NORTHWEST:
--There was another tragic fatality on a northwest volcano this week. Twenty-five year-old Hyun Seo of Bothell was killed by a falling boulder on the Squak Glacier of Mount Baker on Friday. Reports indicate that the man was standing on a ledge at the 6,500 foot level when a boulder sheered off and crushed him. It took rescue crews two days to retrieve the body. This accident comes directly on the heels of a fatality earlier last week on Mount Rainier. These two deaths mark an incredibly unfortunate and tragic start to the high season in the mountains. To read more about the accident on Mount Baker, click here.
--The Seattle Post Intelligencer ran an article on waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest this week. The massive snowmelt in the Cascades will lead to unusually spectacular waterfalls this season. To read more, click here.
ALASKA:
--Two young backpackers were lost in Denali National Park for nearly a week. Twenty-five year-old Abby Flantz and 23 year-old Erica Nelson were reported missing on Saturday when they did not show up for work. Friends reported that they were going to do an overnight backpacking trip and return on Friday. Search and Rescue personnel staged a massive effort, hunting for the missing women in a one hundred square mile zone surrounding the Savage River. After a call yesterday from one of the women, rescuers were able to determine where they were. A short time later the women were rescued and returned to their families. To read more, click here.
--AAI Denali Team 5 is safe and off the mountain after a successful summit on June 15. AAI Denali Team 6 moved up to the 17,000 foot camp today and are planning to stage a summit attempt in the next few days. AAI Denali Team 7 is working to move gear up to the 11,000 foot camp today. To read more dispatches, click here.
--A new route was climbed in the Ruth Gorge by a pair of strong Norwegians on a small unnamed peak (Peak 747) between Mt. Bradley (9,100') and Mt. Dickey (9,545'). Kuriositeten -- which means "rarity" in Norwegian -- clocks in at a solid AI5, M3+. To read about this new route, click here.
--A second new route was climbed in Alaska by the American duo of Zack Smith and Josh Wharton. This new ice and mixed line on Kichatna Spire sends an ice couloir on the north end of the peak, just to the left of The Voice of Unreason (700m, ED2 M7 WI5 A1, Isaac-Owens-Strong, 2005). To read more about this climb, click here.
NOTES FROM ALL OVER:
--Omega Pacific is requesting that Link Cam owners inspect their Link Cams for a potential defect recently discovered. To read more, click here.
--Are you a "real alpinist?" Take this quiz and find out.
--A documentary film about Thomas and Alexander Huber was just released to a limited number of theaters in the United States. The Huber brothers are a well-known duo in the climbing world. They have been responsible for a number of high end ascents in Yosemite and throughout the world. To read a review of this new film, click here.
--A new treatment for severe frostbite is showing a great deal of promise and may ultimately be able to save damaged fingers and toes. To read more, click here.
--The search for the multimillionaire adventurer, Steve Fossett, is set to resume in remote parts of California and Nevada. Authorities believe that following a spring thaw it might be easier to spot the man's missing plane. To read more, click here.
--Climbing writer and guide Freddie Wilkinson wrote a rant against those who climbed Everest this season on the liberal blog the Huffingtonpost. It was transcribed on supertopos.com where there have been a number of discussions on the merits of his original piece of writing. To read the supertopo version, click here. To see the original article, click here.
