ElCap Reports

ElCap Report 6/12/15

By Tom Evans

Yo.. It really wanted to rain today and by afternoon it was a foregone conclusion the deluge was imminent.  I sped off to the Café just before I figured the rain could come… it never came.  The Cap is seeing some good action now and it would see a lot more if only YOU would show up!  So saddle up and ride on into the Big Valley, where the senders are slaying and the pretenders are spraying.

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

1)  Zodiac:  After yesterday’s rather slow start and lackluster effort, the TER team was out of the blocks early and headed for Peanut Ledge for tonight’s bivy spot.  Here they are, under the Devil’s Brow, up early with a climber out on lead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  In the afternoon they headed off on the pitch to Peanut Ledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Lower down the two man team (Dave Allfrey’s buddies) climbed into the Circle and were about to do the Nipple pitch when I departed.  Here they are entering the Circle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Next door, on ZM, the solo climber, Sang Woo Lee, continues his excellent effort, on the route, and will be off tomorrow.  Here he is coming back to his kit, early this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)   This shot shows Sang Woo cleaning another pitch among some very interesting looking rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  Here Sang Woo is starting off on pitch 13 this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  Trip with LA start:  Soloist Matt Stanich arrived today and blasted on this route.  Here he is letting out kit on the LA start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  Rather quickly Matt gained height and this shot has him on the 5^th pitch this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Higher, on the 9^th pitch, I spotted the mixed TER team leading off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  WTF of the Day!  Over on the Nose, this team bivied just across from Sickle Ledge and stayed there well into the late morning.  Fortunately there was not a rush of climbers from Sickle, like yesterday.  A bit past noon they wandered into the Legs at a leisurely pace.  I have my doubts about this crew and hope to be proven wrong!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  Higher up, the clusterfcuk, from yesterday, continued to play havoc all day.  This is the stance before the Great Roof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  The normal progression of teams made their way up to the Boot and did the King Swing.  This leader made max effort and got it done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOM'S SHOT OF THE DAY!!!

13)  At the Great Roof, I once again spotted the, weird space aliens with their death ray antennas.  A couple of guys, dressed in black suits, came by asking about them and assured us they would take care of the problem!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)  Mason Earl on the project he and Brad Gobight have been working on this season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15)  Pacemaker:  Turns out I was wrong about the men’s clothing.  I figured that since Ken has never worn any colored items in the past that he wouldn’t again.  Wrong!  Kenny is dressed in the red and blue, while Hunter is in the white shirt.  Here Hunter is leading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16)  A well dressed Kenny Bokelund is lowering out the bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salathe/Freerider:  Several teams are climbing off these two routes today.  Hudon is up there somewhere with German partner, Paul.  A 4 man Korean team climbed the headwall this afternoon and should be off by night.  There is also a mixed team of UK climbers up on the Block at the moment.

Out west, Joe and Matt climbed to Timbuktu ledge just as the sky opened up last evening.  They were quickly hosed and beat a hasty retreat to the deck.

In other news:  Andy Kirkpatrick has two fixed on the Sea of Dreams (nightmares perhaps!) and is blasting, solo, tomorrow.  Stay tuned for all the action!

Also, the weekend is upon us and if the traffic is anything like recent weekends you may not see a report for a day or so… don’t worry, I’m on it!

On a very, very sad note, I learned last night that a long time visitor/climber from the NY area, was killed solo climbing in the Gunks, yesterday.  Andrew Barnes, fell 50ft from a climb yesterday and died.  He left behind a wife and young daughter.  Andrew was an avid wall climber and did many routes, including a solo of Zodiac.  I talked with him frequently at the Bridge and he was well liked and respected by the crew here.  Below is a link to the Supertopo thread about Andrew, which contains a lot of photos and information from his many friends… be sure to read about this exceptional man. 

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2640297/RIP-Andrew-Barnes

 

So that’s the way it is, for this Friday, the 12^th day of June, 2015.

Later, ElTom