ElCap Report 6/17/13

ElCap Report 6/17/13

By Tom Evans

Yo… Not so nice today, as I arrived at the Bridge to find a smoke filled sky this morning.  It hindered my shooting for the first half of the day but later blew off to the east.  There was a stiff wind, up high on the Cap, that kept things cooled off. 

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

Zodiac:  The Zod is catching new action these days as another solo and two teams of Koreans have started. 

1)  There is a new solo on the route, I met the other day in the company of Mike Flood.  He climbed to the top of the 4th this afternoon.  He is Beau States from NY and is a Gunkie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tangerine Trip:  A 3 man team of Koreans are low on the route fixing.  The guys who climbed to the top of 3 the other day haven’t reappeared.

 

SSPO:  Ottawa Doug climbed past the Sharks Fin, last evening, so I missed shooting that feature.  Unfortunately, the smoke was heavy this morning so the quality of these shots is not my best.  Doug climbed to the Rubber Band Man pendulum this morning and while reaching for the penji point his gear dissolved and down he went.

2)  Doug taking the plunge!!… notice the piece of gear is still on the line because he is still falling in this shot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Doug regrouped, then did a nice job on the difficult pendulum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Doug, sticking the flake at the end of the swing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nose:  The Nose still has a lot of parties but the climbing proceeded smoothly all day. 

5)  The Austrian Team climbed from ECT to Camp 5 today.  Here they are lowering kit and climber across from the top of the Boot.  Better not to have a climber tied into the bag while it is being hauled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  The Argentine Team of Nacho and Majo topped out late in the day and were preceded by the Blue Bag Team, seen here.  Later, the "love Dad" team of Jared, Justin, and Big Man Scott climbed off late in the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  The three man, "Love Dad" team, climbed from Camp 4 nicely but were run over by a NIAD team at the Great Roof.  Some time was lost by both teams but they eventually sorted things out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  Stick Man and partner climbed up from ECT this morning.  Stick Man did a nice lead on the Boot and they did the swing well enough… but for some reason they were still not in the Grey Bands when I left at 3pm.  Here they are heading toward the Grey Bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  I’ve talked to Mike Flood over the last couple of days, trying to dissuade him from bag soloing the Nose.  A "bag solo" is a single person climbing with all the kit needed to climb for many days...not like a NIAD solo which takes less than a day and thus no bags are needed.  The man is determined and marched off yesterday to do battle.  He is a tough guy and just might pull it off.  The Nose is one of the most difficult routes to bag solo, due to its length and traversing nature, not to mention having legions of climbers trampling all over you. 

I spotted Mike this afternoon, a bit above Sickle Ledge, taking a moment.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salathe:  I did spot a team out there, climbing to the Ear.  The light was bad and I didn’t get a good enough shot to use on the Report.  Anyone know who they are?

 

In other news:  Not much other news, but the NPS is going to have a “controlled burn” (oxymoron??) here in the Valley tomorrow, which will add to the tons of smoke that are drifting in from several other fires in the vicinity.  Run for the high country!!!  Edit: I just learned the controlled burn has been cancelled.

So that’s the way it is, for this Monday, the 17th day of June, 2013.

Capt. Tom… in the Ditch… with the smoke… signing off.

 

 

 

 

Rubber Band, Man!

Sweet shot of the action during the fall Tom. Well done and thanks for the updates.
Fox

The Zodiac

I think the soloist's name is Bo. He's from NY.

soloist

Yes, Beau States, from the Gunks

oh man! one of my top fears

oh man! one of my top fears is a piece pulling while penji-ing. scary!! way to get back on it o.doug!!

great shots tom! you still be there next week?

b.bob

The solo climber - could be Dave Coley

The solo climber could be Dave Coley from Exeter, England.

Mark Gardener, Torquay, UK

Go Austrians

nice work reini!

Greats from Charmonix Stefan B.

C'mmon Doug

Two photos story. That is all about soloist on Rubber Man Band penji.
Thanks.

Regan

Go Doug!

Go Doug! I'm rooting for you!

Mark

How long will you be doing

How long will you be doing the Report this season Tom? Will you be there through the end of the month? Hope to see you there next week!
Daryl