--Amid a flurry of seemingly contradictory reports, it appears that the Chinese summitted Thursday morning. Rumors were flying about an unsuccessful attempt on May 5th. These rumors were then obscured by a series of rumors concerning a group of Chinese climbers who summited, but did not carry the torch. Finally, some solid news came from the English language Chinese state television network, CCTV. The pictures above and below are both from their website. To see footage of the Torch reaching the top of the mountain, click here. Note the weather in the video. It doesn't look like those guys had an easy trip back down. Everestnews.com has a more in-depth report here.
--The torch is housed in a special lantern that allows it to burn in a low oxygen environment. The flame in the torch was lit earlier this year from the main Olympic Torch, which has been on a world tour. Last year, Chinese climbers summitted with this same fixture on a test run to make sure that it would work. Many pro-Tibet climbers were hoping that the torch would go out due to conditions on the mountain before they got to the summit. Clearly from the photographs one can see that this wasn't an issue.
--The preceeding sign was posted at Camp II on the South Side of Everest to keep climbers from going any higher. This photo is from mounteverest.net. With fighter jets circling the top of the mountain and a sniper at Camp II, most climbers probably got the picture and won't try to summit until the Chinese let them.
--Red flares have been lit atop mountains around the world to protest the torch lighting on top of Everest and the subjugation of the Tibeten people. To read more about this protest, click here.
--NPR has a short report on the climber that was kicked off of the mountain for carrying a "Free Tibet" banner here.
--Not all the news is strange on the Big E right now. The 24 member Eco Everest team has introduced Clean Mountain Cans to the upper reaches of the mountain in order to cut the amount of human waste left up high. To read the article, click here.
--A trekking team including the first couple to be married on top of Everest, is raising money for schools in Nepal by walking to Everest Base Camp. To read more, click here.
NORTHWEST:
--Mount Rainier Climbing Rangers are now staffing both Camp Muir and the Jackson Visitor Center. The official climbing season for Rainier has begun!
--Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) is sponsoring an outdoor video contest. To submit a video and to vote on other submissions, click here.
--The body of an unidentified male was found near Ross Lake in the North Cascades National Park Complex on Friday, May 2nd. To read more, click here.
SOUTHWEST:
--There were a slew of first ascents in Red Rock Canyon this season. Most notably were a handful of long new "adventure" routes. These include Dodgeball (5.7 6 Pitches), Lady Luck (5.7 7 Pitches), Big Sky (5.8 7 Pitches), The Minoutaur (5.10- 8 Pitches) and Cougar Boy (5.10c 4 Pitches).
--AAI Guide Jason Martin put up a handful of new moderate single pitch sport routes and topropes this season at The Hamlet in Red Rock Canyon.
--In rural Nevada, it is incredibly difficult to establish new wilderness areas. Local residents see such activities as moves to take land away from ranchers, eliminate jobs, and even to expand government control of the land surrounding them. To read more, click here.
--MSNBC recently launched an online video series called Roads to Adventure. The first episode explores canyoneering in Zion National Park and can be found online here
ALASKA:
--Our first Denali summit team of the season, led by Paul Ivaska and Lauren Ditolla, flew into Base Camp on Sunday. They are now working their way up towards Camp II at 11,000 feet. To read daily dispatches, click here.
--AAI guide, Kurt Hicks, just finished a trip to Little Switzerland. Photos of his adventures can be found here.
--A pair of Slovenians put up a difficult new route in the Ruth Gorge on Mt. Bradley in April. To read about their climb, click here.
NOTES FROM ALL OVER:
--Five French climbers were killed in a tragic avalanche in the Alps last week. To read more, click here.
--A pair of French skiers completed the Haute Route in a day. This spectacular feet required the pair to climb 28,000 feet and descend 26,000 feet in less than 24 hours. To read more, click here.
--This week Ecuadorian Ivan Vallejo became the 14th person to scale all 14 eight-thousand meter peaks. To read more, click here.
--In a related story, Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner summited 8,167-meter Dhaulagiri on Thursday, giving her 11 of the 14 eight-thousand meter summits. Kaltenbrunner currently has more of these high peaks under her belt than any other female climber in the world. To read the article, click here.
--The Nepali government recently announced that they will be lowering the peak fees for mountaineering during the fall and winter climbing seasons to increase adventure tourism. To read more, click here.
--Chaiten, a 3550 foot Chilean volcano, began to erupt this week spewing ash 12 miles up into the atmosphere. Over four-thousand people have been evacuated from surrounding villages. To read more, click here.
--Climbing superstar, Steph Davis, free soloed the North Face of Castleton Tower (5.11a, 3 pitches) on Sunday. After obtaining the top of the feature, she felt like she still needed a little bit more adventure. Instead of rappelleing, Davis BASE jumped off the top of the tower. To read more, click here.
--The Conservation Alliance in conjunction with Timex Expedition has put together a promotion entitled Return to the Outdoors. This video competition is designed to raise awareness of the need to preserve outdoor spaces. They have put together an example of what they're looking for with a film about alpinist, Conrad Anker. To view it, click here. To read more and to view more films, click here.
