Start out 2012 with a BANG – of your ice tools!

Join us for a 5 day, unforgettable experience, to one of the top ice climbing destinations in the country – New Hampshire.

Whether you are a beginner or advanced climber, exploring New England Ice is an amazing experience that will really help improve your ice climbing technique.

You will learn new skills, climb hard during the day and enjoy a comfortable nights stay.

Read more about our New England Ice trips or contact us.

As the season changed and the weather turned, I reflect once again from the inspiration of the desert southwest!

One thing I have found over the summer that is certain is change. People come in and out of our lives, the weather blows, our perceptions change. Living in this world is dynamic, and the things we think are important are affected by so many factors. Struggle and challenge are important parts of our lives, letting us choose what we hold onto. Each of us face tough decisions yet the true essence of life revolves around how we choose to handle this change.

One thing I find helps see clarity around my normal daily patterns is exposing myself to the elements. The experiences we create for ourselves outdoors are powerful. The vision for KAF is to help facilitate your growth.

This summer had some amazing stories! So many worked so hard to summit Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker, learn to climb, try a new experience by doing yoga outdoors, or pushing themselves beyond imaginable. UNBELIEVABLE GROWTH!

Thank you all for your support and sense of adventure. We hope you will continue to share with us…..

We have switched our email system, and you will need to regulate it yourself.

If you want to stay in touch with this community, please register here:

http://www.kafadventures.com/community/join-mail-list/

The Winter season is here!

Ice climbing Days – learn, practice, play – 12/27, 1/4, 1/21, 2/12, 2/26

Ouray Ice Climbing – such a unique experience – 1/6 – 1/9

New England Ice climbing trip – the most amount of ice – 2/14 – 2/18

Snow Shoe Tours – spend a day outside with us – 1/15, 2/19, 3/3

Intro to Backcountry Skiing – this is the gateway – 1/28, 2/26, 3/4

Intro to Avalanches Course – don’t go without it – 2/23 (eve) & 2/25

Multi-day Ski Tours – go farther – 3/10 – 3/12

Introduction to Snow camping classroom – your fundamental snow class – 1/12, 1/19 & 1/26

Introduction to snow camping Outing – enjoy the winter wonderland – 2/3 – 2/5

Snow Yoga weekend! – a perfect Olympic retreat – 3/2 – 3/4

Winter brings Indoor ROCK!

Start building a solid climbing foundation for your summer climbing plans. Take the time for your skill development and take a class at ALL STAR Fitness, West Seattle our current gym space! Come climbing with us, class costs includes use of the gym for the evening! Soak it up in the hot tub after class!

Intro to Rock – come one, come all!  – 1/10, 2/21, 4/3, 5/15

Advanced Technique/Open Climbing sessions  - climb with a professional source for 4 hours per month. Work on technique and any rock skills – 1/11 & 1/25,    2/22 & 3/7,     4/4 & 4/18,     5/16 & 5/30

Rope Handling Clinic – 3 class sessions imperative for your foundation of climbing.(start date listed).  1/12, 2/23, 4/5, 5/17

Intro to Lead Indoors –   This is the perfect gateway course leading towards outdoor climbing.   1/17, 2/28, 4/10, 5/22

Mountaineering

Our 2012 Calendar is out! Join the mailing list or call for early registration.

Introduction to Mountaineering – (outings to Baker or Mt. Adams) – the foundational course. Starts – 5/16

Hood Alpine Ice Climbing Advanced Prep Course – the perfect blend of steep snow and ice! - 5/5 – 5/6

Hood Luetholdt Couloir Advanced prep course – enjoy a climb of the only European 2 day climb in the Cascades - 5/26 – 5/27

Mt. Rainier via Emmons–  this is what you have been training for ONLY 4 spots register NOW! – 8/7 – 8/10

Crevasse Rescue Course – imperative for safety while on a glacier – 6/8 – 6/11

Upcoming TRIPS!

USA!

Personal Guiding and Rock Climbing classes– join Mick in the Desert this Spring! Remember, we pick these areas because they are unmatched!

Choose from: April – May, 2012

• Indian Creek – splitter cracks in the desert
• Red Rocks – moderate traditional climbs and sport routes
• Joshua Tree – the most unusual landscape
• Smith Rock – in our backyard! PS–Jason is in Portland, so we can now offer trips to Smith ANYTIME!

 International Trips!

 Africa

Climb and Safari of Kilimanjaro – That’s right, the final logistics of our unique travel trip to Tanzania is here. Join us for a trip of a lifetime. 2 spots have already been sold for the safari and Zanzibar section!

June 19th – July 5th, 2012
December 26, 2012 – Jan. 10th, 2013

Taiwan

Surf  and rock climb in Taiwan– the newest experience. Join us for a unique trip in paradise

September 11 – 17^th, 2012 OR September 25 – Oct. 1^st, 2012

India

Boulder in India! – Honestly, it does not get better than this. Enjoy a vacation where we take care of the details.

Jan. 15^th – 30^th, 2012

Jan. 15^th – 30^th, 2013

Thailand – is nearly sold out!

Climb on the sunny beaches – Steep overhung climbing and yummy food. Enjoy deep water soloing! Only 2 spots left!

Feb. 3rd – 12^th, 2012

Educational Tidbit #3 – How light is too Light? – Learn what Jason Wheeler considers the best backcountry ski touring set up.

http://www.kafadventures.com/2011/12/how-light-is-too-light/

Yoga in Nature

As you may know, KAF Adventures is one of the only companies in the US who truly finds yoga and nature a perfect combination.

Our Yoga Hikes were a huge success this summer!!  Join us this winter for the:

• Snow Yoga Weekend! – Enjoy a weekend of yoga, snow shoeing, and back country skiing. Olympic Park Institute! $450 – March 2^nd – 4^th, 2012

• Also join us for the first annual Northwest Yoga Conference!!!! – February 18^th & 19th

http://www.nwyogaconference.com/Pages/default.aspx

Yoga & Backpacking

Spring Canyon Lands

This fall, join us for an unmatched journey into Canyon lands near Moab, Utah. Regain a calm sense of self and a communion with nature by traveling through the heart of canyon country…

Take a look at what you’ll take part in during this unique and powerful yoga and backpacking experience in spectacular southern Utah:

• Engage in a daily yoga and meditation practice guided by (Laura-Yon Brooks) designed to awaken all of your senses and nourish your body through moderate movement; we’ve geared this for all levels of fitness and experience
• Connect with the open landscape, challenge your fitness, step out of the
• habit daily routine, reflect, relax, and find new space in your heart
• Learn backpacking skills, flora and fauna of the desert and wilderness ethics

Take a different type of vacation and return home with a greater appreciation for the beauty of the desert and the beauty of the Self.

When: April 22 – 27, 2012

Cost: $1100 per participant

*Airfare is not included and ranges from $300 – $700

Don’t forget about Mt. Rainier Yoga and Backpacking retreat this August!

 Community!

I am always looking to hear from you. The KAF community wants to hear from you. I want all of us to stay connected. SHARE!

• We are doing a beacons and brews!   - Practice using your beacon in the park and then let’s have a beer! Date to be announced……
• We are doing ski flick showings! -  get your stoke on! – 2/6, 4/2
• We are doing a belay escape and brews! – practice a belay escape and then let’s have a beer – 2/22

Gear

KAF CAPS still available!

Help get the word out, buy one today for $10. I will ship it to you anywhere for $5. 206-713-2149.

We want to hear from you! I want to hear your stories, see how things are going and what you have been up to!

• Check out our calendar section on the new website!
• Join KAF Adventures Page on Facebook!
• Join the Seattle Climbing Group on Meet up! – Meet other climbers and stay updated with classes in the Seattle area.
• Join a social network. FitClimb – A social space to share your climbing experiences, and learn about training.

Wishing you a wonderful Holiday from the KAF Adventures Team!

Sincerely,

Mick Pearson

The season of skiing is upon us, and go we must into the frozen and snowy slopes of the alpine.  There are many ways to explore the wilderness in the winter, yet I cannot imagine a single thing better than being on my skis.  Whether approaching an ice climbing route, taking the dog for a walk, or doing a multi-day hut-to-hut traverse, skis are the only way to go!

There has been a cultural revolution recently…  Light is right!  Gear manufacturers are pushing the edge with materials science and minimalist construction.  I am tickled to see that there are 5lb Alpine Touring boots, 6lb skis, and 2lb bindings.  We are so fortunate to not have to be as hardcore as the original pioneers of our times who suffered through amazing terrain in soaking leather boots and wooden skis while carrying their canvas external frame backpacks.

This article was inspired by my recent, and on-going, search for new AT boots.  Wanting to meld the worlds of mountaineering and AT skiing, I am searching for a boot that is light enough to take on most alpine adventures, yet burly enough to keep the skiing fun on the way down.  For those that are not skiers, I need a boot that can comfortably climb vertical ice, walk on a dirt trail, have on my feet for days on end, and then have them be a stiff enough that you do not roll your ankles every time you try to turn your skis.

A new bevy of boots have hit the market, and they are small, slim and sexy.  The best of these featherweights are the Dynafit Mountain Performance, and the Garmont Masterlite.  On paper they are perfect.  Light, easy to walk in, beautiful.  Yet upon closer inspection, and after trying them on, I realized the limitations.  These boots feel like they would not last 60 days of real use, nor were they near stiff enough to hold up to a heavy skier (I am 180 lbs, without a 30lb pack).  These boots are perfect for going uphill, and great for technical mountaineering, yet the thrill of the descent would be lost in the lack of control these boots could provide.

I have ultimately come to realize that the lightest model is not always the rightest.  While the Scarpa Maestrales are almost a pound heavier per boot, the durability, comfort and ability to control skis while going 20mph down a rocky couloir has me sold.  These boots will allow me to do some resort skiing and not worry that I am putting too many miles on fragile construction.   Now, instead of having to have on hand resort ski boots, AT boots, and plastic mountaineering boots, I can just go with one boot.  It is not the specialized perfection of each of these boots, but a nice blend of all the best qualities possible in a single 7lb package.

Ski boots were the example for trying to get this point across:  Why do you want the lightest (and often more expensive) thing on the market?  Sure they are really cool, and everyone will take notice; be it skis, clothing, boots, bindings, harnesses… However, it is worth taking the time to stop and think about the real functionality of that uber-light piece, and being realistic about the limitations you are signing up for with minimalist construction.

Sometimes the middle road is the good road.  We live in an ever polarized society of extremes and specialization.  You do not have to mimic the world around you in your gear choices.  Find a good piece of gear, one that you will actually use, that inspires confidence and fits a wide range of conditions and activities.  Your pocketbook, gear closet and climbing partners will all be happier to see that you have found one thing that really works well, and you have stopped showing off the newest and lightest every time they see you!

Cheers to the adventure of life, and the tools we use upon this Earth!

Jason

Authors Note:  Here is the closest thing that I have found to a perfect ski set-up:

Skis: 185cm Armada JJ’s                               Bindings: Dynafit TLT Vertical FT 12

Boots: Scarpa Maestrales                 Skins: Black Diamond Ascension

Poles: Anything with a Black Diamond Flip-Lock

As summer comes to a close, we are starting to prep for the 2012 season! Woah, what a great year we’ve had! We have some cool ideas, trips, & events coming for the next year. We are excited and we hope you are too. Our fall newsletter will come out soon with some details.

In the meantime, we’re in the process of switching over our email list to a new platform. As the KAF community grows, it’s been increasingly hard to keep track of everyone in our old system.  Unfortunately we were not able to transfer everyone into the new system. If you’ve received our newsletters in the past and still want to receive them, please use the form below to sign up!

Don’t forget, you can also connect with us through:

• > RSS feed of our blog
• > Our calendar for cool upcoming courses & events
• > KAF Adventures page on Facebook
• > Seattle Climbing Group on Meetup
• > KAF Adventures page on YouTube

Click here to view the embedded video.

This past Friday I had the pleasure of joining Mr. Jason Wheeler on a one-day course that climbed Mt Hood via hogs back.

The course goal was to give route information and a feel for the current conditions on the mountain for a friend that would be climbing later in the week. The adventure began as most good adventures do, with a tow truck.

I grabbed my board, bag and backpack, threw it in the truck and we set off to Portland. As we shared our past travels since we had last seen each other it seemed liked the trip was flying by. We had made it to Olympia in no time. The mile markers were ticking by and we were on schedule to pick up Von at PDX. Then the truck made that noise. Then it made another, the speedometer jumped up and flat lined.  We pulled off to the side of the road and made a phone call to AAA. We were back on schedule. We shortly there after we picked up Von were going over gear and planning before 5pm.

After going over the next mornings plans it was time for a short nap (6pm-10pm) breakfast/dinner and then to the mountain. Master chef Jason cooked up a delicious batch of sausage, eggs and toast. Before we knew it we were in the car and off to Hood.

We were skinning up from the timberline lodge by 1:30am and we were feeling great. The good weather had come in early so we enjoyed a silhouette of the summit draped with the city lights of Portland. The Timberline lodge groomers were diligently working through the night to keep everything in stellar condition for the next day. While they groomed the hill there headlights would catch the summit for a few short seconds, showing us a glimpse of our day ahead. Once we reached about 9000ft we stashed our skis and started to boot up to the base of the route.  By this time it was about 5am, the sun had started to breach the sky. The southern cascades stood proud in the morning light. The ridged summit Mt Jefferson was in full view with the three sisters looming behind.

As we reached the hogs back we roped up and talked about what our main concerns were. After discussing the route and what our plan was we started up the old chute. Jason had estimated about 45 minutes to the summit ridge from here, and 15mins from the ridge to the summit. The three of us started up the chute at steady pace, Jason broke trail up through the chute, and we cruised our way onto the summit ridge.

I had always heard about the knife-edge summit ridge on Mt Hood and I was psyched to get to check it out for myself. It definitely lived up to the name! As we gained the ridge the sun shined bright and cast a beautiful golden glow on everything in sight. We walked on the ridge as the only party heading for the summit.

Soon after passing a thinner portion of ridge we were home free, the ridge opened up and a few short minutes later we were high fiving and taking in the panoramas We all felt very fortunate to have made it up that morning.

Though, I feel like I can speak for all three of us in saying that this was just the icing on the cake and had we not made it still would have been an amazing trip.  It seemed like such a short 11hrs, but it’s funny how much you can learn in that period of time when you are given the opportunity to be apart of the mentorship of climbing like I was with KAF Adventures.

Thank you Mick, Jason and Von for a great trip, see you guys in cascades soon!

Mountain weather is its own beast, has subtleties that even the best weather forecast is not going to predict. So then, what can we do to better understand mountain weather, and wind? There are thousands of articles and books describing weather patterns, read as much as you can, study and get an understanding; but nothing will substitute time and diligent observation.

Just like everything else in the alpine world, nothing will replace experience; the great thing about weather is that you do not need to be in the mountains to gain a greater understanding of what is happening around you. It is easy to just look up the weather forecast and forget about looking up at the sky; everyday you have the opportunity to learn about weather patterns and prediction. While walking down the street, running, waiting in line to go dancing, working in the yard…Why not look up and see what the clouds are telling you, then check the weather and learn from the skies before you turn to your smartphone?

Why does the wind blow? I like to say it is because of difference. The wind blows because things are changing; there is an imbalance in the air. This is where this topic can become really technical, verbose and complicated… It does not have to be overly complicated to understand the basics.

The wind blows because there are differences in three main areas: Temperature, pressure and humidity. If there is a difference, across an imaginary line called a “front” there will be winds moving air between the two areas to try and create a balance. For example: It is currently really warm along the beachfront, everyone is enjoying the day in the sun. Offshore there is a front, with a system on cold, wet air and it is moving towards the beach… What do you feel before the rain hits you? What do the observant among us see offshore? Wind precedes the moisture as the front (the area that separates the warm and cold air masses) passes over the blissful sunbathers. While all those people that have been paying attention to the weather and noticed the clouds and wind went home!

The mountains are no different, only more violent, and more remote. If you are in the mountains, enjoying blissful weather, and notice clouds developing, the wind increasing and temperatures changing, you can almost guarantee that you are about to be in a storm. How severe the storm is going to be is another topic.

Wind means there is a difference, it also means that things are going to change. When you are in the teeth of a horrible storm of rain/snow and low visibility, and the wind begins to increase and change direction you should be excited! The winds mean that good weather is coming! Below is a matrix of spring/summer wind and weather conditions and what changing weather patterns can mean for you in your next adventure!

There is a lot of information in the above chart, what does it all mean for you in the mountains? We usually only go into the mountains when the weather is good, so all of the below situations are moving from a time of “good” weather.

- Wind speed is changing and direction is changing:

• When we are in a “good” weather pattern, the wind will stay a steady 5-10mph, when it starts to become stronger than 20mph, things are going to change
• Warm/Dry air comes from the E/SE (Las Vegas!!!!), and cold/wet air comes from the W/NW (the Pacific and Gulf of Alaska). Notice the change in wind direction!

- Clouds naturally form everyday as a result of warm air rising from the Earth, it is when these clouds stay overnight, and continue building when the sun is down that you should be concerned. Or, when they are becoming dense, and stratified, or connected to each other.

- Barometric Pressure: Tricky. It is relative to your elevation, and can only be a relative measurement. You need to check it when you get to camp, and reference that number only, if it decreases or increases by greater than 5mbar then there will be a significant weather change.

So, why does the wind blow? To create balance. It may seem like it is only trying to throw you off, to get into your head and make your day miserable… It is like every other natural thing on this Planet, just trying to create equality and homeostasis with its surroundings. Winds can be scary, disappointing and frustrating… They can also be the bearers of good weather and relief, or warmth and drying, and of hope for a better day tomorrow.

We’re so excited to have Steffan on board this summer. He’ll be helping us get organized for the summer season and working with our teams in the field. 

Geeking out on gear, working with professional educators, and seeing some cool places in the Cascades, not bad!

Steffan is a Pacific Northwest native. He cut his teeth on the slopes of Mt Baker as a skier and then took it backcountry with a splitboard. He’s an active member of King County Explorer Search & Rescue, and volunteers at Mt St Helens. What a stud!

We’re excited to have him on the team. Please give him a warm welcome by leaving a comment. You can read his full bio on our about page.

Vote here!