Northwest:

-- A snowboarder who went missing on Mt. Hood Saturday was found alive and well yesterday. Curtis Dahl went to Timberline with his friend for a snowboarding trip on Saturday, but the two quickly became separated. After Curtis failed to return home after the trip, authorities were notified. To read more, click here.

--The Forest Service plans to spray 17 square miles of national forest land in the Methow Valley to head off a tussock moth infestation than could defoliate Douglas fir trees. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--BLM Bishop Field Office Asks Public for Help in Stopping Graffiti. The Bureau of Land Management’s Bishop Field Office is asking residents of the Eastern Sierras for help in keeping public lands tag free. Each year, BLM staff spends significant amounts of time removing graffiti from scenic areas, including the Alabama Hills. Twelve locations along Tuttle Creek Road in the Alabama Hills were recently tagged with graffiti. To read more, click here.

--The American Alpine Club will be holding their International Climbers’ Meet in the majestic Yosemite National Park this year. The meeting will run from 4th to 10th October. To read more, click here.

--Paul McFarland, head of Friends of the Inyo for a number of years, will step down to move to Santa Cruz with his family in June. He assures that he will come back to the East Side in just over a year. McFarland was the first staff member of the now growing organization that engages year-round with public lands. He has directed the group for 10 years. To read more, click here.

--Congressman Buck McKeon and Senator Barbara Boxer have introduced legislation to name a Mono County mountain peak after Andrea Meade Lawrence. The former Olympic skier spent much of her life working to protect the Eastern Sierra as a citizen and as a Mono County Supervisor. Lawrence passed away in 2009, but family and friends have since pushed to name an un-named peak just East of Donahue Pass after Lawrence. If all goes according to plan Peak 12,240 will be named Mt. Andrea Lawrence. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--Developer Jim Rhodes, who filed last year for bankruptcy protection, paid $490,000 in back taxes Friday on the land he owns next to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. A Rhodes representative delivered a check to the Clark County treasurer, paying off two years of taxes, interest and penalties Rhodes owed on 2,400 acres in the midst of a heated feud. Rhodes had until July 2011 to pay the debt before the county began proceedings to auction off the land. He issued the check through Harmony Homes LLC, one of his many companies in Nevada. To read more, click here.

--This story seems a little prickly... Most runners rely on shoes to pad their feet. Changing their running shoes every six months is a ritual to them, but not to barefoot runners Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee who were recently seen running in Joshua Tree National Park. The Boulder, Colo., duo said they don’t appreciate the extra weight tied to their feet or the misleading comfort some running shoes provide. They would rather run as their ancestors once did — free. To read more, click here.

Alaska:

--The American Alpine Institute's first Denali Team is making it's way up the mountain lead by Forest McBrian and Mike Pond. The team is currently situated at Camp II and is doing a carry up around Windy Corner today. To read more, click here.

Himalaya:

--With over 200 climbers hoping to summit Mt Everest this year, the world's highest peak has claimed its first victim this season with the disappearance of a Hungarian mountaineer in an avalanche. Laszlo Varkonyi is now presumed to be dead after he was swept away by an avalanche April 26. A search operation had to be called off after two and a half days due to adverse weather conditions and unstable ice. To read more, click here.

--The South Korean climber who claims to be the first woman to have scaled the world's 14 highest mountains has returned from her final summit and dismissed allegations that she cheated. Oh Eun-Sun's 2009 ascent of Mount Kanchenjunga has been disputed by fellow mountaineers, including her chief rival for the record, Edurne Pasaban of Spain, who questioned whether she made it to the top. "I am really sad that it has come to this," a visibly tired Oh told AFP in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Monday after conquering her last peak, the 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) Annapurna, on April 27. To read more, click here.


--Thirteen year-old Jordon Romero is working his way up Mount Everest. It looks like he's made his way up to Camp II and is playing the climb high, sleep low game up on the mountain. If he succeeds, he will be the youngest person to climb the mountain. To read more, click here.

--As Canadian mountaineer Jamie Clarke scales Mt. Everest this month, he's wearing a suit that's just a few millimeters thick, only slightly thicker than a windbreaker. But despite the lack of the pillow-puffy down parka, he'll likely be more worried about overheating than freezing, because of a space-age insulator outfitter Champion is using in his one-piece full-body "Supersuit." To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--The American Alpine Club just announced the winners of the 2010 Copp-Dash Inspire Award. This grant was put together to honor the memories of Micah Dash, Jonny Copp, and Wade Johnson, who were killed in an avalanche in China last year. The following are the awards as the American Alpine Club lists them on their blog:

• Kevin Mahoney, South Face of Nuptse, Nepal, with Ben Gilmore and Freddie Wilkinson. Alpine-style ascent via a new route on the perimeter of the Cobweb Wall.

• Madaleine Sorkin, Southeast Face of Mt. Proboscis, Canada, with Lorna Illingworth and Emily Stifler. First complete free ascent of the 2,000-foot Original Route.

• Matt McCormick, Southeast Pillar of K7 West, Pakistan, with Jim Shimberg and Tim Deroehn. Alpine-style first complete ascent of a major sub-summit of K7 West.

• Sam Johnson, South Face of Mt. Shand and traverse of Mt. Hayes massif, Alaska, with Ryan Hokanson. Alpine-style first ascent of 1,500-meter face on Mt. Shand and 12-mile traverse of Hayes massif, entailing thousands of vertical meters of climbing.

• Sarah Garlick, northwest face of the Baroness, Greenland, with Danika Gilbert, Jim Surette, and Dave Nettle. New free route on 2,000-foot northwest face of the Baroness.

• Will Meinen, North Face of Mt. Geikie, Canada, with Fred McGuinness and Scott Thumlert. First ascent on 4,000-foot face.

• Zack Smith, traverse of the Moose’s Tooth massif, with Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson. A full traverse of the massif, entailing an estimated 12,000 feet of ice, rock, and snow climbing.

--Some of the most disturbing news of all time just came out about camping. Yep, it has to do with beer. And yep, it also has to do with mosquitoes. It appears that mosquitoes are attracted to beer and worse, they're also attracted to people who have been drinking beer. Sketch! To read more, click here.

--Robert Jasper, Joern Heller and Ralf Gantzhorn completed an ascent of Monte Sarmiento's west summit (7,037') in early April. The German team made the first ascent of the north face of the Patagonian peak in a 39 hour round trip, establishing La Odisea de Magellanes (WI4+) in a single alpine style push. To read more, click here.