Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 6/30/11

Northwest:

--A 62-year old hiker is recovering at Harborview Medical Center tonight after she slipped down the side of a mountain and then slid off a 40-foot cliff. The woman's climbing partner, Bryan Harris, said she was extremely fortunate to be alive. To read more, click here.


--Last summer, AAI guides Tom Kirby and Jason Martin helped rig stunts for a documentary about the 1911 race from Bellingham to the top of Mount Baker.  The first trailer for "The Mountain Runners" is now online. The film is projected to be released in the spring of 2012.  To view the trailer, click on the video below:



--For many years a large flake has hung over the Birds of Prey, a classic 5.10b in Squamish.  A couple of local climbers took it upon themselves to remove this deathblock and to videotape said removal.  Following is a video of the two ton trundle.  If you only want to watch the block fall, you can see it in the video at approximately 1:54:



Sierra:

--An accident took place on the Regular Route of Fairview Dome on Friday. A climber was leading the second pitch when he fell and hit the belay ledge, breaking his leg. The party was able to self-rescue.  To read more, click here.

--Three bears have been hit by cars in Yosemite Valley over the last week.  They were respectively hit at Chinquapin, at Crane Flat, and near El Capitan. To read more, click here.

--Well, it looks like Bigfoot left some DNA on a truck window after looking inside. Of course, bears in the Sierra are trained from birth to look in every vehicle for a cooler. They know where the good stuff is.  Check out the report at the Huffingtonpost on the Bigfoot DNA and for a slideshow with many grainy images of the beast. To read more, click here.  Below is a video that these individuals took. Based on the video, I'm guessing that there's not a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon among the group...



--Above average snow and rain makes this a dangerously high water year for the Owens Valley and entire Eastern Sierra. To read more, click here.

--A word of caution from Caltrans – slow down and watch for deer.  Last month, migrating deer crossed paths with several vehicles.  Caltrans has just issued tips for avoiding animals on the road. To read more, click here.

--The fire season has started in the Sierra.  Check out this report on Yosemite.

Desert Southwest:

--Is it possible that climate change will push joshua trees out of Joshua Tree National Park?  Some scientists think so.  To read more, click here.

Alaska:

--AAI Denali Team 7 is battling difficult weather, trying to move up the mountain to complete the last expedition of the season.  To read more, click here.

Himalaya:

--A man who climbed Everest found the body of his friend who had died on the mountain just below the summit only months before. Rodney Hogg saw the body of his friend Peter Kinlock on a ledge approximately 1000 feet below the summit as he climbed.  To read more, click here.

--The first major success of the 2011 Pakistan summer season fell to a team of four Russians, who have just made the first ascent of the West Face of Latok III (22,798'). Climbing in capsule style, Evgeny Dmitrienko, Ivan Dozhdev, Alex Lonchinsky and t Alexander Odintsov spent from June 10th-25th ascending the left side of the 5,500-foot face, completing a line that Odintsov has tried twice before. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--On Sunday, a British hiker discovered the bodies of six climbers in the French alps. The identities of the climbers, three men and three women, have not been released yet, but they are thought to be French.  To read more, click here.

--Grand Teton National Park rangers rescued a 47-year-old woman who fell while climbing in Cascade Canyon on Saturday.  It appears that the woman fell on the fifth pitch of a six pitch route on Guide's Wall.  To read more, click here.

--National Park Service investigators continue to probe the death of an Alabama man killed June 15 after he fell 100 feet to his death while rock climbing along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, and authorities are now seeking the public's assistance in gathering information.  Jonathan Sullivan, 20, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, died while scaling Ravens Roost Overlook with two friends. To read more, click here.

--Six days after falling from a cliff near Chapel Pond Saturday, a Vermont woman was in fair condition this morning at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt.  Rebecca Martin, 28, of Winooski, Vt., was climbing with a partner on the Creature Wall in the Giant Mountain Wilderness Area near Keene Valley. Estimates vary on the height from which she fell. To read more, click here.

--The American Alpine Club and the Zack Martin Breaking Barrierscommittee awarded the 2011 grant to Asa Firestone to establish a climbing community within one of the “favelas” (slums) of Rio De Janerio. To read more, click here.

--The New York state Senate passed legislation last week that would allow for the creation of a state Department of Environmental Conservation volunteer forest ranger rescue program.  "Finding someone missing in the Adirondacks requires feet on the ground and the more the better," said state Sen. Betty Little,said in a press release. To read more, click here.

--Colorado residents Erik Weihenmayer and Jeff Evans have been climbing mountains -- including the tallest peak on Earth -- together for twenty years, and Thursday night they're taking their passion for adventurous extremes to reality television.  "Expedition Impossible" is a new adventure show on ABC featuring 13 teams racing through the deserts, rivers and mountains of Morocco. Each week teams of three will compete for $150,000 and a new Ford Explorer for each member. To read more, click here.

--The Canadian Extreme Sports athlete, Will Gadd, has written an interesting article about getting sponsored.  To read it, click here.

--Climbing meets Netflix.  It was bound to happen.  To download or order movies from a new website that uses this model, click here. 

--Last week, Jenny Lake climbing rangers DrewHardesty and Brian Hays experienced a first in their climbingcareers. Two peregrine falcons swooped through the air, at timescoming within 15 feet of them. Hardesty and Hays set out for a quick trip up Baxter’sPinnacle in Grand Teton National Park. As they approached thepinnacle, situated in Cascade Canyon, they watched a pair ofperegrine falcons they’d heard about. Throughout the climb thebirds squawked in what seemed annoyance at the climbers, Hays said.A few times the falcons became more aggressive and Hays wondered ifthey’d intentionally hit the climbers as they came within about 15 feet. To read more, click here.