Like a good scientist, I’m going to do an experiment. I encourage anyone who knows me (or would like to) to participate. I’ll be ‘tweeting’ over the next few weeks, trying to find followers, and trying to find other people to follow. If you don’t have a twitter account, get one, let me know, and we’ll do the experiment together. If you have an account and want me to follow you then contact me or post a comment and let me know. If you want to follow me, my username is shawnlankton.

Oh the things we do to stay relevant in these turbulent technological times.

The gear involved in ice climbing is fantastic. Serious mountaineering boots with a dozen three inch spikes attached to each foot make for a menacing pair of shoes. The crampons give terrific grip while trekking over the ice, and allow you to walk right up verticle faces when needed!

Then you have the “hammers:” long sharp picks that hack into the ice giving you a hand-hold wherever you need it. Combine this with a length of good rope and all the climbing harnesses common to rock-climbing and you’ve got an ice-cold vertical adventure.

We trekked about a half mile onto the glacier before we started making our way up sheer ice walls. Our guide would free-climb the faces and set up safety rigging before we made our way up. The first climb was a real challenge, but once I got an understanding of the technique, and the rhythm: pick, hook, toe-toe-toe. pick, hook, toe-toe-toe… climbing up verticle ice and slight overhangs became a smooth, and exhilarating process.

All said and done… I want more. However, the way things are going there won’t be any glaciers in Atlanta any time soon!

Fun Fact: If you converted all the ice in the Matanuska glacier into margaritas, it would be enough for everyone on the planet to drink a 32oz. margarita every day for the next 20 years!

I must say that I’m addicted to riding it! Since Jon and I got it working, I haven’t started my car : )

I plan to do a bit more engine work and make some cosmetic upgrades too. If there are any other new GS owners out there, make sure to check out these sites for lots of good info:

• GS Twin (The guys on the forum here helped me out a lot)
• GS500 Wiki
• GS Resource

Any other riders in ATL who want to meet up? Let me know!

We practiced everything from fast turns to hard stops to the basics of shifting and driving. All that’s left to do is ride (on my bicycle) down to the DMV, get a little ‘M’ on my license, and of course… buy a motorcycle! Anybody have a nice one for sale?

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

We showed up to the event wearing black suits and sneakers. This was a college freshmen event, so the rest of the attendance was wearing t-shirts and jeans. We sat in the front row like a bunch of VIP bad-asses. (At this point we weren’t really sure we had won, despite our apparent confidence). When our video came on as the first place video… it made the victory oh so sweet. We even scored $1,000 in prize money!

Soooo, Here’s the video:

Click To Play

Let me know what you think! Also, if you prefer YouTube, you can get Freestyle Walking there too.

I	—————|—-	E
N	——-|————	S
T	——–|———–	F
P	———-|———-	J

This means that I’m Extroverted, INtuitive, Thinking, and a perfect split between Perceiving and Judging. They usually group these in terms of certain complementary groups. I’m in the NT group. Therefore, my personality is split between ENTP, “The Visionary,” and ENTJ, “The Executive.” I’m pretty psyched about that! Here’s an online version of the test (although not the same one I took) if you’re interested to find out what you are.

In fact, after a quick internet search, its hard to find a good version of this test online… maybe I’ll put one up!