OK, it's OVER!

Woo-hoo!

I'm finally down!

Yep, that's me - Dr. Piton - the ugly one in front.

Lookin' pretty rough, eh? Well, this is to be expected after a twelve day solo ascent of El Cap.

On my right is Wee-Wee the Big Wall Crab, while to my left are mrhardgrit and justsendingits.

We met on the summit on my birthday, September 11, 2001. What a day to remember!

Please click the link above to get the whole story.

OK, like let's get something straight here, eh? When Pass the Pitons Pete climbs a wall, he's STYLIN' !

And there is nothin' more stylin' than bringin' along a Solar-Powered Shower.

This is a photo of my partner Jon Fox taken on Mammoth Terraces high on the SW Face of El Cap prior to our ascent of Jolly Roger, a Pretty Darn Hard route with A5 heads and hooks, and a hundred-foot 5.10 runout.

That's my Crab-O-Ledge at left. Note the look of amazement in the climber beneath Jon who is just finishing Free Blast.

This is a close-up of the bottom of my Fish Double Ledge with Wee-Wee the Big Wall Crab painted on the bottom.

You can see Wee-Wee himself in the top-left corner above my left hand, and next to the yellow ghetto blaster.

This is a PhotoShop doctored image of El Cap and the Valley. You can actually follow the major features of routes from the bottom to the top!

The Triple Cracks was probably the crux for us. Right off the belay my partner Joe placed a beak, and then the smallest nut we had (a black HB offset). Fortunately things tamed up and those sawed off angles are pretty bomber.

Day 1 of the Shield, starting up the Free Blast with El Cap towering above.

Photo by Zabrok

Marquis by Stu Hammett


THE EL CAP SANCTION

The Big Stone - legendary and lethal. Gawkers come from around the world to view the morbid spectacle of climbers throwing themselves at its sheer face, and to toast the fortunate few who return.

The team:

Adam - Native Californian. Cocky and smart, with "anger management issues".

Zabrok - Canadian. Eccentric, self-absorbed and brilliant. His technical expertise will be crucial to the team's success.

Humar - European alpinist of renown. A goof on the ground, but a tiger on the rock. Rumour has it that he owes Zabrok a debt of honor from a previous climb here.

Fiend - Another Canuck, but a gym climber who may not realize what he has gotten himself into.

One of these men is a killer. Only three (maybe two) will survive.

In theatres December 1.

This is a little bit higher on the notorious hooking pitch [P4] of Jolly Roger - click the link to see another photo.

See that little blob of aluminum I'm holding? That's a #2 head. When they get this big (yeah, that's "big" for Jolly Roger), you can at least get 'em started with the end of your hammer. But you'll need your dulled chisel to really paste those little buggers home!

I was actually feeling pretty good at this point - have a look at what's beneath me! Nothing but duct-taped talon hooks on screamers between me and my belayer.

Aaaaaahhhhhhh - #2 head - it's bomber, dude!

The hard climbing on Jolly Roger comes at you fairly quickly, and it doesn't let up much, either. Get out your talon hooks, duct tape and screamers for this pitch, mate!

The only thing that doesn't make it totally suicidal is that it's not quite vertical. This photo was taken by the renowned Heinz Zak as he zipped by on the fixed lines up to Heart Ledges.

You can click to see an even scarier photo from higher on this pitch!

"Pass the Pitons" Pete Zabrok leads the pristine splitter crack that thrusts up the clean orange rock of the headwall of Sunkist. Photo by Dave Benton, this is

Me jugging the last pitch

Hooking the Nose

Using suggestions from Chanceboarder and Kriso9tails I have reposted this image. Yuji and Hans near the top of The Nose route of El Cap during a record breaking attempt in June, 2008.

Dig a hole and put the camera in it to fit it in the pic

On pitch four of the Nose, El Cap loomed above us like a sea of granite, reminding us just how much further we had to go.

Just a couple of pitches below the summit of El Cap

An exposed hanging belay on the Triple Direct (Muir Wall section)

Frog face climbing a famous nose on the first pitch of another famous nose.

Pendelum into the stovelegs on the Nose of El cap

Day 3 on Lurking Fear