Northwest:

--As the Olympic flame ignited the cauldron on the stage at Sechelt's civic square, for just a moment community torchbearer and climber Sarah Doherty was a little kid again. "I have always loved the Olympics and even before I lost my leg, I would practice the gymnastics moves that I saw and really try to be better at skiing. I always thought that if they can do it maybe I can do it." To read more, click here.

--More than 70 Forest Service recreation sites in Oregon and Washington will see new or increased user fees under proposals approved today at a teleconference meeting of a citizens advisory committee. The approvals were unanimous despite the fact that most public comment about the proposals was overwhelmingly negative. The fees will affect visitors to the Deschutes, Umpqua, and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests, at day-use, camping, and cabin rental sites. They include four primitive camping areas on the Okanogan-Wenatchee, seven new day-use fee sites on the Deschutes, six new fee sites on the Umpqua, and 55 increases at existing fee sites on the Umpqua. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--Hiking to the top of Half Dome is one of the most popular hikes in Yosemite National Park. Most visitors ascend Half Dome via the cables, which are in place from mid-May through mid-October. Approximately 84,000 people climbed to the top of Half Dome in 2008.The increase in popularity of the hike has resulted in large numbers of visitors using the cables, particularly on weekends and holidays. During last summer, Saturdays and holidays averaged 840 visitors per day. In an effort to address this, the park will institute an interim program that will require a Day Use Permit to hike the cables on Half Dome on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays starting in May, 2010. Four hundred permits will be issued per day, 300 of these will be Day Use Permits and 100 will be included in wilderness permits. To read more, click here.

--The latest measurements show that the snowpack at Mammoth Pass is closer to normal than it was two weeks ago. The latest snowpack numbers from the LA Department of Water and Power show 27.3 inches of water content on the ground at Mammoth Pass. On January 22, before the last round of storms blew in, t water content on the ground measured 19.3 inches. This was 80% of normal for that date. Since that report, Mammoth Pass has picked up additional snow that has brought the water content to 92% of normal for this time of year. To read more, click here.

--A 58-year-old Victorville man has pleaded no contest to charges related to the fatal shooting of a bear at Lake Mary on September 22. Shortly after the shooting, officials described that the man had been having a picnic with a female companion when the bear, a sow, approached. Another person was able to scare the bear away for a time, but when the bear returned the man shot the sow with a large caliber pistol. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--A record number of visits were made to Zion National Park last year. The park's 2.7 million visits were 1.7 percent more than 2008. Park officials say some of the uptick could be attributed to Zion's centennial celebration last summer. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--On February 4th, an avalanche in the Alborz mountains of Iran, near Karaj, buried dozens of climbers and skiers yesterday, killing eight mountaineers including Farshad Khalili, an esteemed mountain guide. To read more, click here.

--Afghan officials say they fear more than 64 people may have been killed by a massive avalanche along a key northern road. Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said Tuesday that rescuers have already recovered 24 bodies from the Salang Pass, but they fear that more than 40 others still trapped have already died. Hundreds of people have been rescued, but the 3,400-meter-high mountain pass, as well as a nearby tunnel, remain blocked. To read more, click here.

--A massive avalanche, which killed at least 17 soldiers and trapped 53 more under the snow and ice Monday, plowed into an Indian army training center near a popular ski resort designed to exhibit peaceful progress in the long-disputed state of Kashmir. The Associated Press reports the avalanche hit the army’s High Altitude Warfare School around 11 a.m., sweeping away the soldiers during a training session. An army spokeman told the AP it was “the worst avalanche in the area in many years.” To read more, click here.

--The "miracle" survivor of an avalanche in the Swiss Alps, who was buried in a concrete-like sarcophagus of snow for 17 hours, has admited that he should not have ventured off the beaten track. "After the event I realised I took a childish and ill-considered risk," Cedric Genoud said at the hospital where the 21-year-old was being treated after escaping from a "long cold night" with mild hypothermia. "I saw lights.... I shouted a lot," the Swiss skier said, as he explained how a night-time search party passed nearby while he fought against the soporific effect of the bitter cold. To read more, click here.

--A Royal Air Force serviceman died last week after he was trapped in an avalanche while skiing, the Ministry of Defence confirmed. The airman was one of three Britons engulfed in the avalanche while skiing down the Riedbergerhorn mountain in the Bavarian Alps, German Police said. To read more, click here.

--Six teams have been announced as this year's Mugs Stump Award winners. In the spirit of the award, grant recipients will attempt some of the world's most striking climbing objectives in fast, light and clean style. To read more, click here.


--It appears that a speed climber has blown all of his competition away with a 1 hour and 32 minute ascent of Equador's Cotopaxi (19,348'). To learn more, check out this article (in Spanish).

--Over a period of three weeks in November and December of 2009, Austrians Christoph Hobenreich, Paul Koller and Karl Pichler explored a group of areas east of the Ulvetanna Group Antarctica's Queen Maud Land. The trio summited 15 peaks and nunataks and believe 11 of their climbs to be first ascents. To read more, click here.

--Here's a possible future diet tip: Move to a mountaintop. In a recent study, obese individuals who spent time at a mountain facility at high altitudes lost weight without going on a diet. And they kept the pounds off for at least four weeks once they returned to normal altitudes. The researchers suspect part of the weight loss can be attributed to the thin air, which may have decreased participants' appetites and increased their metabolism, meaning they burned more calories sans a workout. While at high altitudes, the obese subjects also showed an increase in levels of leptin, a hormone that when present can make one feel full. To read more, click here.