Northwest:

--The American Alpine Institute International Mountain Day event was a great success on Saturday!  Over a hundred people participated in the combination of our rock rescue trainings and our avalanche awareness seminar.  The event was built around safety for locals and was put together as a benefit for the Central Asia Institute.

--A man died Saturday after falling off a ski lift in Idaho's Kelly Canyon Ski Resort. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, 52-year-old Steven Edward Yount died from a massive heart attack. Yount was with two other ski patrollers doing maintenance when the incident occurred. The other ski patrollers heard a noise and looked back to see Yount on the ground.  To read more, click here.

--It looks like we have some cougars near our home base in Bellingham.  Please take your mind out of the gutter and click here to read more about an animal attack in Sudden Valley.

--For a town crawling with climbing enthusiasts, Bellingham has relatively few places for them to play during the long rainy season. Sure, there are three climbing walls here, but access to them is limited and none of the facilities is dedicated solely to climbing.  That is about to change. Greg Dotson plans to open a climbing gym in a 5,000-square-foot space across from Bellingham High School.  To read more, click here.

--Crystal Mountain ski resort recently announced a new targeted opening date of Dec. 22 for its Mount Rainier Gondola, the first gondola ski-lift in Washington.  The resort earlier planned a grand opening of the gondola for last Friday, but installing the new equipment took longer than anticipated since construction began eight months ago.  To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--Three rock climbers were rescued on Tuesday afternoon from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. According to Park Spokesperson Scott Gediman, it was a two-day rescue operation.  "With the help of the Army National Guard helicopter, the CHP helicopter and our Rangers, we were able to rescue the climbers."  To read more, click here and here.


Desert Southwest:


--Erik Lambert of the American Alpine Club wrote a nice round-up on the National Climbing Management Summit in Las Vegas.  This event took place in late October.  AAI guide Scott Massey attended to represent the American Alpine Institute at the Summit.  To learn more about the event and what they accomplished, check out Erik's blog on the Summit.

--A mining company recently received approval to open Utah's first-ever strip mine for coal in the small community of Alton. Few new coal mines have opened in the West in the past ten years since most developers focus on expanding existing mines, not reaching into untouched wilderness. This new mine will be located 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park.  To read more, click here.


--A new website has been developed for Joshua Tree's seventy-fifth anniversary.  To read about the events surrounding this, click here.

--The Access Fund is keeping tabs on a huge public lands bill that, though unlikely, could potentially pass Congress during the lame duck session. The ‘‘Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2010’’ includes provisions that would enact the controversial Southeast Arizona Land Exchange Act. The Access Fund and Arizona climbing community have long worked to protect climbing in central Arizona, first through the Friends of Queen Creek and then the Queen Creek Coalition (QCC). The Southeast Arizona Land Exchange bill would destroy hundreds of existing roped climbing routes and thousands of bouldering problems by transferring US Forest Service lands to Resolution Copper Mining (RCM) for a block cave mine.  To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Sad news in the search for a Mt. Baldy hiker missing since Saturday, December 4th. A body believed to be that of Michelle Yu, 49,  was found last Thursday by search crews. To read more, click here.

--Milt McAuley, the father of hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains whose guidebooks and guided hikes popularized the trails that cut through Los Angeles backcountry, has died. He was 89.  McAuley, who continued hiking until 3 years ago, died this week of natural causes at his home in Canoga Park. To read more, click here.

--Officials at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire, said a teenager from Massachusetts died Sunday after a skiing accident.  Cannon Mountain's manager said Thomas Nester, of Wakefield, Massachusetts was skiing with a friend on the mountain's Zoomer Lift Line trail when the accident happened around 10:15 a.m. Sunday.  To read more, click here.


--Black Diamond has issued a voluntary recall of a limited portion of Avalung packs. According to a company press relase, the intake tubing may crack under cold temperatures.  The recall pertains to a limited manufacturing run of Black Diamond AvaLung Packs sold in 2010, which can be identified by a PO number and model combination presented on the following website: www.BlackDiamondEquipment.com/AvaLungRecall Any Avalung within the production run should be immediately returned to Black Diamond for inspection and/or replacement.  To read more, click here.

--Two skiers and their dog were caught in an avalanche in Montana's Tobacco Roots over the weekend. All three survived the incident.  To read more, click here.



--On Sunday the flatlands of Minnesota saw unusual avalanche activity.  The preceding video shows the collapse of the Minneapolis Metrodome's inflatable roof.  Tons of what looks like powder tears a hole through the ceiling and pours into the center of the football stadium.  Needless to say, the day's game was postponed.

--Mick Fowler was elected President of the UK's Alpine Club following what is thought to be the first contested election to the prestigious post in the Club's 153-year history.  The clear favorite of AC members, in both an opinion poll and a ballot held at the club's AGM in London, Fowler is expected to devote his three years as president to attracting more active alpinists into the AC. Fowler exemplifies the style of exploratory mountaineering championed by the Alpine Club, and having as its public face a climber who is still pushing the boat out on big mountain routes can only be of benefit to the club's image.

--Interior Department and Wyoming state officials have agreed to a $107 million deal that could permanently protect 1,405 acres of state school parcels in Grand Teton National Park, Governor Dave Freudenthal announced late last week. Freudenthal made the announcement after the state Board of Land Commissioners voted 4-0 for a plan to sell the four parcels to the Park Service one at a time between January 5, 2012 and January 5, 2015. The deal is still subject to approval by the Wyoming Legislature, and the U.S. Congress must come up with the funding. To read more, click here.

--Russian Valery Rozov braved temperatures as low as minus 30C to climb a mountain in Antarctica, and then jumped off the top of it.  The climber and base jumper from Moscow wanted to leap from the peak of Ulvetanna mountain in the Drygalski Mountains in Queen Maud Land.  Almost 9843 feet above sea level, the summit of the mountain named Wolf's Peak in Norwegian looked a daunting task for any mountaineer, let alone one intending to plunge down the sheer face of rock using a wingsuit before deploying a parachute.  To read more, click here.

--Canadian researchers are in the process of developing a camera that could help the detection of avalanches. The infra-red camera has been developed by researchers at the University of Calgary in Canada and it detects temperature changes in the snow pack.  To read more, click here and here.

--An important new product is making its way around the internet.  These new Tevas are perfect for the outdoors woman who needs to not only make it happen in the mountains, but in high society.