--A Duvall climber slipped while on a snow field just below Monte Cristo Peak on Sunday and fell about 700 feet to her death. The death of Lindsey White, 39, is the first climbing-related fatality in Snohomish County this year, Snohomish County sheriff's Sgt. Danny Wikstrom said. To read more, click here.
--In addition to the fatality in the Cascades this weekend, there were a number of rescues. Be careful out there! Here is a rescue round-up from the holiday weekend:
- It appears that there was a helicopter extraction near Green Giant Buttress on Friday. Source.
- Two climbers were extracted from the 3800 foot level on Mount Index on July 3rd. One had a lacerated knee. Source.
- Immediately after picking up the climbers on Index, Mountain Rescue extracted a hiker with a severely dislocated knee from Copper Creek Falls at the eastern foot of Big Bear Mountain. Source.
- A climber had some teeth knocked out by rockfall on Mount Rainier on the 4th. He was evacuated by helicopter. Source.
- On July 6th, there was an accident on Mount Terror in North Cascades National Park. A climber was evacuated by helicopter, while a second climber was left with a radio and asked to walk out. Source.
--A plan is starting to come together that will decimate the backcountry skiing and climbing outside of Squamish. A new 25 lift resort is being proposed on the Brohm Ridge near Mount Garibaldi outside of Squamish. To read more about this development and to learn what can be done to stop it, click here.
--It appears that one of the grizzly bears in Washington's very small grizzly population was spotted on Cascade River Road last week. Check out some grainy pictures here.
Sierra:
--John Bachar, 51, was found dead at the base of the Dike Wall on Sunday, not far from his home, near Mammoth Lakes. Bachar was well-known for his free solo ascents throughout the world. It is assumed that he was free-soloing and fell. To read more, click here. To see a video of him free-soloing in the eighties, click on the following video.
Alaska:
--The American Alpine Institute's Denali Team #8 successfully summited on July 5th. Andries Botha -- from Edmonton, Canada -- deserves a special mention. Denali was the last of his quest to climb the Seven Summits! To read more, click here.
--James Clapham and Gavin Pike recently completed new routes on Peak 11,300' and on Mt. Church in the Ruth Gorge area of the Alaska Range. To read more about these ascents, click here.
--Matt Klick and Samuel Johnson recently completed a new route Hayes Range on Mount Balchen (11,140'). The new line requires steep, mixed climbing for 14 pitches. To read more, click here.
--Two well-known Northwest climbers made a first ascent on the west ridge of the Burkett Needle on July 4th. Dave Burdick and John Frieh put up the fifth route on the feature and called it, "Smash and Grab" 5.8 M4 IV. To read about their ascent, click here.
Himalaya:
--Ed Viesturs was featured on Colbert Nation this week. To watch the video of Ed and Stephen Colbert, check out the following:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Ed Viesturs | ||||
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--The UIAA Medical Commission says better education is urgently required to prevent the deaths of pilgrims going to high altitudes in the Himalayas. High-altitude sickness may have been responsible for the deaths of at least eight Indian pilgrims over the past couple of weeks during the pilgrimage to the Kailash Manasarovar area, located at 4,560 metres above sea level near the Nepal-Tibet border. To read more, click here.
--Young Sherpa conservationists are organising a race on June 18 to draw attention to the devastating effects of Global Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) in the Himalayas. The The Beat the GLOF Action Run will be the highlight of the Imja Tsho Action Event 2009, and has been initiated by Nepali mountaineer Dawa Steven Sherpa. The race will demonstrate that even the fastest runner cannot escape from a GLOF, a flood which is caused when lakes formed by melting ice burst their natural dams. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--The UIAA Safety Commission recently adopted a draft of the first-ever safety standard for braking devices at its May meeting in Golden, Colorado. The standard, which will be published and available from September 30, 2009, lays out performance parameters and testing procedures for belaying and abseiling devices. To read more, click here.
--The New York Times recently published an editorial on the an ambitious environmental bill entitled, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act. The bill is currently awaiting action in Congress and has been doing so for a very long time. It has never come up for a vote. To read more about this bill, click here.
--The International Space Station has been responsible for numerous scientific achievements. But what use is it to climbers? Well, this week that question was answered. The station video taped the eruption of the Sarychev Volcano off the coast of Japan from space. And this video is not only cool, but it really makes you feel that being anywhere near an active volcano is a bad idea. Check it out below:
