ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 5/19/15

By Tom Evans

Yo… Today started out to be a bluebird day, but around 2pm clouds came in and the temperature dropped as the wind became stronger.  Not a lot of action on the Cap today, because people are still holding back, waiting for a better weather forecast.  Actually the conditions are ideal, if you can tolerate a light shower in the evening.

The recent BASE jumping accident has gotten a lot of media coverage and we still have reporters here covering the story.  The Park Service has done an excellent job of getting accident information out to the public.  You can read the details on the NPS website, or on just about any other climbing or BASE website

 

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

1)  In the ElCap Meadow, Yosemite Search and Rescue had helicopter rescue training for the pilots and rangers today.  I think it will continue tomorrow, weather permitting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  Old reliable #551 is seen here returning to base after the training was completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Zodiac:  A team of two excellent, but poorly dressed, climbers fixed three on Zodiac this morning.  They were off by the time the threatening weather moved in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Nose:  Over on the Snout Route, a Dolt run team climbed well until the conditions seemed to diminish their enthusiasm for the task.  They bailed from a couple below Dolt in a stiff, cold, west wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  I finished some work I was doing for Adidas, and have moved out of the luxury home they rented.  I moved to the “Ranch”, in Foresta, and I expect to be staying there for the rest of the season.  Here is my small camp at the Ranch.  BTW it cost me $700 last spring, in gas costs, just to drive back and forth from the Valley to the Ranch.  Any donations you can make to the site would be gratefully accepted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  The meadow at the Ranch is sporting some interesting plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  Meadow flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t have many shots these days, as not much climbing is going on right now. But… here are some shots from cruises I took this winter, so you will have something to look at!

8)  Our ship, the Crown Princess, at anchor off Avalon, Catalina Island, California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Avalon, CA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  Early morning approach to Loreto, Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  The Crown Princess steaming into Loreto, Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  The view toward Panama City, Panama.  We anchored with other ships off the west end of the Panama Canal on this day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  If you didn’t catch my reporting on the “Climb of the Century”…The Free Dawn Wall… by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, be sure to go back a few reports to catch all the action on that historic climb.

So that’s the way it is, on this Tuesday, the 19^th of May 2015.

ElTom… waiting for some big wall climbs to report on.