--Late last week, Erik Lewis, 57, unclipped from his rope team without saying anything to anyone and without anyone noticing, and disappeared somewhere below the summit of Mount Rainier. Lewis has been missing since. To read more, click here.
--A California woman died after she was struck by a watermelon-sized rock Sunday while climbing Mount Shasta. Kathi Jeanne Ludwig, 56, of Santa Clara, was struck on the left side of her body by the rock, which other climbers described as being the size of a watermelon, the sheriff's office said. The force of the blow knocked Ludwig back at least 15 feet, rolling her three times on the frozen surface, breaking ribs and causing other fractures. To read more, click here.
--Rescue crews headed up Mount Hood on Wednesday morning to reach a climber who injured his leg. The individual was successfully brought down the mountain later in the day. To read more, click here.
Sierra:
--Good news for climbing access in Yosemite. A draft of a report detailing the many values of the Merced River Corridor of Yosemite Valley acknowledged climbing as one of the important uses of the Corridor, which extends a quarter mile on either side of the river. In response to the report, the Access Fund stated that "this is important because climbing as an activity is now more likely to be 'protected and enhanced' rather than restricted." To read more, click here.
--Nine-year-old Trent Hulbert might weigh 60 pounds dripping wet, but within his small stature is a mountain man.Eight days ago, the soon-to-be fourth-grader became one of the youngest people ever to climb Mount Whitney in a single day. Trent and his mom, Diana, joined friends and experienced climbers Rodolphe and Stephanie Jourdan. Also with them were 9-year-old Jonah Kosakiewicz of Denair and his father, Joe. At 14,496 feet, Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 states. To read more, click here.
--Developer Jim Rhodes won a legal skirmish that will enable him to push for denser housing than zoning allows on a mesa next to Red Rock Canyon, but he still could lose the war. The state is challenging a federal judge's decision to strike down a law limiting Rhodes to one house per two acres on a former mining site that overlooks Red Rock Canyon on one side and the Las Vegas Valley on the other. If the state wins the appeal, the original restrictions will be restored and the people who opposed development near the popular outdoor destination will triumph. To read more, click here.
--The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Friday that it had called off the search for a Georgia man who has been missing in Joshua Tree National Park since June 24. William Michael Ewasko, 65, went for a day hike in the park last Thursday but did not call his girlfriend as planned that evening, the sheriff’s department said. To read more, click here.
Himalaya:
The Tibet plateau is a land of yaks and sherpas — and rapid evolution. Over a mere 3,000 years, a blink of an evolutionary eye, Tibetan highlanders have developed a unique version of a gene that apparently helps them cope with life at extremely high altitudes, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--A California lawmaker has introduced a bill to limit the president's power to establish the national monuments that he says endanger the livelihoods of thousands of loggers, miners and farmers. The bill by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., would let lawmakers weigh in on a president's designation of public land as new national monuments. The conservative congressman thinks this will restrain what he calls the president's "unfettered discretion." To read more, click here.
