Northwest:
--Well known and respected climber, guide book author, and all-around stand up guy is missing and presumed dead after a fall in the Pleiades Saturday afternoon. Dallas Kloke, 71, was part of a 5 person team and was nearing the summit of one of the peaks when he grabbed a rock that moved and pulled off. He and the rock tumbled down a near vertical face before disappearing below. His climbing partners descended 300 feet and found articles of his equipment, however no Kloke. To read more about this tragedy, click here or here.
--Volunteers got together back in early September to clean up a rock climbing area in Northern Idaho as part of the seventh annual Adopt-A-Crag series put on by the Access Fund. New climbing areas were cleaned and rock walls were sand-blasted of graffiti at the Q'emilin Park. To read more, click here.
Sierra:
--Yosemite National Park was designated by an Act of Congress on October 1, 1890, making it the third national park in the United States, after Yellowstone (1872) and Sequoia (1890). Friday, October 1, 2010 marks the 120th birthday of the park. Although the park is celebrating its 120th birthday, Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias have been preserved since 1864. Congress passed a bill, which was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on June 30, 1864 that set aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove, that stated the lands be held “…for public use, resort, and recreation…inalienable for all time.” This was truly the birth of the national park concept, since this was the first time in history that land was set aside purely for preservation and recreation for all people. The Grant was administered by the State of California until 1906, when Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias were ceded to the federal government and included in Yosemite National Park. To read more, click here.
--Last Monday, Steve Wampler became the first man to climb El Cap with Cerebral Palsy, in attempt to raise money for his foundation which pays for disabled children to attend specialized wilderness camps. Despite dehydration, hallucination, fatigue, and many other challenges, Wampler persevered and accomplished his goal. To visit his foundation's web page, click here, and to read about his climb, click here.
--A great story surrounding booty in Yosemite has been written about in Colorado's dailycamera. While this may sound off base, they are talking about stuck gear that is cleaned, or "bootied" off of climbing routes. To read a strangely heart warming story revolving found gear, click here.
Desert Southwest:
--A Utah man fell nearly eighty feet in a climbing fall in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Sunday. The 22-year old man was climbing near a group of students when he apparently became disconnected by the rope somehow. He was able to keep the rope in his hands, and as such suffered severely burned hands - however amazingly he had no lower body injuries. To read more, click here.
Himalaya:
--The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) has been accepted as a member of the global body governing mountaineering. This gives the HMI voting rights, meaning it can now play a role in deciding international rules and policies regarding climbing. Additionally, the basic and advanced certification courses the HMI offers will now be recognized by the Union Internationale Des Association D'alpinisme (UIAA). This is a big deal for the HMI, and to read more you can click here.
--Climbers in Nepal have gone missing after an avalanche on Dhaulagiri, a mountain considered one of the most difficult and dangerous in the world. Three Japanese climbers and their guide were caught in the avalanche, while others were able to escape. Multiple climbers and Sherpa were evacuated by air off the Himalayan peak, the seventh tallest in the world. The missing four however, are still being searched for. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--56 year old climbing legend Kurt Albert died on the 29th after failing to recover from serious injuries related to a fall on a Via Ferrata route in Germany. Exact details of how the fall occurred are unknown, however the fall was reported to be 18 meters. Albert is the man who coined the term "redpoint," for sport climbers back in 1975, and pioneered climbing around the world. To read more, click here.
