ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 10/9/15

By Tom Evans

Yo… The weather continues to please and it looks like it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  Interesting climbing is going on so stay tuned.  For the first time in memory, we have two teams on the Sea of Dreams…who would have thought?  I am soon to be doing some shooting for Adidas, and not always in the vicinity of ElCap…so … I may not be able to do a report from day to day for the rest of the season.  So your daily ElCap fix may not be so daily for a while.  Man up!!  You can take it, Cubicle Pukes!

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

1)  Waterfall route:  Just a week after re-establishing the route, Brandon Adams, in red, is back doing it in a push.  He is climbing with local, Tow Joe Marlay, who is always ready for a push on anything!  Here they are climbing past one of the Twin Towers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Higher up they passed the huge ceiling created by the rock fall last spring…fortunately it fell at about 4am so no one was in the fall area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just to the left of the Waterfall, Dan McManus and Pete Whittaker have been working the Secret Passage.  I talked to Dan in the evening and he says they are ready for an all out effort to send the route.  Stay tuned.

3)  Over on Zodiac, the team of Ken and Doug, transplants from Kaos the other day, are on the route.  Ken is leading the 4^th pitch, in this shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Lower down, another Polish team is on the route.  The Polish climbers are top notch.  The second pitch is seen here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  Over on the Trip, the locals, Chris, Connor and Tito are having a good time cruising up the route.  Here they are starting the long center section of the route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  On the Sea, Callum and Neil are still killing it… as you can see the route finding is challenging up in the dark rock.  Neil got this lead.  Lower down Steve Schneider and Paul Gagner fixed the first pitch this afternoon.  It should be fun watching another pair of top big wall climbers negotiate this classic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  Diorite climbing on the North American continent. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE BIG NEWS OF THE DAY IS THAT MEG CURRY HAS CLIMBED MESCALITO!!  YEAH MEG!!

Unfortunately, the bad news is that her car was towed a few days ago, due to the paving of the road in the area.  If you are in contact with her please tell her to go to the Garage to get her car back.  Sorry Meg.. you deserve better!

8)  This shot is of Meg starting the last pitch this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  She quickly climbed the pitch and is seen here coming back from the top to clean the pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  Meg’s last moments on the climb, which she so masterfully climbed… while on a bug diet!  It is a great achievement, no matter the diet!  We hate to see her go but wish her all the best… Come back soon Meg!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  Tempest:  Pete got another pitch lead late yesterday, so today they hauled kit and cleaned the pitch.  Here “Plaid”, Scott Peterson, is cleaning in the fading sunlight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  The Nose had a few teams on it, including this team that came across on the Crossroads traverse.  The bottom of the route was its usual zone of confusion and doubt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13)  The Salathe/Freerider still has climbers from the past few days trying to unlock its secrets.  I got this shot, from the Bridal Veil Falls area, of a climber cleaning the pitch above the Ear while his partner, unseen above, hauls the bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)  Out west I got one of Ryan and Ian up high on Never Never Land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s the way it is, on this Friday, the 9^th day of October, 2015.

Capt. Tom in the ECM…just for you.