The (Partial) Cost Of Freeing El Cap

The (Partial) Cost Of Freeing El Cap

Kevin Jorgeson had a post on his blog recently where he outlined the packing list for his upcoming attempt to free a new route on El Capitan with Tommy Caldwell.  In reading over the list and looking at the pictures, it really struck me just how much gear is needed to attempt a climb of this nature.  Keep in mind that this is just Jorgeson’s portion of the gear, I’m guessing they are going to want to bring some other important items as well (like maybe a rope or three).
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A few of the items you’ll need free climbing on El Cap

gearpile

Photo:  Kevin Jorgeson

Faced with this mouth-watering pile of gear, it got me to thinking how much it would cost for the common man to be outfitted with a gear list like this.  So, I did what any self-respecting computer nerd would do and I made a spreadsheet.  Based on some rough guesses on the pricing of a few of the more miscellaneous items (biners, slings, etc), here is the breakdown:

The (Partial) Cost Of Freeing El Cap

$ 849.70  – 6 pairs of shoes at an average cost of 141.62 apiece
$ 3,149.60 – 46 cams at an average cost of .
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47 apiece
$ 1,756.15 – Estimated cost for loads of miscellaneous gear
—————————-
$ 5,755.45

Talk about needing a bailout, it would take most guys (or gals) years to talk their wives/girlfriends into letting them buy all that gear save enough money for all that gear.

Of course no amount of money (or sponsored schwag) can guarantee success, so it’ll be very interesting to follow the efforts of Jorgeson and Caldwell as they unfold.  I’m eager to see how Jorgeson’s world class skills in other disciplines will translate onto the Big Stone.  However it goes, my guess is that Tom Evans of the El Cap Report will be all over it.

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13 Responses to The (Partial) Cost Of Freeing El Cap

  1. Luke October 6, 2009 at 1:19 pm #

    So that is way too huge a rack for free climbing. I assume they will be fixing, aiding and doing recon pitches with lots of that gear.

    The only other thought is that the pitches vary so much that a specific subset of those cams will be brought on each pitch.

    For the Nose and Freerider linkup Tommy brought:

    1 each really small cams
    2 each .75″- 2.5″ (small blue camalot to gold gold camalot)
    1 # 3 (the blue camalot)
    1 # 4 (the gray camalot)
    1 # 6 (the really big green camalot)

    4 stoppers (but i dont think he placed a single one)

    8 draws

    6 long slings

    1 60m 10mm rope

    http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=114312&tn=0&mr=0

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  2. peter b October 6, 2009 at 1:51 pm #

    The real cost for most would be the free time involved. The gear is nothing by comparison.

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    • Narc October 6, 2009 at 1:53 pm #

      Ha, that’s a good point. I probably won’t have 6 consecutive weeks off from work until I’m almost 60!

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  3. peter b October 6, 2009 at 3:15 pm #

    Of course if you lived in most countries in Europe, you would have six paid weeks off right now, not that that has anything to do with climbing.

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  4. sock hands October 6, 2009 at 3:41 pm #

    all you need are some crash pads and porta ledges to boulder that bitch in about 1,342 problems… .oh, and cams to anchor the portaledge “landings”

    simple.

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    • Luke October 6, 2009 at 4:08 pm #

      I should have realized all the cams were for crash pad anchors. V15 dynos on El Cap are the real thing 😀

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      • Narc October 6, 2009 at 4:10 pm #

        Don’t you mean V7 dynos??????????

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        • Luke October 6, 2009 at 4:27 pm #

          I was estimating that V7^1,342 converged to around V15. Hence forth El Cap shall only be graded per the V scale!

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  5. Amanda October 7, 2009 at 6:20 am #

    “Faced with this mouth-watering pile of gear, it got me to thinking how much it would cost for the common man OR WOMAN to be outfitted with a gear list like this.”

    Fixed that for you.

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    • Narc October 7, 2009 at 8:09 am #

      touche Amanda

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  6. Lil' Pete October 14, 2009 at 11:47 am #

    I can just about justify multiple pairs of shoes for a project of this magnitude, but I’m a little miffed by the three harnesses, any ideas?

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    • Narc October 14, 2009 at 11:48 am #

      smoke if you got ’em??

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  7. Lil' Pete October 14, 2009 at 11:54 am #

    That phrase took a little googling, not heard that in the UK… Gonna try and use it more often myself, now!

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