BURSTYosemite has been hit with a big storm this week, as snow, rain, and cool temps have fallen on the valley. Two climbers, Sasha DiGiulian and Elliot Faber, are currently waiting it out in a portaledge on high El Capitan. DiGiulian and Faber have been projecting the Direct Line (aka the Platinum Line), a 39-pitch 5.13d/14a next to The Nose, for the past few weeks.
DiGiulian has been attempting the line on several visits to El Cap over the past few years. Direct Line was established by Faber and Rob Miller between 2012 and 2016. DiGiulian and Faber are currently on their ground-up free push and are waiting out the weather on the Gold Ledge around pitch 32. DiGiulian recently shared a video of her sending the 5.13c pitch 27.
About the first free ascent Miller wrote in the 2018 American Alpine Journal, “After several weeks of hiking 30 gallons of water and 15 days worth of food to the summit and distributing it to two caches at Gold Ledge and Triple Direct Ledge, as well as hauling food and gear to Rusty, we began climbing on October 10 and spent 14 days on the wall, swinging leads and freeing every pitch. A one-day free ascent of the Direct Line is something I hope to witness in the next few years.”
To give you an idea of how much precipitation has been falling, the famed Merced River in Yosemite hit its highest November stream flow since 1973 this past week. The forecast in Yosemite is for sunny skies and warmer weather. Follow DiGiulian below for updates from the wall.
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