Northwest:
--The Spring/Summer climbing scene has lifted off in the Northwest. The American Alpine Institute has had numerous trips out in the field with plenty of ascents and attempted ascents of Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan, and a variety of other peaks throughout the Cascades!
Sierra:
--A rock climber fell while scaling El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, sustaining head and chest injuries. The 48-year-old man from France was climbing with a partner Thursday evening when he fell approximately 65 feet from El Cap Spire, part of the climbing route on El Capitan called the Salathe Wall, approximately 1,600 feet above Yosemite Valley. A second party on the route was able to provide basic emergency medical assistance until park rangers arrived. To read more, click here.
Desert Southwest:
--Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced the designation of a national recreation trail in Nevada. The River Mountains Loop Trail is a 35-mile, paved trail surrounding the River Mountains. It connects Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Hoover Dam, Boulder City and Henderson to the rest of the Las Vegas area. To read more, click here.
--The Lake Mead Wilderness Management Plan public comment period has been extended until July 2nd , 2010. The National Park Service has released a draft Wilderness Management Plan and Environmental Assessment for 8 previously designated wilderness areas along the Colorado River from Lake Mead to Lake Mohave. On page 46 of the draft plan, bolting for rock climbing purposes is expressly prohibited. You can find the complete document and feedback form at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/. If you have not done so already, please provide a comment in support of climbing. If you have any questions, contact the Las Vegas Climber's Liaison Council at lvclc.admin@gmail.com.
Alaska:
--A 51-year-old French climber has died after falling more than 1,000 feet down Alaska's Mount McKinley into a crevasse, park officials said Monday. The National Park Service said Pascal Frison died Sunday afternoon after trying to keep his sled from sliding off a ridge. He and a climbing partner of 28 years were about 12,000 feet up on the West Buttress route. Frison, of the French town Auxerre, is the 107th person to die since 1932 on the 20,320-foot mountain in Denali National Park. Four people died last year. To read more, click here.
--The American Alpine Institute Denali Season is in full swing. Last week AAI Guide Mike Pond summitted Denali with four climbers. Team 2 and Team 3 are slowly working their ways toward the summit. Team 4 will depart this weekend. To read dispatches from the trips, please click here.
Himalaya:
--For Jordan Romero, the 13-year-old American who became the youngest climber to summit Mount Everest, it all began with the desire to dream big. The eighth grader from California said that he first came up with the idea to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents four years ago. On Saturday, he reached the top of the world's highest mountain — and nearly completed his quest. "The record is one thing, but standing on top of the world is just the best feeling you could ever imagine," he said in an interview Monday by satellite phone from the 21,320-foot (6,500-meter) Advanced Base Camp where his team was resting on its way down. To read more, click here.
--The enduring controversy over who was first to climb Mount Everest could soon be settled after an Australian set off to find evidence that it was a Briton, Andrew Irvine. Duncan Chessell, who began a final assault on the summit on Tuesday, said conditions are the best they have been in decades to search for the remains of Irvine. Irvine is thought to have been carrying a camera that could provide conclusive evidence that the pair reached the top in 1924, 30 years before Sir Edmund Hillary. To read more, click here.
--Climbing.com has published a lot of other Everest facts about the last week or so. Lots of things are going down aside from tween climbing adventures. To read about it, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--This is an older post, but it is somewhat funny. Andrew Burr and friends went to climb the Great White Icicle just outside of Salt Lake City, dressed as business men. Check out the trip by clicking here.
--On May 7, the famous and infamous Giri-Giri Boys Yasushi Okada and Katsutaka "Jumbo" Yokoyama summited Mt. Logan's east peak via its virgin 8,500' southeast face. Alpinist.com referred to this as the "biggest and most significant remaining alpine challenge on the continent." To read more, click here.
--The American Alpine Club is hiring! They have created a new position entitled, Executive Publisher Position. To learn more about the gig, click here.
