Trip Report
2011-01 El Cap Base, breaking in a newbie
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Thursday February 3, 2011 7:59pm
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Folks, no major adventures here, but some impressive showing for a dude on his 1st ever day climbing cracks and 2nd time ever climbing outside!
It all began late one night as we pulled into central station. No waiting for a campsite!
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We slept where we fancied:
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We opted for the easy way out and bought breakfast in the cafeteria rather than mess up this beauty:
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Perfect conditions on the backside of Columbia boulder:
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We had to keep an eye on these dudes or they would try to steal our snacks. Winter's tough:
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We decided to look for life at the base of El Cap, because we were lonely at Camp 4:
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But we had to stop for some artistry on the way:
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Boy that rock do look purdy, and my new point and shoot can zoom pretty well! But no bodies to be found here
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Except this one:
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Here's le_bruce and I getting ready to do battle:
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And bing:
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bang
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boom!
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stutter
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and there we go...
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And here's our newbie hero on his first ever crack, Moby Dick Center, with Ahab looking all juicy in the background:
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Some moves he looked like pro:
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Others not:
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But look at that mix of suffering and bliss, I think he's addicted now:
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Even this...
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Couldn't dampen this
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And then my main hombre brought up the rear:
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But just one pitch was not enough, and I'd never been above that, so onward and upward
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And then a rap from the tower:
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And he took this picture from the ground looking back up at us. Moby Dick left is tantalizing:
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And Little John Right is pretty cool too:
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Here's from above:
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And then it was time for le_bruce to set off into the great wide open:
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Not exactly sure which way to go, but he committed this way and it worked out:
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With a cool little step-across:
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About then a flood of cold air started rolling into the bottom end of the valley from the high country. It revealed its path to us:
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And then from one minute:
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To the next, we were enveloped:
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Time to pack up and hit the road:
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A little frozen fog catching on the flash:
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And another wonderful day snatched from the jaws of winter!
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Good times.
nutjob
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About the Author
nutjob is a climber from Berkeley, CA.
Some people call me the space cowboy yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
'Cause I speak of the pompetous of love |
Comments
Slakkey
Big Wall climber
From Back to Big Wall Baby
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Nice great pics nothing better than spending a little time on El cap Cool stuff
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Captain...or Skully
climber
Boise, ID
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Right on, Nutjob! TFPU, man!!
Gotta love those days. Nicely done.
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scuffy b
climber
heading slowly NNW
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Your trip reports are always worth checking, THANKS
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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Wow, second time out and he's craggin' on El Cap.
that's so awesome!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Coolio!
Hey, any ice falling from above?
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neversummer
climber
30 mins. from suicide USA
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looks like a blast....good job.
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nutjob
Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
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Author's Reply
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Feb 3, 2011 - 08:59pm PT
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Ice falling... there were actually a couple of hardcore looking ladies who decided not to climb there that day out of concern for falling ice. I'm guessing they were local and were more picky than us.
There were little specs falling, but I didn't hear any major chunks at all through the day. I think a marble-sized mushy piece hit me on the shoulder or helmet once.
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Awesome Pics nut job, thanks for sharing, way to kill it in the snow!
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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great pix.
i dont know about the hat.
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murcy
Gym climber
sanfrancisco
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Sights for sore eyes. And MDC first crack ever? Hence the "pulling open the crack" technique. You assassins! Thanks!!!xn
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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this is a great trip report and great time
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JOEY.F
Gym climber
It's not rocket surgery
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YES!!!
Way to pull out of winter for a few hours.
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okie
Trad climber
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Ahab "looking juicy"-- maybe from ABOVE! LOL
That left side is pretty fun too.
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Jingy
climber
Random Nobody
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Bad F*#king Ass!!!!
That's what its all about.
Getting a newbie out there on a solid fun crack in the middle of winter, and walking away with great memory and a smile...
Thanks for the post nut!!!
Cheers to the trio
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shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
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hey nutjob, thanks for the tr, great pics from bivy to gastoning to fogathon. ss
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Gotta love Little [Howard] John[son's] - spent a few nights bivi'd up there before launching.
Cool photos and unusual [for me] wintertime angles of the sun, much lower than I'm accustomed to.
See you on the bridge in the spring, eh?
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ChampionSleeper
Trad climber
Phoenix, AZ
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Looks like you guys had a blast. I'll bet none of you will forget this trip soon. Good stuff! And now the rest of us know when to hit camp 4:-)
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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Dang! Awesome TR-- thanks for sharing!
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slidingmike
climber
CA
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Fantastic, thanks for sharing this!
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426
climber
☬
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Cool stuff, literally.
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PhotogEC
climber
In front of my computer
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First time crack climbing ever is on El Cap? You've ruined him for life!
Looks like everyone had a blast. Great post!
--Eric
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Jay Hack
Trad climber
Detroit, Michigan
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That got me so psyched, thanks for the winter stoke!
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Gotta love those winter crowds. Nice climbing bros!!!
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seth kovar
climber
Reno, NV
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Awesome!!! tfpu, good stuff
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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Moby Dick Center was the first time I touched Yosemite rock in 1978. It was really slippery in RR's, I was "burning rubber" all the way up!
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Denise Umstot
climber
Princess of the El Cap Bridge!
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Sweet TR! One of my first climbs was Little John! Way to get after it and have fun :)
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J. Werlin
Social climber
Cedaredge, CO
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great TR, thank you.
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Thorgon
Big Wall climber
Sedro Woolley, WA
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Nutjob~
Way to get out there in the winter! Those pictures were great and looks like you guys had a great time! Isn't that what it's all about? Oh, hell yeah!!!
Thor
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Great pic of Middle, and way to reel 'em in!
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Dirka
Trad climber
Hustle City
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Thanks for posting.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Climbing content-check
El Capitan-check
Lotsa climbing pix-check
Winter-relief-valve-check
WOOT!!
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
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Jan 14, 2015 - 05:12pm PT
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Bump... I was just re-reading this a few days ago, and then le_bruce separately reminded me of the same day.
Nature wears so many beautiful faces, and this year she cooperated to help make a dream possible for Kevin and Tommy, firmly planting a major milestone in the annals of climbing history. But 4 years ago around this same time, it was all buried under a peaceful white blanket and nobody was around except a few average Joes messing around. And of course Kevin and Tommy were up there somewhere kicking ass.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 11, 2017 - 08:35am PT
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Bumped into this thread looking for pictures of cloud phenomena.
All hail the N00B!
Nut: how's he progressing? Update!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Feb 28, 2019 - 09:23am PT
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Bump for winter weather.
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Zay
climber
Monterey, Ca
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Holy sh#t.
I lurched forward in my seat and laughed in response to the words, "Moby Dick."
Such good pictures!
The type of TR I aspire to make.
TFPU!!!
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
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Still brings a smile to my face :)
Zay, you are one of the current torch-bearers dude, posting up the goods amidst a shortage of climbing content.
le_bruce, my forearms and crack muscles are a bit weak at the moment, but my core is better than ever. With a little gym commitment, I'll be ready for you to yank me up the Rostrum.
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madbolter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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Sweet action!
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