Northwest:

--Over 41 routes/pitches were rebolted/refurbished this winter due to a Squamish Access Society initiative and carried out by local guides.  Highlights include a complete refurbishment/bolt replacement of Cruel Shoes/ Grand Wall - the marquee climb on the Chief and placement of perma draws on Circus Wall at the Chek and Forgotten Wall. To read more, click here.


Sierra:

--Well known skiers Kip Garre and Allison Kreutzen were killed in an avalanche last week on a ski outing to Split Mountain just south of Bishop. Garre was a popular contributer to Powder magazine.  To read more, click here and here.

--Long before he was a five-time Mr. Universe, before he was Conan the Barbarian or the Terminator or the Governor of California, Austrian-born Arnold Schwarzenegger was a skier. This past weekend, he shared his passion for skiing with 60 underprivileged kids at California's Mammoth Mountain.To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--There is some concern in the internet forums that not enough people are concerned about the potential housing development on the fringes of Red Rock Canyon.  We have been reporting on this for literally years, but still feel that the person who started such a conversation is right.  To read more, click here.
Alaska:

--Ice cascading down Ruth Gorge killed a Lower 48 climber last week, according to the National Park Service. The man was alone in his tent when the large piece of ice tumbled down around 1 a.m. and he died hours later while being flown off the mountain in the park's high-altitude helicopter. NPS representatives declined to release the name of the dead climber, pending notification of next of kin.  After completing a climb up 10,300-foot Moose's Tooth, not far from Mount McKinley, two climbing parties including the climber who perished were camped on what's known as Root Canal, a glacier landing strip and camping area directly south of the challenging peak.  To read more, click here and here.

Himalaya:

--Swiss mountaineer Erhard Loretan died April 28, on his 52nd birthday, while guiding a client in the Alps.  The pair had skiied in and were roped up for the last 1,000 meters.  The team fell for unknown reasons.  Erhard was the third person to climb all 14 8,000 meter peaks, the second to climb the peaks without supplemental oxygen.  To read more, click here, here, and here. 



-- On his quest to climb his last peak of the Seven Summits, Californian Climber Rick Hitch collapsed May 3 on his way to Camp 3 on Everest at 23,000 feet.  To read more, click here. 

Notes from All Over:

-- A 32-year-old Swedish hunter who fired a single shot that passed through an elk before hitting and killing a cross-country skier has been charged with manslaughter.  The 71-year-old cross country skier was killed instantly by the stray bullet in an incident which took place in December of last year outside of Ljungby in southern Sweden. To read more, click here.

--Uli Steck watch out.  The new Eiger North Face speed record is 2 hours, 28 minutes, and was completed by 27-year old Danny Arnold.  Arnold beat Steck's record by 20 minutes.  To read more, click here.


-- To set a world record, all University of Colorado doctorate student Will Levandowski has to do is climb the same 10-foot tall boulder on Flagstaff Mountain about 2,500 times in 24 hours.  To read more, click here.  


-- While corporate support can be vital to the health of national parks, whether to accept that support can be a challenging question, particularly in these times of financial stress and overall declines in charitable giving. To read more, click here.