El Capitan

It was almost midday when we arrived at El Capitan Bridge right below the El Capitan nose. Looking up make me feel a little dizzy and I was thinking “Since El Capitan is so famous for its shear wall and people have climbed it so many times in the past, is there anybody climbing these shear walls at this very moment?”  To my surprise I stood beside a group of people that do just that. It was a group of mountain climbers that scaled these walls just a few days earlier. “You have to be dedicated and very persistent”, said the leader of the group “It’s difficult and extremely dangers. It takes years of preparation and practice to achieve the level of skills needed to climb El Capitan”.  I couldn’t argue with such a statement and watched through a telescope he offered me a team of mountain climbers scaling the treacherous wall of El Capitan and couldn’t stop being amazed by it.

 

A few minutes later I learned that there were two teams climbing the wall and that they have been climbing for the past three days. One team couldn’t continue due to shortage of food and water supply and had to retrieve back while the other team was almost three quarter of the height up and continued on their journey.

It was quite a scene watching those       

mountain climbers inching their way 

up toward the summit, they have 

been doing it for the past three days 

with such dedication that within a few 

hours they were to reach the top of  

El Capitan.  During their climb they 

were supposed to carry with them 

enough equipment and supplies to last 

them for the whole journey, they spent 

the night in a Portaledge which is a hanging tent system, specially designed for rock climbers who spend multiple days and nights on a big wall climb.

 I was so curious to know what a portaledge is made of since they have to spend so many nights in them up there hanging from the cliff. “A portaledge is a fabric-covered platform surrounded by a metal frame that hangs from a single point and has adjustable suspension straps.”  said the group leader, “A separate cover, called a stormfly, covers the entire system in the event of bad weather.” That was amazing since I never knew that a rock climber can actually sleep in such a system hanging from the cliff and wake up in the morning to continue climbing.

A few days later I found that one team has made it to the top the following morning, while the other team bail out, poor guys they must have been extremely disappointed to reach more than half the way up only to be left dry of food and water supplies which caused them to retrieve, next time guys.