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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Redwood City
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May 27, 2016 - 04:03pm PT
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Wow I didn't know there was that many climbs in the Ellery Bowl area...
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Friend
climber
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May 27, 2016 - 04:18pm PT
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Awesome!! Thanks for the post Bruce.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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May 27, 2016 - 05:56pm PT
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Cool to see Morcomm Press knocking out more material! I must have gone through 3-4 Skyline guidebooks over the years.
I'll have to get this one too. Thanks, Bruce!
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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May 28, 2016 - 12:38am PT
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awesome thanks!
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 28, 2016 - 01:05am PT
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Gonna lug some copies up to Tuolumne after the Memorial Day zoo dies down, so the Ellery Bowl Guidebook should be available at Tioga Pass Resort for the breakfast, lunch, dinner and homemade pie crowd in the cafe. Lynne's the one who insisted I do another version of the old 1992 guide, but the whole project expanded and got out-of-hand the more I worked on it.
Think I should expand it later to include Speed of Life for sure and maybe the Sphinx above US 120 in Lee Vining Canyon. Maybe I'll wind up taking over the whole Lee Vining Canyon area someday? But that's a real big project that could take a couple more years, especially with the boulders in the campgrounds. But this one is a nice little self-contained project that should get people walking out the old Mining Road and enjoying the nice views, beautiful weather and ultra-clean glacier polished granite. There's certainly room for a bunch of new boulder problems in the talus. Sure pebble pullers will find some nice ones if they poke around.
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WBraun
climber
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May 28, 2016 - 06:38am PT
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Too bad the Sport Shop I managed in Tuolumne doesn't exist any more.
Walleye
What's there now? an empty paved lot for parking only?
Best route in Ellery Bowl is "Speed of Life"
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WBraun
climber
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May 28, 2016 - 07:17am PT
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Bummer, why is everything turning into parking lots?
America is 0wned by vehicles and machines.
This why so many try to escape the machines to the forest.
So what are you doing now?
Are finished with working in Tuolumne meadows for this summer?
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shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
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May 28, 2016 - 08:46am PT
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bruce, is there a lot more routes than in my old guidebook you got to me a few years back? ss
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 28, 2016 - 02:03pm PT
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A few more routes, yes, Steve, but also much corrected and upgraded with a lot more color pics and topos. Bet more people visit the Demonology Cliff Band and the Dinosaur Crag as a result. But we'll have to wait and see.
It'll only take 2 more color plates to add "Speed of Life", which really belongs in the book too I agree. Just got to wait a little longer to lug my refurb D7100 up the hill and snap a few.
Too bad about the Mountain Shop, Walleye. But I bet a lot more people will hang out up at the Pass now. The Shop was a cultural landmark I'd say and the Dark Powers That Be realized that if they want to curtail the "Climbing Problem" in YNS the best way to do it is to kill the culture. You know Blah, Blah, Blah, but that's the net effect of such closures. It's like Stalin or Hitler rewriting history to suite their long-term political purposes.
The Access Fund (told me off the record) that they did talk to the Park about the Mountain Shop closure, but agreed that a new one could open in Lee Vining. Not such a good solution but that's what they were told. Who knows? This is hearsay of course.
Oh well! Hard to play against the House if they own all the chips.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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May 28, 2016 - 02:31pm PT
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Bummer, why is everything turning into parking lots?
Joni Mitchell called it years back.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 29, 2016 - 01:10pm PT
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Yup. It's easier to control crowds in a parking lot with tasers, night sticks, truncheons, and, ultimately, machine guns. They've got years of experience at doing that.
Blatant self-promotion bump for more exposure . . .
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 29, 2016 - 11:00pm PT
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There are five previously undocumented climbs at the Spillway Crag, and "Vaino's Arete" (5.12b) on the upper tier of the Dinosaur Crag. Al Dude tells me Vaino did it in the middle '80s and said it is one of the best things in Ellery Bowl. Doubt if it's had a second though.
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MisterE
Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
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May 29, 2016 - 11:09pm PT
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Top-rope cover shot?
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2016 - 01:07am PT
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There are lots of leads of course, most of them cracks, but almost everything in the area can be top-roped. The cover pic just happened to illustrate the kind of glacier-polished rock found in Ellery Bowl. It also framed the title. Aesthetic and layout considerations? There's actually a pretty dramatic lead shot opposite the title page a little further inside. Lots of color prints throughout. Have to get the book to see 'em!
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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May 30, 2016 - 08:53am PT
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Nice Bruce!
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Srbphoto
climber
Kennewick wa
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May 30, 2016 - 09:09am PT
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another money grubbing guidebook author trying to milk millions from his climbing brethren.
BTW Nice job Bruce! Thanks.
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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May 30, 2016 - 09:29am PT
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^^^^
Is that Yerian in the above pic, Bruce?
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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May 30, 2016 - 09:35am PT
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Walleye, Werner....I just have to throw in my two cents even tho I am a relative newbie to the area.
No Mountain Store, no gas station.....one of the poorest decisions I've seen in my 7 seasons up here. I wish I had been around when these plans were presented to the public. A few of us are trying to guess the real reasons for getting rid of something the public actually needed and used up here.
Campers and climbers forget gear and try to go without....
The thousands of tourists (many of them international and non English reading) that miss the tiny sign at the bottom of the pass which says no gas until Crane Flat and run out of gas. Crazy/stupid. imho.
Headed to TPR today. Can't Wait!!!
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2016 - 12:33pm PT
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Yes, indeed, Wayno. That is HE HIMSELF depicted in a moment of high drama on the lead. Marc Hill belaying and Dave Caunt looking on in shock and disbelief:
Guidebooks are definitely not the way to score big bucks. To send 1 copy to Amazon, USPO Priority Mail, now costs $6.95 (the rate was hiked another buck this year). Amazon drives a hard bargain and pays me $8.95 per book. So my ROI (return on investment) is around $2 greasy bucks per volume. So far, I've sold 6 copies in a week, which means I made $12 bucks profit. Definitely not a good way to retire in Maui.
I think of the whole project as a kind of silent protest against the closure of the mountain shop and the guide service in T. Meadows. Give people an alternative place to hang out and shoot the bull outside YNP.
Lots of nice views along the old mining road anyway. Bet the pebble pullers find some nice boulders out there too. Got to be some great problems if you go snooping around.
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