NORTHWEST:
--On Wednesday, July 11th, the Mount Rainier speed record was broken. Justin Merle climbed from Paradise to the summit in a record 4 hours, 49 minutes and 35 seconds. To read more, click here and here.
--A number of news agencies are reporting that there may be one or more wolf packs in the Methow Valley near Twisp. Biologists indicate that if this is indeed true, the wolf pack will be the first resident pack of the endangered species in the state since 1930. To read more, click here.
NOTES FROM ALL OVER:
--The title of the London Daily Telegraph article says it all: Nude Climber Craze Tipped to Take over England. The subtitle is, "battling gravity on a number of levels, these naked climbers are demonstrating a new American craze tipped to take Britain by storm." Somebody apparently didn't do their homework. There clearly isn't a naked climbing craze in the United States. However, a calendar that features black and white images of climbers in the buff entitled Stone Nudes has been around for years.
WARNING: The links in the preceding post show what many people consider to be artistic naked images from the Stone Nudes Calendar. Please don't click on these if you find nudity offensive.
--This week the New York Times reported on an extreme sport in Europe that is growing in popularity. Rock jumping is the art of jumping from one rock tower to another. In many cases the span between such towers is in excess of ten feet. The consequences of missing a jump, even tied in to a rope, may be catastrophic. To read more, click here.
--Two Polish climbers recently completed the second complete traverse of Gasherbrum I (26,509') and Gasherbrum II (26,362'). Piotr Morawski and Slovak Peter Hamor completed their link-up between June 18th and July 6th. This traverse was previously completed in 1984 by Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander. To read more, click here.
--An Italian team comprised of Karl Unterkircher, Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer, completed the second ascent Chongra Peak (22,402') in Pakistan, via a new route on the West Ridge. The team made their alpine style push on July 3rd which marks the first time that such a style was used on the peak. To read more, click here.
