In response to the original question - Yes, I've been up there in July a few times. There will be a few other parties on the wall, but not many.

We took a gallon of water per day per person.

Afternoon showers were a welcome treat.

rico and mash in a summer el cap storm...a welcome respite from the heat Submitted By: JohnnyG on Feb 18, 2013

Sweet, thanks. And yes, after sending i will start my own forum to simply spray how bad ass I am... Send me your email if you want me to notify you when its up. I'll try to spray daily to meet everyone's needs.

Thanks to those with helpful beta.

Sweet, thanks. And yes, after sending i will start my own forum to simply spray how bad ass I am... Send me your email if you want me to notify you when its up. I'll try to spray daily to meet everyone's needs.

Thanks to those with helpful beta.

It's been a while since I waded in to this cess. Entertainment.

Dude going to EC: like all things, the Captain in July has strikes and gutters.

Strikes: you will have the bridge, base, cliff and route all to your onesie, and ...you very well might have the adventure you are looking for.

Gutters: you might fry your brains like litte eggs and ...you might epic and have to bail resulting in minor depression about the resources and time you have sunken in to a potentially really good/bad idea.

Reccomendations from July EC ascents I've been dumb enough to bite off: bring a boom box, bring twice as much water as you think you need (THIS IS IMPORTANT. DON'F F&@% THIS UP!!), don't bother hauling extra crap like sleeping bags or porta-ledges. Climb as much of the mother as you can in the dark, and bring a few space blankets to rig for shade shelters.

I hope you get it done!!

Best

You can definitely do the Captain in July. As someone up thread wrote, it gets much cooler even a few pitches up. Other people will be up there as well. It will be hotter than if you did it in, say, June or September but if it comes down to climbing it in July vs. not climbing it, then climb it in July. You'll need extra water but otherwise you'll be fine.

Remove the honorific there, Dirtbag. That guy's no Captain. Ensign maybe? Midshipman? Or just a regular douche?
I climbed The Trip AND Mescalito in July & we were sure glad when that Sun went around the corner, but it wasn't a gamebreaker. Bring a bunch of water. You'll need it.

hahaha omg what a bunch of sensitive sallys you guys all are! What happened to climbers? One comment from an annonymous guy online and you all start crying.... Keep it coming.

EB, you should have posted your question to the Supertopo forum. There's more Valley climbers there that know what they're talking about, and they'll usually answer an authentic question without being complete dicks about it.

And yeah, take a lot of water and sunscreen. I like the suggestion of pre-hauling water to Dolt tower. If you change your mind, Half Dome is a great plan B in July.

FWIW, Chris Mac has a personal project to climb El Cap every month this year, so it can be done.

I second DOac's suggestion on Supertopo.

Might as well offer my experience though:

I've tried climbing on el cap in July on 3 occasions.. each time I had to bail because I didn't get high enough off the valley floor get relief from the heat. THe last occation, we bailed off Mescalito and passed out / blacked out in the trees at the base.. almost got heat stroke.

If you disregard my experience and decide to go learn for yourself, if doing it in a single push, start the evening before and arrive at the king swing before the sun comes around the following day. If attempting it in capsule style, bring plenty of electrolyte tablets, a couple hundred pounds of water, and get ready to be one tenacious son of a bitch. Having that said, plenty of people have climbed it in both styles in July.

If this is your first trip up the Captain, I think the notion of climbing to Dolt Tower, which is a third of the way up, only to drop off water and rap and climb up again is questionable advice. It isn't a bad suggestion if 1) you didn't have to climb thru the hotter lower part of the wall only to get to the cooler part of the wall and then bail/rap off and then have to climb the hotter, lower part of the wall again. There's no guarantee that other people won't drink it if you don't get up there quickly enough.

2) You'll have to fight again thru the crowds at the base, which can be the toughest part of getting established: people will be fixing, jugging up other people's lines, etc. It can be a real mess.

3) Even with extra water, your bags are still going to be lighter than anyone doing a 5 or 6 day aid route. Those folks manage just fine.

I think that with adequate planning (i.e. an early start and bringing enough H20) the Nose is reasonable in the summer. Try to keep your bags as light as possible, with bringing enough water, and move fast in the mornings. The higher you go the cooler it will be. Also, consider an umbrella or sun shade of some sort for the belayer. My buddy used one on Watkins in hot weather and said it was a lifesaver.

Ryan

Stop posting on mountain project and go climb rather than ripping on a dude that want to go climb!