Adventure News March 2003
Its hard to ignore the turmoil on this planet of ours and one can be excused for thinking that the whole world is falling to pieces. Yet at the same time there are a lot of positive changes occurring which bring hope to us all. To see the sudden turn-around in Nepal is heartening and the corresponding upturn in their tourist revenue. Equally as notable is the determination of those who continue to travel and explore with vigour and determination, keep it up!
The summer season in New Zealand is still going well with great weather overall and lots of successful ascents being achieved. Snow conditions this season are still very good which has meant that access to routes like the Linda glacier on Aoraki/Mt Cook, which is normally cut off by now, is still climbable and that good access looks to continue for the rest of the season.
So keep on traveling, exploring and climbing!
Guy Cotter
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Guide Book For Sale
New Zealand Climbing Manual
AC Director and Chief Guide - Guy Cotter, along with fellow guide Mark Sedon have written a new publication titled; A Climber's Guide to New Zealand Mountaineering Techniques.
The publication details a range of climbing techniques and skills, and is supported by illustrations from local climber - Bruce Dowrick. This informative technical skills reference guide is valuable reading prior to an instruction course, or to refresh existing skills. We now have the books and price is NZ$25.00 plus post & packaging. Contact us to order a copy or download the order form (a pdf file) and fax or post back to us. Or click here to download the order form;
 | Guide book order form Adobe Acrobat Document: 103 KB, 15 seconds @ 56kbps |
Peace in Nepal
A ceasefire agreement between the Nepalese government and Maoists in Nepal has led to a climate of peace in Nepal at last.
Peace talks are scheduled for the second week of March between the two sides and a sense of calm has settled over the country, after 7 years of uprising by the Maoists. In a signed statement faxed to media on 29 January 2003, Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) leader Prachanda has said his group has agreed to a ceasefire and will begin negotiations.
This is great news for all the Nepalese who provide services for trekkers and climbers and visiting Nepal each year. Sometimes violent clashes between the two sides have occured mainly in remote regions of Nepal away from the main trekking routes of the Annapurna and Everest regions but the perception of a country in turmoil has kept the majority of visitors away over the past year, and this has greatly affected the local economy. During this time Adventure Consultants have run succesful expeditions and treks to the Mustang region and to Everest and Ama Dablam in the Khumbu region and there have been no encounters with Maoists on the trips. Guy Cotter states "we're looking forward to returning to Nepal over the coming year and continuing with our program of expeditions and treks. Our Nepalese staff have really welcomed the news of the ceasefire and hope the peace will be permanent in their mountain kingdom".
Expedition update
Aconcagua 2003 Expedition - successful summit by all team members
The AC Aconcagua Expedition had an excellent result this year with all members reaching the summit on February 13th. The expedition was guided by Bill Crouse and Ang Dorjee Sherpa, a cohesive team climbing together for the first time since summiting Everest last year. For all of the team climbing with Bill and Ang Dorjee, it was the first time to any real altitude yet they all performed exceedingly well and no-one turned back on summit day.
In what was a period of good weather the team progressed as planned through the expedition and even summited ahead of schedule. Conditions on the mountain were reported to be very good and summit day was cold, but clear.
Here are some comments from one member of the team about the guides;
They are just a fantastic couple of blokes and I cannot speak highly enough of them both as mountaineer's and as men. They are a very, very impressive duo. I wouldn't want to climb with anyone else PH, Aconcagua 2003.
Our next expeditions to Aconcagua are
December 28 2003 - January 20 2004
January 29 2004 - February 21 2004
Carstensz Pyramid Rescheduled
Our Carstensz trip which was planned to depart in February has been postponed due to internal political issues and has been rescheduled for a start on March 25th. Watch this space for updates.
Expedition Film Service
This is an exciting new program which can supply a premium service for sponsorship arrangements. Our cameraman can film your entire expedition from beginning to end in a variety of mediums (film/photo/digital video) and can even send live video clips or digital photos throughout the climbing day! Effectively this means that you or your sponsor can have daily webcasts to really keep your website vital and interesting during the expedition. This daily activity has so much more appeal to sponsors than the mountaineering expeditions of old where you could only report on the expedition, after the fact, through lectures and books. Now the expedition can be followed from beginning to end. Read more details on the AC website about the Expedition film service.
Ecuador Volcanoes Expedition
New this year for AC are expeditions to Ecuador to climb the volcanes; Cotopaxi, Cayambe and Antisana. All of these volcanoes are just under 6000m and the trip represents not only a great excuse to visit this exotic country, but also to develop sound mountaineering skills through our glacier school prior to the ascents themselves. Some additional benefits are that you climb at moderately high altitudes thereby you get to know how your body will operate in the thin cold air. Give it a go, its a 16 day trip in a safe and welcoming country.
GEAR REVIEW - CHARLET MOSER SUPER 12 (S12) CRAMPONS by AC Guide Jim Masson
Crampons are an incredibly useful piece of mountaineering equipment that can make the nastiest icy slope a far friendlier place. They can also be a bit of a pig if you have selected the wrong type to use for your climbing. It has always amused me when I see folks wandering around on glaciers with full on, rigid, mono-point crampons that would be suitable for the hardest mixed routes on the planet!
For the last three seasons I have been using a pair of Chalet-Mosers S12 crampons for the vast majority of my climbing. They are a conventional looking 12-point crampon with ten points going down and two horizontal front points. They are a semi-rigid design with a quick fit heel bail and a scotch ring type front strap system. This system is far more secure on most boots than the wire type front bail. The wire type is available in the S12 model for fitting to telemark boots or other awkward footwear. The length of the crampon is easily adjusted with a single screw. The heel bail has a micro adjustment wheel for fine tuning the fit to a boot.
The crampons have moderate length points and a mild rocker shape that makes them walk without the stilt feeling that some models have. The flat plane of the front points allows them to climb well on rock as well as snow. The point protrusion also lets them climb efficiently on steeper terrain without being so long that they catch on flatter ground.
An effective anti-balling system is available for these crampons and is reasonably sturdy. Anti-balling plates should be standard on all crampons as they take away the need to forever be bashing snow of the crampons as it balls up under foot. With plates, it just does not happen.
If steep, hard, mixed routes are your thing there are better-suited crampons available. But, if you want a crampon for general mountaineering that will also perform on the steeper stuff it would be hard to find a better design than the Chalet-Moser S12
Jim Masson
NZMGA Trainee Climbing Guide
NZOIA Level 2 Alpine, Rock and Bush Instructor
