Northwest:

--Today marks the fifth day of full-scale searches for a 24-year-old Portland woman last heard from on Thursday. At 7 a.m., ground crews began scouring the area north of Bonneville Dam for Kate Huether, a Portland State University student last heard from in a text message Thursday telling a friend she was going for a hike. She was reported missing on Saturday. There is some concern that this isn't a normal lost hiker case and that foul play was involved. There have been reports of a flasher in the area. To read more, click here and here.

--A historic ascent took place over the weekend. The Assassin Spire is a subpeak of Lincoln Peak in the Black Buttes next to Mount Baker. Tom Sjolseth and Daniel Jeffrey spied an ice line on the unclimbed peak and sent it in a single long push. After battling through steep snow and vertical ice curtains, the pair were the first to stand on top of the peak The Shooting Gallery went at Grade IV, WI4+. This is the first first ascent of a peak to take place in the Cascades for a long time. The vision behind such an ascent will hopefully lead to more amazing winter ascents throughout the range. To read more, click here.

--AAI Guide Forest McBrian skied the Hanging Glacier on Mount Shuksan over the weekend. It is unlikely that this particular feature has ever been skied before.

--Wayne Wallace, a renowned Cascade hardman, and his partner made the first ascent of the central drip on Mount Hood's Black Spider. This imposing headwall has a handful of serious lines that cut up through the rock. Early guidebook authors called the wall, Eiger-like. Wallace has long had an interest in the wall and finally completed the "best" line on the feature. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--A fatal snowboarding accident at Mammoth Mountain recently has prompted questions about tree well accidents and how people can avoid them. In late February, a 43-year-old woman was found deceased in a tree well near Chair 12. A tree well is the space left underneath the boughs of a snow covered conifer tree. The hollow area may melt out to form an empty space as the weather warms, but after storms, the tree well can be filled with light, unconsolidated snow. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:


--There is still a lot of room left a the seventh Annual Red Rock Rendezvous. Sign-up while the signing up is good! And while you're there, consider doing some additional days with us in Red Rock Canyon. We have Learn to Lead courses and AMGA Single Pitch Instructor courses at both ends of the event!

--With the annual wildflower season just beginning to blossom, officials from Joshua Tree National Park and the Morongo Basin Conservation Association are taking up arms against a desert invader, the Sahara mustard. Volunteers are being sought to remove the plant from the Pinto Basin inside the national park. Work teams will gather at 8 a.m. today and the next two Saturdays in March at the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center at 74485 National Park Drive in Twentynine Palms. To read more, click here.

Alaska:

--Cliff Hudson, longtime Alaska bush pilot and one of the state's mountain flying masters, died Friday at 84 at the Palmer Pioneers Home after a long illness. Hudson was inextricably linked to the history of climbing in the Alaska Range. His company was one of the first to offer climbers flight services to the mountain. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Edgar Wayburn, 103, a physician and five-time Sierra Club president who is credited with protecting more wilderness and parkland than any other American citizen, died March 5 at his home in San Francisco. No cause of death was reported. As a volunteer conservationist for more than 50 years, he was a behind-the-scenes force for wilderness protection who never earned the widespread renown of contemporaries such as the outspoken environmental activist David Brower and photographer Ansel Adams. Dr. Wayburn maintained a full-time medical practice, working evenings and weekends to stave off post-World War II development in California's coastal hills and later to protect millions of acres in Alaska. To read more, click here.

--A man was killed while ice climbing on Ice Rock, an area along the Blue Ridge Parkway south of Sparta, North Carolina last week. This is the second ice soloist killed in recent weeks. To read more, click here.

--Heavy snowfall in parts of Germany triggered a deadly avalanche and caused thousands of accidents, leaving at least seven people dead and dozens more injured, police said Sunday. To read more, click here.

--A climber was injured near Boulder Falls in Colorado last week. Following is a news report on the incident:



--It appears that a climber was injured in the Ouray Ice Park last week. A report on Mountainproject indicates the the belayer didn't use his autoblocking device appropriately which resulted in a fall. It appears that the climber took a 50-60 foot fall and sustained a broken pelvis. To read more, click here.

--On April 10, 2010, the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum will host the first Hall of Mountaineering Excellence induction ceremony and gala to celebrate the achievements of some of the greatest American mountaineers—on and off the mountains. This year’s inductees include Yvon Chouinard, Robert Craig, Robert Bates, and Dr.Charles Houston, four of the most significant mountaineers of our time. Family and friends will accept the award on behalf of those that have passe —Houston and Bates; the museum expects Chouinard and Craig to be in attendance. To read more, click here.

--For the first time ever, budget woes may close down New York State parks. Even during the Great Depression the Empire State’s parks remained open, but Governor Paterson recently proposed closing 55 parks and historic sites, including the climbing found at Minnewaska State Park Preserve, to address a historic $8 billion budget gap. More information and a list of parks slated for closure. Opponents of the governor’s plan say his $29 million cut from the state parks' operating budget reflects a very minor percentage of the state’s overall $132 billion budget, and will inflict a devastating blow to regional economies. Studies show that for every dollar spent maintaining New York parks, $5 in benefits are produced in annual sales for private businesses in the areas around the parks. To read more and to learn what you can do to help protect access, click here.

--Speaking of Chouinard, he was featured in a television commercial that aired during the Oscars. To read more about this, click here.


--The son of Alison Hargreaves is to attempt to scale K2, the mountain that claimed his mother’s life when he was a six-year-old boy. Tom Ballard, 21, is training in the Swiss Alps in preparation for an assault later this year on the 28,000ft peak, the second highest in the world and far more dangerous than Everest. To read more, click here.

--On May 15th 2010, Dead Point Magazine will host the first annual Poker n’ Access fundraiser for the Access Fund during the 8th Annual New River Rendezvous. The New River Rendezvous is an annual fundraising event for the New River Alliance of Climbers, which takes place at the Burnwood Campground at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. To read more, click here.

--A Maine ski resort says it plans to charge two groups of snowboarders for the costs of rescuing them after they left marked trails and got lost in rugged terrain on Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugarloaf resort officials told the Lewiston Sun Journal that the snowboarders could also lose pass privileges for endangering rescuers. The resort will now hold all skiers and snowboarders accountable when they fail to heed signage. To read more, click here.