Northwest:
--Chilliwack search and rescue volunteers joined a search last week for a snowmobiler killed in an avalanche near Tulameen, northeast of Hope. The man was later identified as 43-year-old Mike Buckles. To read more, click here.
--Military gunner Tanya Murray of Abbotsford decided to spend her holiday season out of town this year. Instead of relaxing on a sunny beach, she is braving chilling temperatures and more snow than she would have encountered at home. Murray is on call 24 hours a day until early February during Operation Palaci, the Canadian military’s annual support to Parks Canada’s avalanche control program at Rogers Pass. To read more, click here.
--Canadian backcountry skier Greg Hill, 35, completed his goal – with a day to spare – of logging 2 million vertical ski-touring feet, all self-propelled, in 2010. And get this: He counted only the uphill elevation gain in his quest. That means his round-trip elevation gain and loss for the mission was a whopping 4 million vertical feet without the use of a tram or ski lift! To read more, click here.
Sierra:
--More snow news from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The mountain measurements show Mammoth Pass snowpack still even with the wettest years on record - that's 1982/83. The statistics remain staggering with both snow and precipitation measurements double, triple even quadruple normal for this time of year. To read more, click here.
Desert Southwest:
-- Investigators continue to look into the death of a St. George man who fell while hiking in Utah's Snow Canyon on Sunday, not yet labeling the incident an accident. Joshua F. Shillander, 20, was hiking with two friends atop the Island in the Sky hill, an unofficial route frequented by local technical climbers but considered dangerous for inexperienced or ill-prepared hikers. To read more, click here.
--Registration is now open for this year's Red Rock Rendezvous. Click on the icon below to find out more:
Notes from All Over:
--The 38-year-old man who was killed Sunday when he hit a tree on a blue run at Colorado's Keystone Ski Resort was described as a family man and an avid skier by his family. The Summit County Coroner says Sean Bender died from blunt force to the chest and says Bender was wearing a helmet when he hit the tree around 11am on Sunday. To read more, click here.
--A review of how the 111th Congress acted on wilderness legislation shows that the National Park System benefited quite nicely, but it could have fared better. According to Frank Buono, a former National Park Service official who now tracks wilderness issues, "the 111th Congress designated wilderness in more separate park units (6) than in any Congress since 1980 in the Carter Administration." To read more, click here.
--This week the liberal blog, the Huffington Post featured an entertaining look at how South Korean Soldiers prepare for winter conditions. The post features numerous photos of soldiers pouring snow over themselves and running shirtless in the winter. To read the post and to see photos of the troops, click here.
--Some enterprising adventurers are planning what will be the highest Burns supper ever. The Burns supper is an annual tradition celebrating the legacy of Scottish poet Robert Burns. The Scotsman reports that a group of 20 adventurers left Edinburgh for Africa to stage the epic event on Mount Kilimanjaro. They will spend eight days climbing to the top of Africa's highest peak. To read more, click here.
--Franc Knez and Silvo Karo were awarded the Order of Merit by Slovenia's President Dr. Danilo Tuerk on December 22, 2010. As we all know, it is quite uncommon for a politician, much less a president, to recognize climbers for their accomplishments. To read about this award, click here.
--In late October, Joel Kauffman and Jarad Vilhauer climbed a new route on the southwest face of Lobuje East (20,075') in Nepal's Khumbu region. They established Night Terrors (VI WI5+ AI4 M7 85 degrees) in an alpine style 37-hour push. To read more, click here.
--People who ski and snowmobile in the backcountry know that they are taking their life in their hands every time they go up on a slope heavy with snow. Making things slightly less risky is the ABS system. It is a pair of 75-liter balloons strapped into a backpack that inflate in 2 seconds when you pull a ripcord, enabling you to "swim" out of the avalanche. To read more, click here.
--Chris Branca, a 29-year-old who lives in the Flatiron district, is getting his 15-minutes of fame. A YouTube video of him skiing 40 mph down Park Avenue while being towed by a Range Rover the night of the big snowstorm has gone viral. The video he sent to 12 friends as a sort of postcard from the storm has since been viewed more than 166,000 times. After being featured on New York Magazine’s website, it popped up on other media outlets from Gawker to CNN, and Branca made an appearance on "Inside Edition." (No one seems to have mentioned the speed limit on city streets is 30 mph.) To read more, click here. To see the video, click below:
