ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 10/20/12

By Tom Evans

Yo… The warm days and nights continue, soon to be gone it would appear.  A serious storm is approaching and will be here in a couple days.   Most climbers have gotten the word so there isn’t a rush to the rock now.  I talked to Tommy Caldwell today and he said they were holding off on the project until after the storm.

I have reached the end of the regular Report Season and from now on will be posting some shots and happenings, randomly, until I leave in early November.  I will still be shooting daily, so if you are on the Cap you can expect to get some shots after your climb.  I want to thank everyone who has supported the site with donations and encouragement.  The donations have made the Report, and working at the Bridge, possible for me.   I would be hard pressed to continue this project of mine without your generous support.  Many thanks!!  

So there you have it…. here it comes, for the last scheduled time this season…

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

The Prophet:  Will Standhope is working on the route and has recruited various people to help out while he works the climb.  Today he was with Tony, who you may recall was known for a time as, the, “Super Swooper” in the Café! 

1)  Tony and Will at the dyno …giving the ElCap salute, hopefully to get safe passage from the Old Captain himself!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zodiac:  The guy messing around low on the route yesterday was indeed serious.  He is a solo, Ted Baker from Fresno CA,  and climbed into the White Circle this morning.  He should be in a good place when and if the weather caves.

2)  Cleaning the pitch into the Circle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shortest Straw:  Matt emailed me last night that he will try to push off the route late this evening.  That’s a lot of pitches but he has climbed most of the remaining ones while doing Zodiac.

3)  Matt cleaning to the start of the Sun and Steel pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ZM:  Alex and Ryan climbed off this morning.  They are enjoying the comforts of the ground by now!

Native Son:  Marek climbed the upper part of the Golden Finger of Fate this afternoon and may push on and climb the two long pitches of rivets before calling it a day.  Unfortunately, it looks like he may be in the rain zone when the storm comes.  On the bright side… he must be almost out of water so maybe he can snag some runoff!

4)  Marek cleaning the Equator pitch this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PO Wall:  The DGriff show spent a lazy day lounging on the Continental Shelf.  Usually that is a precursor to bailing… we will see what morning brings.

5)  Bivy on the Continental Shelf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mescalito:  Tommy and Kevin are high on the route and I imagine bivied tonight at the Bow, three pitches from the top.  Off tomorrow and they will beat the bad weather!

6)  Cleaning the famous, Bismarck, this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Dawn:  The solo came and went today.  He bailed with another team who were at ECT.

Nose:  There were 4 NIAD teams on the route today.  All made good progress while I was shooting.  A team went over the top very early and I hear they started last night. 

I recognized a local team of climbers who kept the lead from ECT up.  They are Jack Hoelflick and Zack Milligan.  Here are some shots of them.

7)  Jack finishing the King Swing while another NIAD party does the Boot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  Jack watching while Zack lowers off the Boot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Zack leading the pitch from the Glowering Spot to Camp 6 this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wall style team was spotted heading for Dolt in mid afternoon.

Muir:  The Crawling Canadian’s, were not crawling after all… I guess they had a few fixed that were out of my view yesterday.  Anyway, they climbed to the start of the final dihedral this afternoon. 

10)  Pitch above the “nutting pitch” from out West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salathe/Freerider:  There has been a team of Canadian’s trying to do Freerider but came up against the Teflon Corner and couldn’t get it done.  They were headed down last time I saw them.  They generously, left water for an in a day attempt tomorrow.

11) Teflon Corner... the name says it all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cody Sims took a run at the Free double today but ended up jugging out from the start of the headwall.  I don’t know what was going on but it looked really warm up there. 

12)  Cody climbing to Sous le Toit ledge this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)  Cody jugging out this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower down a team of two climbed slowly to the Ear while I was there.

Horse Chute:   I did spot Kate and Erik hauling kit to the start of the 7^th pitch today but was not there long enough to see

them climbing.

West Buttress:  I went way out west and swept the face to find Mr. Stevie G. but had no luck.  He must be way up high or off the route. 

Lurking Fear:  I did see a team of two past the Grand Traverse.

 

In other news:  The approaching storm is getting a lot of attention these days.  Hopefully it will pass quickly and everyone on the hill will come through ok.  The weather looks good after that.

The Ed Cooper show went off this evening and it was a good one.  He had lots of his mountain photos and did a short section of shots from the first ascent of the Dihedral Wall.  It was a well received show.

That’s just about it from here… remember, I may post a report or two along the way so stay tuned for any late breaking news, or photos too good not to share!

So that’s the way it is, for this Saturday, the 20^th day of October, 2012.

Later, Tom