Northwest:
--The scenic Pacific Northwest Trail may soon join the ranks as one of the country's premier hiking trails as a National Scenic Trail. The designation is included in a massive public lands bill that is currently pending before the U.S. House of representatives. Such a designation will bring better maintenance, better funding, and more signage. To read more, click here.
Pacific Northwest old growth timber will be protected under the
new bill before the House.
--Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney has again introduced a wide-reaching wilderness protection bill that would ban logging, oil exploration and other development on 23 million acres across five Northwestern states. The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act would designate new wilderness acreage in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington. To read more, click here.
Sierra:
--The water content of the snow in the Sierra remains low for this time of year, but the latest round of storms has helped bring it a little bit closer to normal. The latest number for the snowpack at Mammoth Pass show that the water content has increased by another six inches. The month of January ended with 16.2 percent of normal to date. The latest numbers, reflecting snowfall as of February 10th, show 22 inches of water at Mammoth Pass. Twenty-two inches of water checks in at 72 percent of normal to date, and 50 percent of the normal season total. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--A man died after hiking too close to the edge of a cliff in Red River Gorge Kentucky after he slipped and feel 165 feet. It appears the 63-year-old Ronald Trick of Powell, Ohio was hiking alone in the Daniel Boone National Forest when he fell. To read more, click here.
The West Face of Mount Everest
Photo by Guy Cotter
--Three Nepalese brothers are going to attempt to break a world record by spending 24 hours on top of Mount Everest. The siblings intend to use their stay on the summit to pray for peace in Nepal and in the world. To read more, click here.
--Climbing magazine recently published a phenomenal article entitled "Eight Confessions of a Climbing Mom." Susan writes about the emotional and physical roller coaster of being both a mom and a climber. To read this excellent article, click here.
--The American Alpine Club awards more grant money to climbers than any other organization. Indeed, the odds for getting a grant from the AAC is actually quite high. In 2008, there were 87 applicants and 32 of them received a grant. That's a whopping 37 percent. Many of the grant applications are due on March 1st. To read about grant opportunities, click here.
The American Pika
From Pikaworks.com
--The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will consider whether to protect a rabbit-like, alpine creature known as the American pika because of habitat loss. The decision comes in an agreement announced last week with the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice. To read more, click here.
--A crazy story is making the rounds about three backcountry skiers in Colorado who were buried in an avalanche, were stuck under the snow for multiple hours, and were finally able to escape with their lives, all thanks to the Avalung. To read more, click here.
--The producers of "The Office" and "The Biggest Loser" are currently running an open casting for people who are 45 years old or older who are rock climbers for a new reality show. To read more, click here.
--A forum poster on rockclimbing.com recently discovered a potentially dangerous manufacturing defect in the #5 BigBro and Trango has decided to recall them. It appears that the inner tubes were not made to spec resulting in the angled end faces not being parallel. Details may be found on the Trango homepage. Please see the following photo:
