--Local climber Charles Stimson "Stim" Bullitt died Sunday at the age of 89. Stim was well-known by the general public as well as by the climbing community. The climber was also the former president of King Broadcasting, a political activist, a lawyer, an author and a businessman. Stim didn't start climbing until the age of 50 and didn't start focusing on technical rock until he was 65, but succeeded on a number of classic lines in latter part of his life. He has climbed Northwest classics like the North Ridge of Mount Stuart (5.9, IV), Dreamer (5.9+, IV), and Outer Space (5.9 III+). Outside the Northwest, Stim notably climbed Canada's Mount Sir Donald, Denali and completed a clean lead of Papa Woolsey, a 5.10b in Joshua Tree at the age of 78. To read Stim's obituary, click here. To read about some of his ascents, click here.
--The Index Town Walls of Washington feature one of the best concentrations of steep, clean granite cracks and face climbs in
A mama falcon protecting her egg.Photo by Lisa Doubet
--It appears that a pair of Falcons have nested on the classic line, Outer Space on Snow Creek Wall in Leavenworth. All routes from Outer Space, White Slabs Direct and White Fright, south to the descent gully including Orbit are closed to climbing until July 31st. To read about a falcon encounter on Outer Space, click here.
Sierra:
--The April first start to the new water year has come and gone leaving the official snowpack for 2008-2009 below normal. As of April 8th, the LADWP website lists the water content of the snow at Mammoth Pass at 37.3 inches, or 85% of normal for the year. Rock Creek checks in at a low 30% of normal for the year, while South Lake checks in with 71% of normal for the season. Big Pine Creek is 74% of normal for the year. On the southern end of the range, the Cottonwood Lakes station checks in with 54% of normal. To read more, click here.
Mount Whitney from the Whitney Portal Store -- Yesterday!Photo from the Whitney Portal Store Webcam
--It looks like plans for a subdivision off of Whitney Portal Road near Lone Pine, could continue to be tied up in court. In March, the Inyo Planning Commission signed off on a revised Environmental Impact Report for the proposed 27 home development, called the Whitney Portal Preserve by the developer. Now the spokesperson for he group known as the Save The Round Valley Alliance, which has tied the development up in court for the past four years, says that they will appeal the Planning Commission decision. To read more, click here.
Alaska:
--Crews continue to watch Mount Redoubt rumble. The following is from the Alaska Volcano Observatory's most recent post:
The eruption of Redoubt volcano continues. Seismicity remains elevated.
Clear web camera views show the steaming lava dome. Incandescence was visible on the web camera earlier this morning. Satellite data clearly show a thermal anomaly in the summit crater. Two AVO crews were in the field yesterday for station maintenance, sampling and observations. One crew will work on lahar deposits in Drift River Valley today.
Notes from All Over:
--Actor and funny man Will Ferrell joined adventure sensationalist Bear Grylls in the mountains of Sweden to shoot an episode of the Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild. Apparently ice climbing and rappelling were somehow involved in the shoot. The episode is slated to be aired in June. To read more, click here.
--Hidden in the bone-chilling dark beneath an Antarctic glacier, a colony of strange bacteria is thriving. Scientists investigating the flow of blood-red water from beneath the glacier discovered the bacteria, which have survived for millions of years, living on sulfur and iron compounds they report in Friday's edition of the journal Science. "Among the big questions here are: 'How does an ecosystem function below glaciers?', 'How are they able to persist below hundreds of meters of ice and live in permanently cold and dark conditions for extended periods of time, in the case of Blood Falls, over millions of years?" said lead researcher Jill Mikucki of Harvard University. To read more, click here.
It looks like these guys won't be in our National Parks --Which is probably a good thing!
From the film Predator
--The issue of guns in National Parks has been put to rest for the time being. A recent court ruling has closed the parks to loaded and concealed weapons. To read about the ruling, click here. The popular political blog, Daily Kos has an interesting article on why this particular issue has come to the forefront. To read the article, click here.
--Some people like sledding on snow, some people like glissading down the mountain. In Nicaragua, they like sledding on pumice and other volcanic rocks. The New York Times recently posted an article about this weird form of Volcano sledding. To read the article, click here.
