--This isn't news to anybody anywhere. But there will be a lot of drunk climbers holed up in hotels in icy places like Ouray and Lee Vining and Banff and Cody and North Conway tonight. And there will be a lot of drunk climbers huddled around campfires in places like Red Rocks and Joshua Tree. And tomorrow there will be a lot of smart climbers who forewent the partying up early and sending hard!
Notes from All Over:
--A series of avalanches in the Italian Alps has killed seven people, emergency services said. Four of those who died were rescuers searching for two tourists killed by an earlier avalanche in the Trentino region of northern Italy. Another avalanche killed a 12-year-old German boy skiing in the same area. The head of Italy's civil protection service, Guido Bertolaso, said rescuers were dying because people were ignoring warnings about conditions. To read more, click here.
--The Teton Ice Park opened last week. This new climbing area has been modeled off the Ouray Ice Park and looks like it will become just as popular. To read more, click here.
--Simon Gietl and Roger Schali climbed a new route on the east face of Patagonia's Poincenot (9,849'). The team sent the route alpine style in four days. To read more, click here.
--On December 10th, world-renowned ice climber, Guy Lacelle died when he was swept off of an ice climb in Hyalite Canyon by an avalanche. Doug Chabot of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center investigated the incident and created the following video about the causes of the accident:
