Adam was born in Watford, England in 1964. His interest in the outdoors began when he joined the boy scouts with his older brother. Combined with great leaders and close friendships, scouting was a positive and rewarding introduction to the wilds of the United Kingdom. Scouting, camping and hiking eventually led to an interest in rock climbing. Living virtually in the middle of the UK with no vertical relief was not particularly inspiring for a teenage rock-climbing wannabe. Still, every Monday he would ride my skateboard several miles to the Milton Keynes Climbing Club and spend his time practising his skills on a very poorly designed climbing wall. Still, the best part for him was listening intently to the stories of his climbing peers. He was hooked and was super eager to seek out his climbing adventures. In 1979, he emigrated to Canada with his two brothers and parents. At the time he was excited about the move but didn't realise that his dreams of climbing in the Canadian Rockies would have to wait until he was much older when he discovered that we were moving to southern Ontario, three thousand kilometres away from the nearest mountain. Unbeknownst to him, Ontario had the Niagara Escarpment, and although not as dramatic as the Canadian Rockies, the Escarpment fulfilled his obsession to climb until he was old enough to travel under his own steam.