice weather is continuing to pack the big trades with heroes and zeros alike. So read up pukes… these days will be the good old days for all these climbers, and you can see it all too.

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

PSD: The crew has everything under control and will be off tomorrow .

1) Here we see Charlie jugging past the Devil’s Brow with Erik back under the roof, barely visible.

2) The whole team is seen, this afternoon, getting ready for the last two pitches.

3) Surgeon General: Regan finished the 6^th today and met up with Sean, the Brit, on the ledge the route shares with Zodiac. Here he is climbing up to that ledge.

4) Zodiac: Leading the multitudes swarming below, Zach Wasserman is nearing the top and may spend the night on Peanut and be off tomorrow.

Below his is the three man team Jerry, Phill, and Will seem to be having a nice time cruising along. They climbed into the Circle this morning and will bivy below the MOZ. Looks like a good time up there.

Below them is the solo Brit, Sean, who is moving along nicely.

Below him is a team of two who are not looking like going down, so the route remains pretty full at the moment. Sloan and Andre bailed from the White Circle with time constraints.

5) Zenyatta: Bud and Phill are getting it done. Here we see Bud leading the 5^th pitch, this afternoon.

6) The solo climber, Neal Davis, could be off later today. Here he is leading the last climbing pitch of the route. He did a really nice job on the route.

7) Jim Beyer took a juke to the right at the ElCap Tree and climbed over the roof up to the Wing. He climbed the Wing on its left side today and is seen here checking out the seams above.

8) North America Wall: Two guys, John and David are on the route and were last seen climbing above Mazatlan Ledge.

9) The Nose is presently jammed from ECT down to the ground.. who these people are is anyone’s guess! Here is a shot of the pendulum off the top of Sickle ledge. Someone needs to bail to thin out the herd!

10) Muir: Adam and Jean are seen here on the next to last pitch of the route. The regular finish traverses way to the left and up at this point, while the more direct finish goes straight up to the top, but is technically harder than the rest of the route.

Lower down Mark and Alice hit the gas and just might top out late, if willing to climb in the dark. Better to bivy high in the dihedral and enjoy the sweeping views from that vantage point.

Shield: Lower down Josie and Dave were seen climbing to Gray Ledges and will be on the route tomorrow.

Salathe/Freerider: This classic track is also loaded with all kinds of climbers from aiders to free climbers. Most are massed together like a school of fish, high on the route.

11) This guy was the first out of the gate today climbing from the Block to Sous le Toit this morning.