Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 7/7/11

Northwest:

--A 34-year-old female climber was found dead Sunday, July 3, by rescue teams at the 5,200-foot level of Mount Baker.  Sheryl Costello, of Golden, Colo., who had reached the summit of the 10,781-foot mountain the previous day with her boyfriend, was making her way down when her boyfriend lost sight of her near Heliotrope Ridge, said Whatcom County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Jilk.  To read more, click here.

--Authorities have released the name of a hiker who died Sunday while hiking in the Aasgard Pass area of the Cascade mountains, southwest of Leavenworth.  Julie Rutherford, 21, was hiking with her boyfriend and two others when she slid down a snow face and disappeared over the edge into an opening about 5 feet wide, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office said.  To read more, click here.

--A daring rescue took place to reach a mountain climber who fell from a cliff on Mount Olympus Thursday in Washington's Olympic Mountain Range. The man, identified as 51-year-old Fred Henion, was rescued by specialized crews several hours after falling and was being transported by helicopter to Intermountain Medical Center. To read more, click here.

--Officials estimate a climber trekked nearly 30 milesafter losing his way while descending from Chimney Rock in theSelkirk Mountains last week. A party of four planned to summit the 7,124-foot peak on Sunday,but unexpectedly encountered snow and ice conditions. James Higginsreportedly turned back because of inadequate footwear. To read more, click here.

--A new plan has been proposed to develop a gondola from the base of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish to the peak's summit.  To read more, click here.

Is this an elusive North Cascades Grizzly?

Photo by Joe Sebille

--A bear photographed last October in North Cascades National Park has been identified as a grizzly bear. It is the first such sighting in the park since 1996.  To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--Over 140 campsites were not open yet in the Mammoth Lakes Basin over the Fourth of July Weekend.  Dozens and dozens of campers showed up for the holiday, campsites paid for, only to find them still buried under the snow. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--Authorities in Utah say a hiker who was injured in a 30-foot fall onto a steep ledge is being treated at a hospital in Provo.  Utah County Sheriff Sgt. Tom Hodgson tells the Deseret News that a Utah County search-and-rescue team reached the 23-year-old man Monday afternoon and lowered him about 200 feet to safety in the scenic Stewart Falls area on the east side of Mt. Timpanogos.  To read more, click here.

--Flash flooding Tuesday afternoon quickly swelled creeks and washed out roads in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area."It's amazing," says Lorena Diaz who was visiting from El Paso, TX. The National Weather Service reports Red Rock receiving the heaviest rainfall between noon and 2pm, dropping one to two inches of rain per hour. To read more, click here.


Alaska:

--American Alpine Institute Team 7 successfully climbed to the top of Denali late last week.  The team was able to get off the mountain on July 4th after waiting for the weather to clear so that a plane could fly in to pick them up.  This was the last AAI expedition on the mountain.  To read more, click here.

--Searchers found the body of Austrian climber Juergen Kanzian on Mount McKinley after using a high-powered spotting scope Thursday evening. To read more, click here.

Himalaya:

--There was another rescue by another Western Team in the Himalaya after a sick porter's expedition abandoned him, fearing that they would not reach the summit if they participated in a rescue. This inappropriate exercise is becoming more and more common in the Himalaya.  No summit is worth a person's life.  To read more, click here.

Jessica Biel

--With one of the world’s iconic mountains under her belt, film star Jessica Biel already has her sights set on visiting another. Everest Base Camp is next on her list, having just reached the summit of Kilimanjaro as part of a charity trek. Biel was the international star among a group of celebrities, largely of American fame, taking part in a televised expedition to Tanzania’s popular trekking venue.  “I’d love to trek to Everest Base Camp,” said Jessica following her Mount Kilimanjaro expedition. “It’s my next goal,” she said.  To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--A visitor to Yellowstone National Park is dead after an encounter with a grizzly bear Wednesday morning.The incident occurred on the Wapiti Lake trail, which is located east of the Grand Loop Road south of Canyon Village. The husband and wife couple had traveled about a mile and a half in on the trail Wednesday morning when they surprised a grizzly sow with cubs. In an apparent attempt to defend a perceived threat to her cubs, the bear attacked and fatally wounded the man.To read more, click here.

--A climber was killed on Saturday at Rumbling Bald Rock near Ashville. It's not clear whether this was catastrophic anchor failure or whether both ends of the rope were uneven. Joshua Earl Haddock, 29, broke his neck in the fall.  To read more, click here and here.

-- The International Olympic Committee has announced a shortlist of sports that will be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games, and guess what?  Sport climbing has been listed as one of the options.  To read more, click here.