Jamie and raining like the Northwest!
07/20/2006, Colorado

Wow it's been hot! Not to mention the rain, we need it so not a single complaint...

We've been moving right along with the summer. Finished many great groups this week, some from as far away as Louisiana, and Rhode Island. Everyone is having a ball, not to mention getting some great climbing in.

Just loving the warm weather and long nights. Here is to great climbing.

Random photo, but it made us laugh when we looked at it today...

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Randy Milch and Jamie
07/10/2006, Zermatt

Long overdue webcast, seems as if time just flew by. What a great 10 days its been with Randy and Mike, just fantastic routes and great company.

From Randy:

Report from Zermatt and environs. Day 9, 4 climbs down. As the enslaved goat-boy brings his caprine charges clanging down the picturesque Zermatt strasse, we tend to our various post-climb wounds. Here?? s how we got them.

Glover, Milch and Pierce meet up in Chamonix. Bright sun accompanies our first rock climb, in Barberine. Is it 11 pitches? 8? We don?? t know, but it was a fitting first taste of the French rock. Milch obtains literally countless gobi?? s. A nice trench in the right knee. Oozing sores on the fingers. He is unaccountably happy. Glover climbs like a tram . . . constant, ever upward. Pierce keeps telling us we?? re done for the day when we?? re not. Nothing can compare to the ice cold mountain water in the horse trough when were back down. Nothing.

We?? re off to Mt. Blanc. Glover a first timer. Milch on a grudge match. Weather turns sour as we go up. Getting to the Tete Rousse hut is nothing. They?? ve redone the sucker, and the new, in-doors, lavs are well worth the trip. Next day we?? re up the Gouter face to the Gouter Hut. It?? s the same. Weather has turned very bad. It blows and storms for much of the night. We?? re up at 2. Were up and over the Gouter Dome in a howling horizontal wind. We kneel at the summit. 8 hours later we?? re back in Chamonix. One important note: Gore-tex has a very low friction co-efficient. When Pierce suggests you go slowly when glissading down a very steep snow field, he strangely means it. Pierce leaves ice-axe on the Mountain in a vain attempt to slow us down.

We drive to Zermatt. We do a ?short" climb of the Rifflehorn. Takes all day. Milch gains more Gobi?? s. Next day we?? re on the way up the M-horn. (BTW, this ?Matt" guy must have been a real popular guy around here.) At the Hornli Hut, Glover meets the ?other" guide (?Ivan") that will take him up. Pierce and Milch decide to climb up part way to meet them coming down (really a clever stratagem for sleeping late). Glover makes the Matterhorn Summit in great style. On to dinner. We?? re eating all of the Swiss specialities tonight.

Randy

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Jamie
07/01/2006, Beijing

I'm back in Beijing. A fantastic trip to Everest Base camp via the North. Much to write about, and will. For now I'm trying to hoop a flight to Munich, not looking good, but will continue to try.

Here is a photo of the whole group enjoying the thin air!

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