Northwest:
--A 38-year-old Seattle man died in a fall late Tuesday or early Wednesday while hiking in the Cascade Mountains near Snoqualmie Pass. His body was recovered Wednesday afternoon by the King County Sheriff's Office helicopter. According to the sheriff's office, the man was reported missing about 11 p.m. Wednesday by his sister after he failed to return from a one-day camping trip. He was camping alone, except for his dog. To read more, click here.
--A female climber was hospitalized after falling at Rocky Butte on Thursday morning. Firefighters and paramedics were called to the butte at 11:30 a.m. Portland fire officials said crews could see the climber laying at the east end of the butte at the bottom of the hill near a trail next to Interstate 205 southbound. To read more, click here.
--A Minnesota man who was leading a Boy Scout climb of Mount St. Helens ended up spending the night on the mountain after sliding into a ravine Wednesday. He was found uninjured early Thursday morning. Richard Boyd, 49, of Eden Prairie, Minn., was one of five adults leading a Boy Scout day climb of the mountain Wednesday, according to the Skamania County Sheriff's office. Boyd was glissading down the snowy slopes when he slid out of sight. To read more, click here.
--AAI Guide Jason Martin was interviewed by Cosmopolitan magazine and by Long Island's Newsday this week. He talked to Cosmo about the increase of women in adventure tourism and in "risky" sports. And he talked to Newsday about the Seven Summits.
Sierra:
--Fire managers set controlled fires in the western portion of Yosemite National Park near Crane Flat early in the week to reduce the amount of fuel for potential forest fires. Officials are planning to burn in about 200 acres over two or three days. Smoke from the fires may be visible throughout the park but may be more evident in Foresta, El Portal and the Hodgdon Meadow area. To read more, click here.
--Supertopo has just released a Yosemite Sport Climbs and Topropes guide. The book includes over 200 sport climbs and topropes in Yosemite Valley from 5.1-5.12. If you are interesting in obtaining this new guide, click here.
--With heavy water run-off this year, Inyo's Mosquito Control crew zipped into high gear right away. Mosquito Program Manager Jerry Oser said the department has gone to a facebook page to keep track of insect outbreaks. Oser said that he and the crew have scrambled to deal with the high flows of the Owens River this spring. He said Big Pine's stretch of river produced a heavy hatch of mosquitoes. Oser said the crew broke out the fog machines to spray in the early morning and late evening hours. Oser said the Owens River had recently bumped up to high levels in the Pleasant Valley Reservoir area which could produce mosquitoes in a couple of weeks. To read more, click here.
--Climber coffee with the rangers has moved up into Tuolumne Meadows. Chat with the rangers about an array of issues and get free coffee every Sunday morning at 9am at the store in the Meadows. To read more, click here.
Desert Southwest:
--William Michael Eswasko, 66, has been missing somewhere in Joshua Tree National Park since Thursday. Daytime temperatures in the park are hovering in the low 100s and an individual needs a lot of water to survive in such temperatures. To read more, click here.
--Rangers at Zion National Park have announced plans to expand vehicle DUI checkpoints and traffic patrols in an effort to provide a safer visit for the approximately three million visitors to Zion each year. According to Superintendent Jock Whitworth, "Rangers in the National Parks have two essential missions. One is to preserve and protect natural and cultural resources in perpetuity. The other is to provide for the safe enjoyment of those resources by visitors." To read more, click here.
--Federal officials have recommended that recreationists avoid an 80 mile swath of land south of Interstate 8, the southernmost Federal Highway that runs from California to Arizona. Mountain Bike Action posted a photo of the signs that the Feds have posted along the highway, between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, recommending against travel in the area. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is ground zero for the criminal activity and has been closed to backcountry camping and hiking since 2008. Apparently the drug cartels and human traffickers have so taken over the area that it's just too dangerous for hikers, hunters, bikers, and other folks wanting to enjoy the Sonoran Desert. The Interstate runs north of Tucson, AZ, and is 80 miles north of the actual border. A similar situation exists east of San Diego, CA, where armed criminals threaten public safety, by using the same trails and routes that recreationists use. To read more, click here.
Alaska:
--American Alpine Institute Denali Team 5 summitted the mountain on Sunday! Everybody who made it to high camp fought deep snow to make the summit! To read more about the expedition, please click here.
--Bjorn-Eivind Artun and Colin Haily had an eventful trip to the Alaska Range this spring. Initially they made two forays from 14,200 feet to the summit of Denali, the first in 9 hours and 15 minutes and the second in 8 hours and 10 minutes. They went on to climb the Cassin Ridge in 17 hours and then completed a new route on the southeast face of Mount Foraker. To read more, click here.
Himalaya:
--Twenty-three year old Aubrey Sacco, a self proclaimed free spirit headed off to the far east last fall on a search for adventure. But when Sacco set off on a ten day trail through Langtang National park in Nepal, she lost touch with her parents. It's been two months now since Paul and Connie Sacco (Aubrey's parents) have gotten an update on her condition and whereabouts. Now, Sacco's missing persons investigation is being treated as a criminal investigation with the Denver FBI involved. To read more, click here.
--"No Way Down: Life and Death on K2" (Harper, $25.99), a book by Graham Bowley: It's like a horror movie. You meet a group of likable people bent on a noble quest. But then a sinister force starts picking them off. As the news spreads among the survivors, some brave souls risk their lives in rescue attempts. But in the end, 11 die. This is no horror movie. It's the fascinating tour de force of a book, "No Way Down: Life and Death on K2," the story of how a lethal disaster unfolded among climbers in 2008 on the second-highest mountain in the world. To read more of this review, click here.
--Speaking of K2, Patrick Meyers 1983 play entitled, "K2" was recently revived at the Berkshire Theater Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The piece was the inspiration for the much better film version that was released in 1991 with Michael Biehn and Matt Craven. To read a review of the play, click here.
--Two climbers who were roped together were involved in a very serious simul-climbing fall in Eldorado Canyon on Saturday. Bill Wright and Tom Karpeichik were attempting to climb 100 pitches in a day when the accident took place. Karpeichik was knocked unconscious and suffered serious injuries in the accident. As of this writing it appears that he will recover. Wright wrote a an excellent piece on the accident, what lead up to it and how the rescue took place. To read it, click here.
--Two days after two hikers were held hostage at gunpoint on a Boulder County trail, police patrolled the nearby woods with guns drawn."We're just doing our daily patrol. Instead of down on the flat we have to go up to campsites make contact with people," said Deputy Polly Miller with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.However, after the reported attack over the weekend, Monday's patrol was a little different. To read more, click here.
--A black bear remained on the loose Tuesday despite traps set after the animal mauled a hiker in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the first recorded bear attack on a human in Kentucky. State tourism spokeswoman Barbara Atwood said wildlife officers haven't been able to find the animal that attacked, bit and shook Tim Scott of Springfield on Sunday in a remote area known as the Red River Gorge, near Stanton in eastern Kentucky. To read more, click here.
--This spring a series of expeditions that hailed from Italy, Germany and Peru established six new routes in Bolivia's Cordilleras Blanca and Real, and in the Central Range of Peru. To read more, click here.
--Apparently there is another reality show out there looking for outdoorsy people to be put in all kinds of obscene situations. It used to be kind of fun to see these postings all over the place, but I have to say it's starting to get a bit old. They're not really looking for people who know what they're doing. They seem to be looking for people who can create drama, in other words, people who don't have a clue. To see the casting application, click here.
--Devils Tower National Monument announces the lifting of the June 2010 voluntary climbing closure starting July 1, 2010. Devils Tower National Monument Superintendent Dorothy FireCloud announces the lifting of the June Voluntary Climbing Closure effective Thursday July 1, 2010. The 1995 Devils Tower National Monument Climbing Management Plan established an annual voluntary closure for all climbing routes on the Tower out of respect for traditional cultural activities of American Indians. The voluntary closure has been implemented each June since 1996, and has proven successful: the average number of climbers in June has seen an 85% reduction. The National Park Service appreciates the efforts of those climbers who choose to observe the closure. To read more, click here.
--He's still out there...or maybe this guys was just drunk. Anyway, deputies in North Carolina have filed a suspicious person report after a Cleveland County man described seeing a creature with "beautiful hair" and six fingers on each hand that resembled Bigfoot. To read more, click here.
