mikeadam

"A short walk in the Hindu Kush" is a great read and Bill Tillman wrote a few pieces about travelling through the area. It has been a restless area for a long time.

Damn...Whillans would be proud Holly <sniffle>. Matt, sweet! Way to whip up the dogs. It's been pretty toned down around here lately.

Holly, Caveman comes over and picks up my guidebooks and then never puts them down. They are the same ones he has at his own house that he reads and never puts down. It's like a pacifier or something. He then proceeds to babble about climbing nonstop while I want to talk about girls or something important like that. It's like white noise or something. I think he talks about climbing when he's climbing. Personally I find guidebooks to be inspiring.

You have to admit that the whole Devils Thumb story was a hellava good read. I'm sure JK had a great adventure and writing about it and other experiences was initially a way to extend his own experience. What I'm trying to interject is that maybe he writes for himself as much as he writes for money? I've noticed that when you start putting writings out in front of people they tend to feel empowered to critic you. For every email of praise he probably receives one that is harsh. Jealousy perhaps? I've never met him. Someday I'd like to, and I'll be sure to tell him I have enjoyed several of his books (Eiger Dreams). That is after he buys me coffee in payback for buying "Into the Wild" which I found to be grossly overrated by the book critics. [This message has been edited by mikeadam (edited 10-17-2001).]

I agree with EV's assesment of the grivel 360. The coffee grinder handle works well, the teeth bite firm, but it is lame to carry and remove when needed. I use them for belays when I don't want to dick around and get my screws set quickly. For desperate terrain I might be wary of loading them at the front of the magazine so to speak.

Rambo Comps: I wore these all last year and found that you have to keep an eye on the size adjustment system. It is easy to torque it out or partially out when you clamp those babies down. I was really startled to see them coming off one day on Pretty Nuts. Since then I fiddled a bit more and just double check before I start climbing. On low angle ice these crampons are the bomb too, but I can't imagine that you would buy them to scratch around on grade2 or AI. Other than that? SOLID. [This message has been edited by mikeadam (edited 10-16-2001).]

Nope, that was just Drew SprayShaw I was referring to.

Damn! Then there's Dru's constant rain of slacker talk. Good One!

Maybe jumping the gun a bit on this one? A sense of humor is a great thing, but the gravity of the current political and military situation makes this posting a little trite in my eyes. Here is the address where you can really go to make a difference: http://www.marines.com/

Beck, CaveMonkey, If you can wait until 7:30 I'll come along too.

Beautiful day yesterday. Drove through amazing fall foliage to Paradise. Hiked up a verglassed, snowed up and icy trail to 7200 feet where we put on skins. For the next 3 hours we rhythmically made our way up a firm base (the snowfield is flat as a pancake-ZERO suncups) with ice softening to 1" of corn snow. We reached 10K took off the skins and turning points downward rocketed past small crevasses carving turns. (9400 feet upwards toward Muir-Keep right as they begin to fill in and become invisible) The upper part was a traverse over some holes with a tiny bit of moving slushy snow all around. The last 2000 feet were solid with nice sastrugi out left. Conditions were better than any groomer in the world. On the way out we were treated to a 5 minute ice avalanche coming down off the Fuhrer Finger. As Big Lou would say "The mountain is showing off". Walking downhill on pavement in Rando boots is a mistake I intend to *never* make again. Sweet ski conditions in mid October- I love the Cascades. A bit of walking but well worth it.

The tourlite tech system is pretty much bombproof. The pin binding system has been skied on for years and proven solid. There is a method to increase the DIN setting by locking the toe into walk mode while descending but this has been the cause of some ACL injuries. The boot you saw from Dynafit is indeed a lace up mountaineering boot with techlite binding compat, but it is not imported to the US. The TLT4f is a cross between a mountaineering boot and a ski boot. It climbs waterice quite well and is a comfortable walker. The Dynafit AT skis better and I believe year 2002 comes standard now with a thermofit liner (don't quote me on that yet). The AT crampons, walks, and climbs well. Mike Adamson [This message has been edited by mikeadam (edited 10-11-2001).]

Sorry, I'm a little out of the loop lately. Thanks to all those who responded. I sent those who did a personal email with information regarding a possible water ice demo program later this season. Mike

I need an experienced/semi experienced partner or two or three who can cut loose on Wednesday to demo all the BD technical ice tools for year 2002. Planning on going seracing on the lower Coleman, but if Tacoma based climbers are available I'll drive South to Rainier. Email at info@proguiding.com http://proguiding.com

For Sale: Grivel Rambo 2 hammer and adze ice tools w/ CM saf Lok leashes $300.00 Used one season TNF Mountain Tent: Used 2 seasons. Excellent Condition. $300.00 Patagonia Zephyr Jacket: Good condition/Orange*Silver $75.00 More if interested. Email @ Mike mikeadamson@alpinelite.com

Talking about getting with the program. Thanks for nothing homie.

Unfortunately I think we were about 2 weeks too late for the Colchuck glacier to present some hard alpine ice. There was already about 4-6 feet of new snow. Right now might be decent actually. The Quien Sabe glacier opened up interestingly this season and has some good opportunities to do some alpine ice in the form of seracing. Hi Loren Campbell. I'm thinking about you.... [This message has been edited by mikeadam (edited 09-24-2001).]

Martin Volken guided this with 2 clients about 10 days ago. You can call and ask for information 425/888-6397. He mentioned that it was not in particularly great condition on the route but that the approach was surprisingly straightforward for the 5th time he's done it. http://proguiding.com

Halling! Get yer ass out of the rack Ranger. I've been beating on your door every day for like a week now. You must sleep like the dead. I've established a hide site and have my Gilly suit ready. Let's send this fella back to Odin. Out here, Adamson

When is the date for this thing?

Scott Schell did this a few weeks back from the car. You can call him for beta at: 425/888-6397 http://proguiding.com Tim Matsui did it the same day car to car as a member of a seperate party. You can call him for beta at: 206.409.3069 http://timmatsui.com/ Like to hear how it was. Check out some routes on mixup for an alternate objective. Mike Adamson

TMI

I thought your knees or something were bad old man? Glad to see you're still out there plugging away at it Mike

Hotmail sux. I'm in. Call me on a landline loser