Dad Was Reported by Followers to CPS After 7-Year-Old Son’s El Capitan Ascent
A man named Joe Evermore says some people who did not approve of his 7-year-old son’s trip up El Capitan reported him and his wife to Child Protective Services.
Evermore told People that the couple later received a letter saying multiple complaints had been reviewed. He said CPS declined to pursue them.
Their son Joey reached the top of El Capitan in May. Climbing reported that he made the ascent with his dad and his older brother Sylvan.
There has also been some debate over exactly how Joey got up the wall. Evermore later told Gripped that Joey did not lead any pitches on El Capitan.
Joey used fixed ropes
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Evermore said Joey used jumars to move up ropes the climbing team had already set. He went about 3,000 vertical feet this way.
Joey was not hauled up the wall, according to his dad. Evermore said Joey climbed up the ropes himself and carried his own backpack.
Joey trained at home before the trip
Evermore told Gripped that Joey trained for more than a year before El Capitan.
He practiced on a 30-foot rope five times a day, five days a week. Joey also worked on transitions, passing knots, lower-outs, and backups.
The family hung a portaledge from a tree in their backyard and slept in it. They also took Joey up Lost Arrow Spire before the El Capitan trip.
The wording around the ascent has been an issue
Climbing published its own report on Joey’s ascent in June. The story included interviews with Evermore, a member of the climbing team, the director of the Yosemite Mountaineering School, and two Yosemite Search and Rescue members.
Some climbers disagreed with calling Joey’s trip a climb of El Capitan when he went up fixed ropes instead of leading pitches.
Evermore has said he understands why climbers care about the distinction and now describes Joey’s trip as an all-rope ascent.
