Nightmare on California Street | A5 Aid Climb on El Capitan

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Brian came close to making the second ascent but ultimately ran out of food and water and had to retreat without climbing the final three pitches.

hey guys. i gotta set this story straight.

i am down from 7 days on nocs after a wild adventure.

ultimately, this was not a legitimate 2nd. after reaching the cyclops eye, i was out of food and had about a gallon of water.

i called my trusty friends from vegas who happened to be in the valley and they graciously brought me food and water by rapping in from the top.

they had never even been on el cap and "guessed" where to rap in and did well. they ended up going to the igloo and then rapped in straight over the center of the eye which was a very airy rap/jug.

i was rejuvenated with food and friends and took a belay on p.13 which was a 5.9r face type pitch which took us to a hanging belay on the right side of the roof of the eye. i then was belayed out the roof for p.14 but it got dark right before the belay and we "bailed" on their fixed lines to the igloo for bivy.

the next day we rapped back down to finish the final pitches but the logistics of getting me and all my gear (which got hauled to the igloo and which ended up in a clusterf*#k)was a royal pain in the ass. the sun was ruthless, i was tired and felt that it was too much work to get back to the route and do the last 3 pitches.

i called it and we jugged out. it's kind of a bummer but ultimately it really doesnt matter. there are no rewards! i pushed myself, climbed the first 14 pitches of nocs solo over 2 week long periods over 2 months. but a true bottom to top continuous ascent of nocs has not happened. yet!

thanks to all my friends and the climbers i have met in the valley for their support! and also to the kind words from this forum. [1]

References

[1] http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/885684/nightmare-on-california-street