Nose Rescue and Camp VI Clean-up

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Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Sep 9, 2010 - 02:40am PT
Maybe there's some sort of indigenous bug, that likes to eat human faeces and such? Some kind of dung beetle? The kind that can survive rough weather and conditions. If they did a really good job, perhaps they'd die out, but occasionally have to be reintroduced. Or maybe a relic population would survive, to explode whenever manna descended upon them from the heavens, in their stygian recesses.

But some composting enzyme would be OK, too.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Sep 9, 2010 - 04:36am PT
Threads are sort of like Camp VI - there are always a few who will dump there, because it's free and satisfies their urge at the moment.
The result is sometimes something that stinks, is ugly, etc.
But if you're lucky you don't have to stay long - just get what you want from the thread/climb and don't pay attention to the ugly bits! :-)
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
Sep 9, 2010 - 05:09am PT
Thanks for the hard work, Rescue and Clean-up Jesse

Tony wrote

"jesse's supposedly a liaison to the climbing community, coz. tell me why he shouldn't get involved. he saw fit to provide a link to information which didn't exist at one point. why shouldn't he follow up on it?"

No Ranger is going to make specific comments about a specific pending case BTW. get real, even if he wanted to it would threaten his job. That's going to have to be worked out in the courts whether we like it or not. Leave Jesse out of it since he has no say, no control, and no ability to reveal anything

Peace

karl
Tony Bird

climber
Northridge, CA
Sep 9, 2010 - 09:11am PT
fyi, i was leaving this thread alone, but hawkeye came along with his tantrum.

you're right about answering to the boss first, though, hawkeye. the big problem is that the bosses are no longer accountable to the public.

i will agree with jesse on one thing: let's clean it out and keep it natural. and i'd love to see the sign tami would come up with.

karl, i can't agree with you. jesse is not just a ranger on the range, he has a specific role with the climbing community. i'm suggesting that that role should include normal public relations, and that would include being a spokesperson when something controversial comes up. as i said before, the NPS's silence about this does not make them look good. lots of comments get made on high profile cases while they are pending. lawyers on both sides know the value of posturing at that time.
Hawkeye

climber
State of Mine
Sep 9, 2010 - 09:26am PT
no tantrum here tony, go start a thread on UFO's or other highly useful stuff then you and the klimmers and RJs of the world can unite...

BTW, have you ever even been to C6 tony? you are one ignorant individual....
MisterE

Social climber
Bouncy Tiggerville
Sep 9, 2010 - 09:40am PT
Thanks for the follow-up pictures, Jesse! That rope looks naaaasty!

Above and beyond the call of duty, for sure! See you at Facelift!


Erik Wolfe
canyoncat

Social climber
SoCal
Sep 9, 2010 - 12:16pm PT
I vote you stuff Tony down the hole. It's natural and it biodegrades. Win-win for ST and El Cap.
Hawkeye

climber
State of Mine
Sep 9, 2010 - 12:21pm PT
as someone who started climbing bigwalls in the late 70's, i always hated the thought that you worked so hard to get to a place that smelled like sh#t. because of that most of my big walling was done in locations that were less popular. they are still out there. if you are going to climb el cap then do so with respect for others.....
xtrmecat

Big Wall climber
Kalispell, Montanagonia
Sep 9, 2010 - 01:20pm PT
Thank you gents, that is one nasty job you take on. Annualy too, I might add. And thanks to YOSAR, without you folks, we could become an endangered species.

Nice pics, hope I never have to meet you in person, no offense intended(exception- Hey Libby,stay safe girl), it's just your job is counter productive to doing my passion properly.

I kind of like the plug the crack with natural debris, but some fools would be sure to pull it up, do their selfish deed, and then burn the top layer in the usual senseless campfire ritual that so many seem to need when out of doors. Cement and steel, not so cool a solution in the wilds, and foam, although practical, nada.

Thanks for the work, nasty as it is, I know I am planning on habit changes, hauling my pee is not that big of an ordeal. Thanks Mark, a new ethic or practice may be on the horizon, for the better, too. Raising the bar on our behavior is just good practice.

Tami's artwork after a few days out would certainly be amusing, but I carried a buttload of stuff down the talus this May, replentished almost daily, and this convinces me that there are a lot of climbers who just do not care what they do. I made at least a dozen trips up and down the talus over the course of a month, and never had a problem filling my day pack with food containers, worn out/broken gear, bags with the infamous coilers, etc., etc. Some of it was scattered by the bear who frequented the base, but most of it can not be blamed on him, he doesn't leave apple cores like we do, or open his tuna cans with an opener. I am not sure if a cartoon or sign will change the mind of an offender, or just be like grafiti on the camp 4 stalls walls, just something to read while doing the deed.

A solution for now seems to fall on the shoulders of Jesse and Sam, backed by the work of the Yosar folks. Only to be poo pood on by next years flock of gumbies, litterers, and turd bandits. Again, Thank You for your efforts, I have never personally needed you, but that doesn't mean I do not appreciate what you do.

Burly Bob
Hawkeye

climber
State of Mine
Sep 9, 2010 - 01:25pm PT
the more sh#t i read that tony writes the more i realize he is a troll. nobody is that freaking ignorant are they?
lostinshanghai

Social climber
someplace
Sep 9, 2010 - 05:43pm PT
Jesus you go away for a couple of months, come back and still see America either going down the drain or will be going up in smoke but hey.

Jesse

Never did get to honor my commitment the first time when I started this in thanking you when I said beers or drinks were on me at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Looks like I owe a couple of nights. Good job on camp sick. Noticed HazMat, suits Level D? But who cares.

Ok for the plug. You had mentioned not the idea of concrete because not ethical or environmental friendly.

Concrete starts off with being a rock, Manufactures break it down, heat it, add gypsum….. Then shape it back into a rock: bridges, sidewalk, road, buildings.

If you look at buildings or hotels in San Francisco, yes, they are grey and ugly and bland, but concrete and cement have come a long way in trendy and environmental as well as sustainable material to consider in construction. Google “Shanghai” , Beijing or Singapore and look at the structures there. Colour and no grey. I think this is where you are hung up on because it will look like a grey concrete sidewalk or slab.

Cement is just a binder: glue. Cement comes in various forms or formulations, Portland cement is just one, Polymer cements is another and so on and so on.

As for colours; Portland cement is grey and then there is white, a tad more expensive since it is a true portland cement just missing the iron and magnesium oxides.

Granite is an igneous rock that is what we have in Yosemite. It is natural. On the East side are volcanic glass one being pumice that is natural. Columbia just outside Sonora has sedimentary rocks: limestone a carbonate that is a binder and when crushed or made into a powder or flour, 15%-20% can be added to the Portland to add compressive strength but in the case of the plug not necessary.

So the only things to make this slurry would be granite from good old Yosemite various sizes and very little fines, glue [cement with correct natural oxide colouoring added] and water from the Merced River that flows through the valley. Plasticizers are made from trees; the new generations are sugar based. How natural can you get?

Foam will not work; rats eat it up and love it. Spray toxic chemicals for them to stay away so that is not natural plus climbers will most likely eat it as well.

Still say 76mm -100mm [4-6 in] reason for mm you are in a federal jurisdiction and have to conform to SI units will do the trick.

Stuff geotech matrix between the two walls, pour slurry into and top of matrix, level it off so rain or pee will run off and not collect on the slug, brush top off with water and shape with rubber knobbed mat that will resemble granite finish. Will set up and cure in ten minutes. Collect gear and then climb off or rap down.

Total weight of equipment and material in: 35 kilos Two haul sacs. Total weight of equipment out: two haul sacs, empty water containers, say the most 3 kilos.
jfs

Trad climber
Upper Leftish
Mar 3, 2011 - 12:15am PT
In late May, a group of climbers started a major clean-up effort on the Nose of El Capitan, clearing 30 large garbage bags of trash off the summit and route, excavating up to 10 feet deep in waste filled cracks. The clean-up team consisted of students and faculty of Prescott College in Arizona, along with several Yosemite climbers.

"It's amazing that the climbers who make it all the way to Camp VI are the ones leaving glass containers and such things as a complete set of measuring spoons," said crew member Constantine Serveris.

At press time the crew had removed 17 bags of trash from Camp VI, 10 bags from the summit, and three more below from Dolt Tower. Three crew members climbed and cleaned the East Ledges and fixed rope from the summit to Camp VI.

Bad weather forced the lower party to retreat , while mixed snow and rain hampered the efforts of the summit crew. The crew completed the clean-up despite one of the wettest seasons in memory. "In some ways , the bad weather helps because there are fewer climbers on the route," said crew member Matt Menard.

The Prescott College students designed and constructed special tools for extricating trash from deep cracks, and utilized a garden hoe for the huge accumulations of garbage in the cracks of Camp VI.

The group hopes to aid the Park Service and the climbing access groups in an effort to educate climbers about cleaner and sager big-wall climbing in Yosemite. With a grant from the American Alpine Club, the plan to develop a brochure promoting a "pack it up and pack it out" ethic.

"I think it's great that climbers are initiating this kind of project," said Mark Fincher, Yosemite's climbing management program director.

 Eve Tallman

Sound familiar? Surprisingly (to me) the above is from issue 154 of Climbing magazine...that would be September of 1995. Randomly found it today. Too bad "we" didn't learn anything from this back then...

More props to Jesse and crew. Let's hope we, as a community, can clean up our act...it's about time.
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Mar 3, 2011 - 11:50pm PT
Nothing much new under the sun, sadly. Well, at least we're trying.
p-owed

Trad climber
Ramona ca
Mar 4, 2011 - 01:45am PT
Just dump some gas in their and toss in a road flare. problem solved!!
MisterE

Social climber
Cinderella Story, Outa Nowhere
Mar 13, 2011 - 10:55pm PT
This was such an amazing effort - thanks you guys.
MZiebell

Social climber
Prescott, AZ
Apr 20, 2011 - 06:56pm PT
MTucker

You're in the wrong fuking thread dude.

Get with it man.

You ain't got a fuking clue either by posting in this thread and ragging on Jesse who hasn't got anything to do with your problem.

Now git your ass over there and do your bitching there ...


Classic Werner!

Thanks!
MTucker

Ice climber
Arizona
Apr 21, 2011 - 12:51am PT
MZiebell, welcome back after 2 years.

j-tree

Big Wall climber
Typewriters and Ledges
Aug 25, 2014 - 02:11pm PT
Bump
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