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Submitted by Tom Evans on Sun, 06/04/2017 - 16:51
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ElCap Report 6/3/17 SPECIAL EDITION HONNOLD SOLOS ELCAP
By Tom Evans
Yo.. My day started at 4am when I got up, and left my camp at the Ranch, to shoot one of the greatest climbs in Yosemite climbing history. By 5:30am my assistant and good friend, Skot Richards, and I were setting up at the far end of the ElCap Meadow to shoot the climb. The weather was absolutely perfect for the event, cloudy with cool temps. For me the clouds were such a blessing… no shadows, no glare, no air turbulence and no passersby’s asking to look through the camera! Alex started around 5:30am and I could see him by the 4th pitch. The shots you will be seeing here are cropped to afford a closer view of his climb of Freerider, and were chosen from the 350 or so I took during the climb.
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Wed, 05/31/2017 - 15:45
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ElCap Report 5/31/17
By Tom Evans
Yo.. The horror show of Memorial Weekend has passed and calm has returned to the Valley of Light. Considering the time of year and the present weather conditions, the Captain is relatively empty. The Big Three are still the major draws. A few parties are climbing on some of the more interesting routes, as reflected in some of the photos below. The Merced River continues to be right at the top of its banks and we get overflow in the ElCap meadow daily. Wake up Cubicle Pukes!! The season is now… the place is El Capitan… so where are you today? You know where you should be!
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Thu, 05/25/2017 - 15:25
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ElCap Report 5/25/17
By Tom Evans
Yo.. Great weather is the prime motivator these days. The traffic is at best discouraging and at worst static. The season has taken off with the big three still in high demand but other interesting routes are going on too. In the past my reports have been highly organized which take some time to arrange… so now it will be more random. I keep reading that the ElCap Report is back... no... I only do a report once a week now, unless something special happends... before I did reports every day... every day...every day was just too much for me to do anymore so I have stopped the daily reports. Expect one a week about climbing on ElCap. Thanks for your support! If you see yourself in any of the shots below make a comment showing the shot number and who you are and how your climb went. Contact me to get the shots I took of your team.
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Tue, 05/23/2017 - 14:42
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ElCap Report 5/23/17
By Tom Evans
Yo.. Great weather abounds as does the traffic here in Yosemite. Still the Big Three are the scene of most of the action but we have parties on the NA, El Corazon, Muir solo, and Adrift. So, the season is picking up. As for the traffic… it is easily the worst I have ever seen. There is so much construction going on that you can never tell what roads are open or closed when you arrive! The NPS is doing the best it can with a bad situation and are working night and day to get the roads ready for the summer season. If you need to go from the ElCap area to the Lodge you best go early in the morning or after 7 pm in the evening… otherwise you will be in lines of cars for hours…HOURS. I will be writing a climbing Report in the next couple of days but this one will deal with the recent rescue practice, with a few scenic thrown in.
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Tue, 05/16/2017 - 14:12
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ElCap Report 5/16/17
By Tom Evans
Yo.. I have been here almost a week and have found the weather to be pretty mixed. The nice days are really nice and the not so nice days have been windy, cold, and sometimes wet. The spring climbing season is tuning up now with lots of action on the big trades… you know the ones… Nose, Salathe/Freerider, and Zodiac. Some pretty strong teams are due in town soon, so there will be some interesting routes for us to see. I had decided to go back to dirt-bagging, around the valley at night, to save the expense of driving to and from the Ranch each day. I made it three nights until the banging on the van awoke me at 11pm with the familiar, “Park Ranger, step out of the van please.” So that was the end of my dirt-bagging at night in the valley! The Valley is a fresh spring green now and the river is higher than it has been in many a year. Don’t even think about going into the river…or you will die! Any and all donations to the site will be gratefully received as my gas bill alone will be around $700 for this season. Thanks for your continued support.
I will not be writing a daily report, as I did in the past. I expect to do a much more general report once a week or so. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see a shot of someone you are following, as there are many shots and few spaces to post them. I am still photographing all the teams I can see, so come by and get your shots.
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Tue, 10/25/2016 - 00:57
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Really late season photos from ElCap 10/24/16
By Tom Evans
Yo.. Storming in the Valley this week. Lots of climbers are patiently awaiting the return of good weather but this just might be the end for many. Interesting things going on, or trying to go on, I should say. Adam Ondra, the famous CZE climber, is here with entourage, to try to repeat the Free Dawn Wall. Jorg Verhoeven, is here to try to free Dihedral Wall. You may remember that this accomplished Dutch climber made the 4th free ascent of the Nose last year. An Austrian mixed team is working on freeing Zodiac and another European team is working on El Corazon. Rob Miller is back to work his new route up the Muir, as are several others. Plus, all the regular wall climbs are going on too. I am out of here in a couple more days to head home to get ready for a cruise in early Nov. Here are shots from the last several days.
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Sun, 10/16/2016 - 18:32
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ElCap Late Season Shots 10/17/16
By Tom Evans
Yo.. Torrential rains, riding a wild west wind, swept into the Valley last night. The water falls are once again booming! ElCap is pretty empty, except for two parties on SSPO and a solo on PSD. I have not had a chance to go down to the Cap since last evening and we now have a thick fog in the valley. So it may be some time before anything more is known about the teams up on the Cap.
Later...4 in the afternoon... went down to the hill and saw that Regan was under the Devils Brow with a huge waterfall going past him a few feet away... still raining as it has done all day.... it is supposed to go all night too.... too much water!!!
But all this weather gives me a moment to post some shots from the past few days… so here they are..taken just for you…unique in all the world!
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Sat, 10/08/2016 - 15:23
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ElCap Report 10/8/16
By Tom Evans
Yo…I have decided, due to time constraints, and my inability to work such long hours, for many days at a time, to end the daily ElCap Reports. The Report has been a path far different from that I had foreseen. I have had many great moments recording the events on ElCap and have had some of the worst moments of my life. I want to thank all you readers and supporters who have made the Report possible. I will continue with my photography, so you can find me, like always, down at the ElCap meadow. Since I will still be shooting, you can continue to get your photos from me. The website will remain as a contact point for those of you who need to get in touch about pics or information about past climbs. I will still be around for special events, important climbs and such that I will be covering. So you may see things from time to time on the Report but not the daily climbing I once covered. If you have a special shoot you would like me to do then contact me and we will try to work something out.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you and my best wishes to you for an interesting and productive life.
So that’s the way it is, on this Saturday, the 8th day of October, 2016, the end of the ElCap Report era.
Signing off… Capt. Tom.. still at the epicenter, of the center, of the universe… El Capitan!
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Thu, 10/06/2016 - 15:19
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ElCap Report 10/5/16
By Tom Evans
Yo.. The great weather us upon us…warm days and crisp nights! This is it!! Now or never! You won’t get a better chance to climb ElCap than now. I managed to get some time off from Adidas today and got some EC shots for you to see.
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Submitted by Tom Evans on Wed, 10/05/2016 - 15:37
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ElCap Report 10/4/16
By Tom Evans
Yo… Ahhh the winds have subsided, the sun is bright and warm, and the race is on to climb ElCap. The Nose is back to ruling the rock but the Salathe/Freerider is not far behind. So this just might be the moment you’ve waited for to get off your butt and come on out to get on that route you always wanted to climb. I am shooting for Adidas tomorrow so there most likely won’t be a Report then.
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