--A cross-country skier who was beaten and apparently left for dead has three college students to thank for saving his life. Robert Tracey, 52, told investigators that two men attacked him Monday near Dougan Falls, along Washington's Washougal River. He said one even came back and choked him. The men then left Tracey in the snow and may have taken his SUV, which is now nowhere to be found. A trio of college students who set out on a hike that day happened upon Tracey and could not believe what they saw. To read more, click here.
--Mount Rainier National Park will conduct a test of the Geohazard Warning Siren at the Nisqually Entrance on Saturday, February 28, 2009, at 12:00, noon. The park is testing the new system and attempting to familiarize visitors, local residents and staff with the siren in the event of an actual geohazard. The Geohazard Warning Siren is designed to warn park staff and visitors of sudden geohazards, including lahars and smaller debris flows. Without warning, debris flows and glacial outburst floods can occur at any time, eroding stream banks and scouring everything in their paths, including rocks and trees. In case such an emergency occurs within the park, it is recommended that visitors head up hill, away from rivers and streams, and rising water. Avoid crossing any running water once the siren has been activated. Geohazard sirens are located at Cougar Rock Campground, Longmire, and Nisqually Entrance. To read more, click here.
--Prolific ice climbers Will Gadd and EJ Plimley recently climbed Canada's thrid tallest waterfall. The 1,000-foot tall Hunlen Falls in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, east of Bella Coola, British Columbia, provided the climbers with a stunning and dangerous ascent. The route was in incredibly poor shape and the team faced the possibility of the route's collapse throughout their ascent. To read more, click here.
Southwest:
Red Rock Mural--Artist Sherri Lewis recently finished this phenomenal wooden mural of "The Escarpment" in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. This mural was recently featured on a thread in supertopo.com. To see the thread, click here.
Sierra:
--A mountaineer from South Korea is alive after being trapped in a Yosemite avalanche. Injured Monday when a slab of snow cut loose on the steep slopes beneath the face of Half Dome, rescuers pulled Jun Ho Wang off the slope by helicopter Tuesday. To read more, click here.
--High avalanche danger led to a snow slide in bounds at the June Mountain Ski Area. A local snowboarder was carried on a wave of snow and suffered minor injuries. Skiing below the Mid Chalet, the snowboarder triggered a slide in an area that had seen much avalanche control over the past few days. When the pocket of powder slid, the boarder was carried about 100 feet before he hit a tree and stopped. The avalanche continued down the slope without him. Hitting obstacles like trees and rocks while being carried by an avalanche commonly cause major trauma, but in this case the snowboarder was relatively uninjured. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--A terrifying video has made its way around the web. It appears that an Argentinian guide suffering from an altitude related illness was abandoned on Aconcagua by his would-be rescuers. A video that has lit up the web like wildfire shows the rescuers making feeble attempts at reviving the man and then leaving him. To read more, click here.
--National Forest lands, desert landscapes and the National Park Service (NPS) will receive $2.5 billion under the stimulus plan signed by President Obama yesterday. The money will pay for improvemtns to visitor facilities, road and trail restoration, preservation of building of cultural and historical importance, rehabilitation of abandoned mines and oild fields and environmental cleanup projects. To read more, click here.
--Hikers who climb to the summit of Colorado's Pikes Peak but call for a rescue so that they don't have to walk the 12 miles back down could soon have to pay for their ride. The Colorado Springs city council is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal from Pikes Peak Highway officials that would charge up to $500 for each uninjured hiker who calls 911 for a ride down. To read more, click here.
--An Alps like mountain range was recently discovered under the Antarctic ice. Flying twin-engine light aircraft the equivalent of several trips around the globe and establishing a network of seismic instruments across an area the size of Texas, a U.S.-led, international team of scientists has not only verified the existence of a mountain range that is suspected to have caused the massive East Antarctic Ice Sheet to form, but also has created a detailed picture of the rugged landscape buried under more than four kilometers (2.5 miles) of ice. To read more, click here.
