NORTHWEST:
--On July 6th a climber fell in the Devil's Kitchen area of Mount Hood. After sustaining the 100 foot fall an Army National Guard helicopter was notified. The climber was then airlifted off the mountain. To read more, click here.
--To read about another rescue over the Fourth of July weekend on Mount Olympus, click here.
--Despite massive glacial recession all over the world, there is one Cascade volcano that is showing signs of glacier growth. It appears that seven glaciers on Mount Shasta are actually benefiting from climate change. As the Pacific Ocean warms, more precipitation is making its way inland to the mountain. More precipitation means more snow. There is enough snow on the mountain that it is able to sustain the glaciers even though the average temperature has risen 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century. To read more, click here.
--A moose in Wenatchee seems to be having a hard time finding his way back to his home. The animal found its way through a grocery store parking lot, to a mall and then finally out onto a main street. To read more about this wayward animal, click here.
SIERRA and RED ROCK CANYON:
--Forty-four year-old hiker, Ric DeVan went missing near Mount Goode and Bishop Pass on July 4th. Search and Rescue has had little success locating the man since he disappeared on Friday. They are currently interviewing people who were hiking in the area when the DeVan disappeared. To learn more, click here.
--On June 9th a wild land fire occurred in the Oak Creek area of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. There were no lightning strikes in the area and a campsite with a fire ring was the suspected source. The fire was quickly surrounded and 100 percent contained. Unlike recent fires that have had a serious impact on the base of popular walls, this fire appears to primarily have impacted the approach trail to the canyon.
ALASKA:
--The American Alpine Insitute has completed an extremely successful Denali season. Members from every team summitted. Everybody is now off the mountain and back home. To read more about our successful season, click here.
--There were two fatalities on Denali this week. On July 4th, 51 year-old Jame Nasti collapsed on the summit of Denali and died. Members of Nasti's team performed CPR on him for forty-five minutes but he did not regain a pulse. To read more about this unfortunate incident, click here. On July 7th, 20 year-old Pungkas Tri Baruno collapsed near the 17,000 foot camp. Members of his team also attempted to revive him with CPR, but were unsuccessful. To read more about this second incident, click here.
NOTES FROM ALL OVER:
--Separatists Kurdish rebels kidnapped three German climbers yesterday on Mount Ararat (16,853 feet) in eastern Turkey. Five rebels came into the group's camp at 9,600 feet and took the mountaineers hostage to protest the German government's crackdown on a related group in Germany. To read more, click here.
--A high altitude 5.13 was recently added to the 12,000 foot P Wall in Colorado's Front Range. Bob Pizem put up the two pitch trad route on July 2nd. The crux of the climb is a 170 foot corner that required sustained stemming without much oxygen. To read more about the climb, click here.
--It appears that the New York Times building should be added to New York State climbing guidebooks. The skyscraper was scaled yesterday for the third time in five weeks. Twenty-nine year-old protester David Malone climbed up to the fifth story of the building and unfurled a banner. At this point it is not clear what the banner said. To read more about this not-so-ground-breaking-third-ascent, click here.
