ElCap Report 6/4/2015

ElCap Report 6/4/15

By Tom Evans

Yo.. It is raining a bit here in the Valley, at 7pm, after a nice morning and early afternoon.  Lots of cool action on the Captain today.  Interesting routes are being done so you will see some shots of things we haven’t seen in a while.  The 3 women and 3 men, who finished the NA last evening, arrived at the Bridge this morning and all were pleased with the climbing on the classic route.  Big Andy Krikpatrick and partner Charles Sherwood also arrived from their Zodiac climb, and a good time was in order.  To top off everything… I.C. Kang and the Team Extreme Riders, from Korea, arrived too!

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

Bad to the Bone:  The team was able to get a pitch in before the light afternoon showers came.

1)  Erik finishing the morning’s lead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)  As veterans of many walls, Kate and Erik know that it is always good to set up for any storm before it is pouring rain.  Here is their bivy… ready for the rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)  Shortest Straw/Zodiac:  John’s route, the Shortest Straw, ends on the last three of Zodiac and this shot is of him cleaning the last two pitches.  He was off before the rain fell.  John Selove made a fine ascent of the route!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Down Below on Zodiac, solo climber, Alejandro, from Costa Rica, climbed well and is seen here starting the 5th pitch this afternoon.  If someone has contact with him, please tell him his red shirt is too bright and the camera sensor doesn’t like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)  Virginia/Trip:  Sean and Jon, from the UK, climbed the second pitch of the route while I was shooting.  I am not sure who is who in this crew of Brits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)  South Seas to Pacific Ocean:  Aka “SSPO” has a team of two on it that I missed for a couple of days, because I was stuck at the Bridge due to winds in the EC Meadow.  The large trees obstruct the view of the first part of the route.  So we are going to see a couple more shots of these guys.  This shot is of Brent Cooley cleaning the pitch past the “Sharks Fin”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)  SSPO:  This is a shot of the pitch above the Sharks Fin and is the one with the difficult “Rubber Band Man Pendulum.”  Aaron Cassebeer is out on lead here.  I love the rock in this shot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)  TOM’S SHOT OF THE DAY!!! 

Aaron tried the pendulum a few times with some close calls, as you see in this shot.  He made it a bit later and was psyched!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)  Aaron continued the Pendulum pitch up the corner above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)  This is a view of Aaron and Brent, finishing up the pendulum pitch, taken from out west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11)  Next door, on Mescalito, Yann and Nico, climbed a couple of pitches above the much maligned 5.9 chimney pitch.  This is the pitch above the chimney.  These guys are fast and may just reach The Bismarck Ledge to bivy tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12)  Over on the Nose, I spotted this team at the start of the Gray Bands Traverse, where they spent the night.  They later bailed, as did many other teams, when the dark clouds came scudding into the Valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13)  NIAD team has just finished the King Swing and are conferring as to the best plan… up or down?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14)   These guys, at the start of the last pitch, are waiting their turn to jug out, as their partner, unseen above, hauls the bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15)  Out west, on the Dihedral Wall, the men were climbing the “Black Dihedral” when I got this shot.  Would someone please identify who is who here?  Charlie is leading, I think, and Cameron and Jim are at the belay?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news:  The NA Wall parties made it to the Bridge this morning and we had a fine time hearing all about the climb.  Both teams did well, as expected, but the women seemed to be laughing and telling of fun times up there.  They were very enthusiastic as you can see in this shot of them and the flag they flew along the way! Gena, along with Shayna and June, and their Dad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we do need the rain, I guess I shouldn’t wish for clear weather, but I am!  So far the rain has been nothing to worry about but you never know in the mountains.  I will keep an eye out for the climbers still left on the wall.

So that’s the way it is, for this Thursday, the 4th of June, 2015.

Capt. Tom…working late in the Café… just for you.

 

 

Dress for success

Jim knows how to costume up for posing on the Big Stone by the road

Dihedral wall

On Dihedral wall Jim Gaun aka Pinche Gabacho Viejo Sendero Culon, is wearing green.

We could do without the super lame picture of the desecration of the US flag thank you.

 

Yeah, as a officer in the US Army and a man who has lost way too many friends in war, I was not thrilled about their choice of flags.

However, being around them and seeing how they are, I quickly realized that they are very proud to be empowered, young, American women, setting out on a very challenging task.  Their use of the flag was not malicious but a statement of empowerment.   That is one of the things the flag stands for... freedom to express yourself.  So I give them a pass on this one as I know their intentions and they were not meant to disrespect.  Tom

 

 

 

 

 

Virgina/Trip pic 5

For pic 5, Jon is wearing the red jumper with the silver helmut.

Shot o' the day

I'm liking this shot of the day thing. I look forward to checking the EC report all day! Great photos as always.

Dihedral wall

I'm pretty sure Charlie is in the Green. Thanks for the great shots, and please do keep an eye on them all!

Thank you!

Tom, thank you for posting your amazing shots! I am enjoying following my brother on the Dihedral Wall route!

Love the Out West Shots

Love the Out West Shots Tom!

The Rubber Man is the hardest swing I've done on El Cap!

Lambone