For those who don’t know James Lucas, he is one of a kind. A long staple in the North American climbing scene, James is the last standing ‘dirtbag’ (although looking at his current pedigree, he may be living indoors more than we think!). James lives in and around the Bay area for part of the year but most likely you can find him anywhere from Yosemite Valley, CA to Squamish, BC. If your really lucky, you may find him at your local Yuk Yuk’s making people laugh. James was an original contributor to Squamish Climbing Magazine and we thought it would be cool to get his take on Yosemite Valley right now.
Photo courtesy of Michael Pang.
You were in Yosemite all week. What was it like there with all the hoopla?
The Valley’s pretty empty and quiet except for El Cap meadow. The tourists buses park next to the meadow and throngs of camera toting visitors point their cameras at El Cap looking for the climbers. Most people point their cameras in the wrong direction.
Is there a large contingency of climbers hanging out and cheering those guys on?
There’s a few local climbers who stop by the meadow and some boulders who cruise through. As the men have gotten higher on the wall, more climbers have been coming by. The locals seem to think that it’s business as usual. Tommy and Kevin have been up there seasonally for 7 years now. Seeing their portaledge and movement about it is fairly normal. The fact that they’re sending is a bit more unusual. And exciting.
Rumour has it, you went up to cheer on the guys. how long did you stick around for on the wall?
I went up twice. The first time I brought food for Tommy and then Waterford Reservoir bourbon and sour Skittles for Kevin. The second time, I just cruised up there to take a vertical hike and say hello. I brought tea.The first time took me about 6 hours because I brought 40 pounds of food and hauled a 100 pound rope, which the photographers are using to shoot out from the wall with. The second time took me about an hour. I ascended 1200 feet of vertical fix lines with a pair of climbing ascenders and jumars. It’s quite physical labor. The second time, I snapped some pictures, said hi to the guys and looked at the crux pitches. They looked hard. The rock up there is quite good. They’ve done some impressive climbing.
Team Dawn Wall base camp.
Any traffic jams in the middle of El Cap?
Kevin and Tommy have a dialed system on the wall which is helpful because they’re trying to climb and they’re helping the up to three camera men stay safe and be in good vantage points for all the climbing. Other than the Dawn Wall hoopla, no one else has been climbing on El Capitan.
You crack any jokes up there?
Tommy said, “We must have used 600 grams of chalk ticking the holds. I think every hold in the next six pitches is ticked. Some have two tic and a few have up to 6.”
“There’s so many tics you might get Lyme disease.” I said.
“Badummmp!” Added Kevin.
James getting his portrait with the wall.
What do the rangers think of this whole thing?
The National Park Service has stayed out of the whole affair so fair, which is quite nice. I have a feeling they’d like to be a more integral part of what’s going on. There’s not much going on so I’m sure they have a bad case of FOMO (fear of missing out).
Do you plan to return to valley after this weekend?
I’ll likely head back after the weekend. I’d like to boulder a little more before I leave. I’m going climbing in Spain for 2.5 months and leaving on January 19th.
With seasonally high temperatures, everyone must not be standing around watching. Are other climbers getting on their own projects and having a go?
The short days this time of year have lead to a lot of climbers out in the boulders. The Valley bouldering right now is pretty amazing. The slabs in Camp 4 are extra sticky. The climbing down canyon is dry and there’s been a huge number of first ascents going up lately.
James getting after it on Blue Suede Shoes.
Thanks James! Look forward to hearing from you on the road. If everyone comments, perhaps we could get James back for an editorial piece! Photos courtesy of James Lucas.
