--A massive marijuana growing operation was recently found in the North Cascades National Park Complex. Officials which raided the farm this week indicated that it contained over 16,700 plants. The sophisticated farmers downed trees, terraced hills and diverted creeks for irrigation. As of yet, no arrests have been made. To read more, click here.
--Bellingham climber, Blake Herrington wrote an engaging article on Alpinist.com about his accidental first ascent of a new route on Castle Peak in the North Cascades. To read the article, click here.
--A party did a speed run on the Ptarmigan Traverse this week. It appears that they completed the entire span of the route -- which usually takes five to seven days -- in 18 hours and 10 minutes. A few years ago a couple of our guides were able to do it in 15 hours and 40 minutes. The traverse has been skied in a day on a number of occasions. To read more, click here.
Himalya:
--Nazir Sabir, a Pakistani climber with intimate knowledge of the August 1st K2 disaster which claimed 11 lives, has written an open letter to Alpinist.com about the incident. Sabir notes that several of the climbers who survived are playing a blame game, though mistakes were made by all. To read his letter, click here.
--Bhrikuti Sail (20,869') saw an ascent this summer by a strong international team. Bhrikuti Sail is in an extremely remote region of the Damodar Himal. This region, which is found north of Annapurna, is one of the most isolated and least-visited ranges in Nepal. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--Last week it was all over the news. A pair in Palo Alto, California claimed to have the body of a bigfoot on ice. Photos were posted all over the internet of something that looked a lot like a costume with some guts thrown on it. To read one of the original articles, click here.
Bigfoot?--Yesterday, it came out that the whole Bigfoot story was -- yep, you guessed it -- a hoax. The men who claimed to have found a Sasquatch, were called on it when they showed the body to a "Bigfoot expert." It turns out that this elusive monster was nothing more than an ape suit with some rubber tubing thrown on top. To read more, click here. Watch a news video on this below.
--Last Thursday, National Public Radio's Morning Edition ran an interesting story about the quest to create a pill that would prevent the itch caused by poison ivy. For a number of years doctors have worked to develop a pill that would reverse human sensitivity to urushiol -- the sticky resin found in poison oak, ivy and sumac that triggers an allergic reaction in the skin. As it turns out, this is not a very easy thing to do. To listen to the story, click here.
--Anchorage residents are on edge this summer due to higher incidents of bear attacks. After three maulings some residents feel that something needs to be done about the high number of bears in the area. To read more, click here.
--Believe it or not, but the largest rock face in the Lower 48 may be found in Glacier National Park. The 3,500 foot north face of Mount Siyeh (10,014') is loose technical and seldom climbed. Former AAI Guide Kelly Cordes and Justin Woods recently completed a line on the peak in an astonishing 11 hour push. To read more, click here.
--Americans Dave Anderson and Brady Robinson added a number of pitches to the Karma de los Condores in the Ishinca Valley of Peru. The route which climbs up the Hattun Ulloc -- a beautiful feature just above the park entrance -- is considered by many to be the "Astroman of Peru." To read more, click here.
