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ElCap Report 10/8/16

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!

 

 

Thank you Tom!

Thanks for years of beautiful inspirational photos! You're the best!

Great legacy of photos

Hi,

Your amazing pics have been inspirational, and kept my dream about yosemite alive.
Hope that you keep the page alive in the future so we can look at the great pics

Thanks !!!

You have done a great job Tom ! Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

Best of lucks with any project that you will address in future !

Thanks !!!

Carlos (from patagonia)

Thanks

A heartfelt thank you Tom for livening up many a dull day, and recording our progress up The Big Stone last year. That commentary and photos inspired and reassured many folks back home that things were going slowly but alright. Ironic that the day you announced the end of the report was the day we got married, seeing as I proposed to Helen on the summit of El Cap after we topped out on The Nose. See you on the bridge some time soon.
A huge thanks again Tom, with all our best wishes for the future,

Phil and Helen in the UK.

Enjoy your next pursuit

Tom you've become an icon of a new breed of culture. I question i their is another photographer who's photos have been shared more by so many people as a pinnacle of their sports pursuit. While I rarely visited your blog, when I saw epic shots of my friends on social media of El Cap I knew where they came from. Thank you for the years. Cheers!

heartfelt thanks

Tom - with great emotion I read your news about this being your last post. Hopefully you are like all big wall climbers, and this is only a temporary pause while the all the toils and pains and lost sleep become diminished memories and the lure of the project becomes unbearably strong.

We first met at the bridge long before the El Cap report after I climbed something on El Cap with my old friend Mash. You have pics of me cutting my teeth (literally) on my first ascent of the Salathe with a hairy hippee, and taking my wife (not a hairy hipee) up that classic line a decade a later. I'm sure you do not remember me, as I spend many of those intervening days with my fingertips at a keyboard rather than caressing the big stone (or clutching a cold one at the bridge). Nevertheless, I feel a personal connection to you. I also feel a personal connection with so many other the climbers over the years, thanks to your work and the memories it instill in me. You've brought back my memories of flailing on the nose pendulums and then in later years nailing them. Memories of baking in the sun, and shivering in the wind. Bailing from up high, bailing from down low, and also peering over the edge at the top, feeling deep accomplishment but also thinking this is the last time I'll ever do that. And now, after many years, I'm feeling drawn back to climb the captain again, thanks largely to your amazing pictures.

I have to say, I have just loved following the mortal climbers progress up the routes, watching the elites break barriers, catching glimpses of lost friends as the sneak up and around el cap. You kept me connected to a place I love so dearly.

I really hope you the best.

And I have to tell you, in all caps, repetitively, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Many thanks!

Tom,
ever since I had the opportunity to enjoy a climb of the Nose in 2009, I was a loyal follower of your excellent ECR. Your magnificent pictures and associated narrative not only made my own trip much more memorable, but it heavily improved some of my office days longing to get back there (which unfortunately never happened so far).
Thank you very much for all the energy, effort and everything you put into ECR. You are truly one of a kind!
Andi from Munich, Germany

Thanks Captain Tom

At least we got ya in real life here in Yosemite.

Will miss your great writing style. So maybe you will consider my idea below:

I'm imagining an old school Sierra Club Exhibit Format book with your comments.

Ya already got the content, just whip it into a coffee table book. Cubicle pukes will buy them by the truck load!!

Thanks again for your dedication to the Report, and mostly thanks for showing up every season, year after year. See ya in the Meadow

Best,
Rya

..unique in all the world!

Thank you Tom and not good bye but see you at the meadow!
Magda

good bye

Thank you Tom,
It was fun to keep track our daughter on ElCap
through your El cap report !!
Have a good one !
Thanks again

Thank you Tom!

El Cap has made mornings in my cubicle in Oslo, Norway a little less grey. And even better, you have kept my wish to return to El Cap BURNING! Thanks Tom!!!

Thank you!

Hey Tom, Feels kinda like Boot Flake just fell off. Best of luck to you on your next pitch. Seriously, thanks for the memories. You preserved them!

Sincerely,
Doug Fields

Thanks for the year of hard

Thanks for the year of hard work Tom, we all appreciate it!

Adios Amigo!!

Hey Tom, Always enjoyed the report and accompanying pics. You have always painted a picture of the days activities for climbers and non climber alike. You kept families in touch with their climbers and allowed them to follow those climbers up the routes they were on. You called in rescues and probably saved lives as a result. I always loved coming down to the bridge to see what was up and visit with you. I know you'll still be there, but us "pukes" won't have your stories for us to live vicariously through. I don't know when I'll be down next, but I do look forward to seeing you when I'm there.

All the best,
Ottawa Doug

Sad to hear it end - all the best and thanks Tom

Tom,
Your pictures and news have continued to be an inspiration. Some years have passed since I was last in the valley but your words of support from the bridge got us back on the wall that time. I thank you again for that. I trust you will continue to enjoy your photography and the outdoors to the same extent that you have clearly enjoyed them in recent years. Many thanks.
Steve
Melbourne, Australia

Thank you, Tom!!!!

Thank you for giving so many of us a gift that we will never forget. Your words and photos are the stuff of legend. You are the genuine article. Thank you!!

The End of an Era

Thank you Tom for keeping this important historical record, both with awesome photos and entertaining commentary. I'm so glad that I was able to meet you while you were still keeping this daily report ! To me, Big Wall climbing is much like dealing with a chronic disease; you wake up each morning and give it your best fight and when you are totally exhausted, you fight some more. When I have faced medical challenges; I felt a sense of camaraderie with those you were reporting on every day. I personally thank you for inspiring me in some of my most difficult times.
Your photography will live on. Enjoy your "retirement"; however that looks to you.
Sincerely, Trina Seligman

You have no rival

You're an artist with no rival. Proud to know you.

Jeff Vargen

Thanks so much for all the stoke!

Thanks so much for all that you have done both for myself and the el cap and bigwall community. The pictures you took of me and my partners over the years will always be some of my favorite mementos of my best days tied into a rope and in reality some of the best days of my life. You have always been a good friend and one of the best parts about driving into the valley has been seeing you at the bridge. While I'm sad to see the report go I respect your decision and wish you the best. I hope I'll still see you next june when I make my yearly pilgrimage to the ditch but if not you will always be a special part of my favorite place in the world.

best wishes,
Dan Mydans

Thanks for all!!

You have been giving giving giving. It has been a pleasure getting all these news for the years... Thank you so much. Hope you find a good life without ECR, you are a great person Tom.
Hope to see you again soon :-)
Yann Camus

End of ECR

Tom,

Thanks so much for all of the years of fantastic photos and great reporting.

fattrad...aka:The Evil One.

Everything that has a beginning...

...must in fact have an end.

Thank you Tom for sharing your enormous photographic talent and refreshing wit for these years.

I wish you full sails my friend; I hope our paths cross again.

respect

So much love Tommy!

<3 libby

Thanks Tom

Sad day for us but 3 cheers for a great job well done.

Thanks

Thanks for all your hard work on the ECR Tom, it's been a fantastic source of inspiration. All the best

Thanks for the memories!

Thanks Tom!

Thank you

Thanks so much for all the great pictures and posts. It's sad to see it end.

Thank you

Tom,
Thank you for all you have done in keeping the cubicle peeps informed while at the center of the universe.
I know many will miss you and the report. Best of luck on the next phase in life. Much love to you!

The Princess of the El Cap Bridge

With Best Wishes Tom

Tom,

My son Matt Lambert (LAMBO) has always kept me posted on your stunning work and contribution to ElCap and the Park. You area rare person: one in 10 million and I greatly apprecaited the thoughtful reports on Matt's climbs. I am the Lambert family will miss you! God Bless - You Good Person, God Bless

Dave Lambert

Thanks Tom

Great to hear you will still be around El Cap Tom. Thanks for the pics, yarns and inspiration you have provided over the years. Have loved getting my 'fix' from afar. Looking forward to seeing you in the Valley in the future.

Mike
New Zealand