Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 3/1/12

Northwest:

--On Wednesday, February 23rd, thousands of people gathered to celebrate and remember the lives of our friends Chris Rudolph, Jim Jack, and Johnny Brenan.  In the wake of an unprecedented tragedy came an equally tremendous outpouring of love and grief as friends, family, and community members came together to memorialize and embrace. To read more, click here.

--A Lake Stevens man who got lost after separating from his ski group on a trip to Artist Point was found cold but safe Sunday night, Feb. 26, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.  Dong Lee, 54, was part of a 12- to 15-person Korean alpine club based in Lynnwood that was on a backcountry trip when he became separated from his group. To read more, click here.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/02/27/2412190/lake-stevens-man-rescued-from.html#storylink=cpy

--AAI guides Jason Martin and Tom Kirby and former AAI Intern Ross Buchanan were all involved assisting in The Mountain Runners film. A film about the original Bellingham to Mt. Baker and back race.  We recently received the following email from the film's producer:

"The Mountain Runners" is going full tilt now. We have been editing like crazy and had our first test screening of a rough cut. Our release date is still targeted for the end of May during Ski to Sea week.

I recently launched a page on "kickstarter.com" a fundraising site which allows us 44-days to reach our goal of $20,000. People can pledge anything from $5 or more. Every bit counts. If we don't achieve our goal on Kickstarter we get zero and no one loses their money. We have to make the mark to collect.

You can tell people to look at the film's site at www.themountainrunners.com; fb; Imdb or Google it, as there is a lot of information out there. The trailer is everywhere. Kickstarter has a good pitch and new trailer.

Please help get the word out. It is the only way to spread the news about The Mountain Runners!

--After many attempts to improve the Discover Pass, Washington’s state parks pass, SHB 2373 has emerged as the most promising. Launched in July of 2011, the Discover Pass has struggled to generate the much-needed revenue for the three benefiting agencies: Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. With the budget shortfalls, these agencies have seen extensive layoffs and fears of additional park closures. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--A 52 year-old woman died after a crash at a Lake Tahoe ski resort last Thursday. To read more, click here.

--The U.S. Forest Service plans to grant free access to nearly all national forest lands, scaling back unpopular recreation fees that have angered hikers and climbers but also sent millions of dollars to Southern California's heavily used forests. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--A Boy Scout hiking with his troop was rescued after falling nearly 20 feet. The troop was hiking the Red Hills in Saint George Saturday morning when the 11-year-old boy slipped off the edge. The drop was between 15 and 20 feet into a sharp crevice, which rescuers say may have saved his life. To read more, click here.

--A search-and-rescue air unit rescued three stranded hikers Monday morning from Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, officials said. To read more, click here.

--The “dormant” Red Rock Canyon gypsum mine where Jim Rhodes plans to build a 2,000-plus acre development isn’t dormant after all. At least, that’s what attorneys for Rhodes told county officials last week as they argued for a property tax exemption. Based on last year’s property tax rates, Rhodes saved about $50,000 with that argument on the land, which is valued at about $5.9 million.  He and his attorneys argue that the mine is not dormant and that it is actively mining gypsum. To read more, click here.


Colorado:

--It appears that there was an accident on the Ames Ice Hose on Monday.  The party was able to self-evacuate a member who broke his leg in the accident.  Little additional information is available.

--It appears that the Search and Rescue department in An Miguel County only has a $100,000 budget. Authorities are seeking more funding following a rash of avalanche rescues that cost about $50,000 per rescue. It appears that the Search and Rescue department in An Miguel County only has a $100,000 budget. This season, six people have died in Colorado and it is likely that there will be more fatalities as the avalanche risk is the greatest it has been in years. To read more, click here.


Himalaya:

--Nepal is seeking help from the international community to settle a long-running dispute about the actual height of Mount Everest. China has long argued about how the peak's height should be measured, and the two countries appeared to have agreed Nepal's figure of 8,848m in 2010. The dispute has never seemed fully settled, and now the shifting geology in the region could also add confusion. To read more, click here.

 Mt. Everest

Photo by Guy Cotter

--Climate change is altering the face of the Himalayas and making Mount Everest increasingly treacherous to climb. Apa Sherpa, the Nepali climber who has scaled Mount Everest a record 21 times, said he was disturbed by the lack of snow on the world's highest peak, caused by rising temperatures. To read more, click here.


Notes from All Over:

--An avalanche killed a snowmobiler near Jackson Hole's Togwotee Pass on Monday, county officials reported. To read more, click here.

--An avalanche near Canyons Resort in Park City trapped at least one skier last Thursday. Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds says rescue crews pulled the man from the snow and he was taken away by a medical helicopter. To read more, click here.

--An Adirondack backcountry skier who runs a website on the sport says skiers followed proper protocol and nobody was hurt in an avalanche on a new slide in the high peaks near Lake Placid. Drew Haas, owner of the Adirondack Backcountry Skiing website, posted a report on the Saturday afternoon avalanche on Wright Peak. To read more, click here.

Avalanche Airbag System

--Do avalanche airbags actually help? Or do they increase the liklihood of a skier or boarder engaging in activity in dangerous avalanche terrain? Outside magazine put together an excellent article on this topic.  Read it, here.

--Earlier this month, Briton Tim Emmett and Slovenian Klemen Premrl made the first ascent to the top of Spray On, Will Gadd's wild discovery, at Helmcken Falls, Canada.  To read more, click here.

--A Russian team including Sergey Dashkevich, Mikhail Davy, Eugeniy Dmirtienko, and Arkadiy Seregin recently completed a new line on the southeast face of Patagonia's Aguja Poincenot.  To read more, click here.

--Access PanAm, the western hemisphere climbers’ access organization, has reported trouble in the Cuban climbing paradise. Cuba has been become a booming winter climbing destination, drawing US, Canadian, and European climbers to its vast and overhanging limestone walls. And its home to a developing community of local climbers. Cuba also has become a favorite destination for many other adventure travelers. For now, it is all over. An unexplained edict of the Cuban government has closed its western mountains, not only to climbers, but all visitors, climbers, hikers, and birders a like. This report is provided here because of the many U.S. climbers who ignore the lightly-enforced U.S. travel ban to climb in Cuba. To read more, click here.

--A new National Park Service  report shows estimates on how much park visitors spent in 2010 along with how many local jobs were sustained in the process. The numbers are quite astounding and prove that our parks serve not just a crucial recreational purpose, but a vital economic function, too. To read more, click here.