This week and weekend is traditionally the busiest time of the year for climbers in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, in Joshua Tree National Park, in Smith Rock State Park, in Zion National Park and in Indian Creek. Many people journey to these locations to take advantage of extra time off. If your on your way to one of these locations this weekend, it would be good to have a back-up plan for camping as most campgrounds will be full...
Northwest:
--Jordan Nicurit was hiking when he slipped and fell nearly twenty feet, crushing his pelvis. After three days of not eating anything, the man was forced to drag himself to a place where people could find him otherwise he would have died. His harrowing survival story, which took place in October, is just coming to light. To read about it, click here and here.
--Two teams established prominiate new routes in British Columbia's Coast Range over the summer. The first team put up a new line on Mount Combatant (12,322'). AAI guide Mike Pond was involved in the second team's ascent of a new variation on Mount Desire (8,549'). To read more, click here.
--A new film adapted from Cormic McCarthy's apocalyptic novel The Road, was shot on and around Mount Saint Helens. "Once you're up top on, it's pretty bare, and you can still see the devastation of 30 years ago," said Mortensen by phone from Los Angeles. Because the production team had to wait for a break in the weather, the St. Helens scenes were among the last ones filmed. To read more, click here.
--The Northwest-based Mazama Climbing Club has a grant program to promote adventurous climbing and provide resources for climbers to explore and attempt challenging climbs. While trips do not need to be at the leading edge of alpinism, special consideration will be given to expeditions contributing to the sport of mountaineering and alpine climbing by attempting new routs or significant repeat ascents. To read more, click here.Sierra:
--Yosemite National Park Rangers are asking the public's assistance in locating a missing person, who was last seen in Yosemite National Park on November 6, 2009. Anthony Clifton Green, Jr. was in the park and may have contacted his family from a pay phone at Happy Isles on November 7, 2009. His vehicle was found in the Wilderness Parking Lot. To read more, click here.
--Colin Haley and Dave Turner just made a sub-24 hour link-up of El Capitan and Half Dome on October 31, treating it as a fun training for their future missions to Patagonia. By choosing to go for the link-up (which involves roughly 5,000 feet of climbing0 so late in the season (their link-up was possibly the latest in the season anyone has pulled off) the pair spent 12 hours climbing in the dark by headlamp compared to only eight hours of climbing in daylight. To read more, click here.
--Another wild year of bear issues wrapped up in Mammoth Lakes with Wildlife Specialist Steve Searles presenting his year-end review at the November 18 Town Council meeting. Searles called this year "busy". Searles warned the public that not all of the bears have gone to sleep yet for the winter, so vigilance with food sources still needed to be maintained. "Five or six bears are working in the early morning hours and a car was recently broken into," Searles explained. He added that when more snow falls the bears would head into hibernation. To read more, click here.
Himalaya:
The Italian team that conquered K2 (1954). Standing, from left: Achille Compagnoni, Ugo Angelino, Dr Gino Pagani, Mario Fantin, Ardito Desio, Erich Abram, Gino Solda, Lino Lacedelli, Walter Bonatti, Sergio Viotto, Pino Gallotti. Front: Ubaldo Rey, Cirillo--Lino Lacedelli, the Italian mountaineer, who died on November 20 aged 83, was the first man to conquer K2, the world's second-highest peak, a feat that generated national rejoicing in Italy but also unprecedented controversy. To read more, click here.
--A Nepalese man who climbed Mt. Everest at age 76 and became the oldest person to conquer the world's highest peak celebrated Monday official recognition of his achievement by Guinness World Records. To read more, click here.
--Japanese explorer Tamotsu Nakamura has made his third photographic expedition to the Nyainqentanglha and Kangri Garpo regions of Tibet. His photos literally illustrate mind-blowing first ascent potential. To see the photos, click here.
--Yannick Graziani and Christian Trommsdorff, the French duo first to climb the south face of Nemjung (23,425') in October referred to their new line as "maybe the most beautiful we have ever done, certainly the most continuously steep, sustained and constantly exposed." To read the details of their ascent, please click here.
--Rock and Ice posted a nice round-up of the sold-out, black-tie New York section dinner of the American Alpine Club with Stephen Venables. Stephen presented a slideshow on his life and his accomplishments including the only solo ascent of the East/Kangshung Face of Everest. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--A man convicted of raping and assaulting a hiker in Marin County in 2005 may be spending the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced. Forty-six-year-old Terry Ray Hawes was sentenced to nearly 34 years in prison Tuesday after being convicted in a case that went to trial in June of this year after it had been delayed by legal battles over his mental competency. To read more, click here.
-- Former AAI Guide Steve House recently won the Boardman-Tasker prize for Mountain Literature for his book, Beyond the Mountain. To read more, click here.
--Supertopo.com has a very funny thread running about "after-the-fact funny bee sting stories." One of the stories starts by saying, "the injured bee crawled up my inner thigh toward “big bob & the twins,” and it gets worse and funnier from there. To read the post, click here.
--British climbers Steve Beckwith and Matt Traver recently climbed a new route on the Dragon's Horns, twin towers. The pair of towers are a prominent feature above the dense jungle on the Malaysian Island of Tioman in the South China Sea. To read more, click here.
--Peruvians Beto Pinto Toledo and Erick Albino climbed a new route on the south face of Urus central (18,011') in Peru's Ishinca Valley in the Cordillera Blanca. The line climbs steep snow up to 80 degrees. To read more, click here.
--National Geographic has named winners of the 'Best of Adventure' awards for 2009. Topping the list, as 'Adventurer of the Year' is extreme climber Dean Potter. Dean was filmed, as seen in the video below, flying in a specialized 'wingsuit.' He's since worked toward perfecting the art of human 'flying' from several locations around the world. To read more, click here.
--Max Dünßer, Reinhard Hones and Martin Schindele recently climbed a new nine pitch 5.12c route in South Africa in the massive Yellowwood Amphitheatre. The new route on the 1200 foot wall is called, Your Mother's Face. To read more, click here.
-- A man's body was found yesterday by a rock climber in Sydney, Australia. The body was approximately thirty feet from the top of the cliff and had been there for a month or more. To read more, click here.
