Outdoor and Climbing News from Here and Abroad - 3/4/10

Sierra:

--A professional free skier who competed in the Winter X Games died last week after crashing into a rock outcropping at California's Squaw Valley. C.R. Johnson was with a group of friends when he fell while trying to get through a narrow, rocky section. After falling face-first, Johnson spun and struck the back of his head on rocks. He was wearing a helmet, but the helmet took a serious blow. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--The death toll from snow avalanches in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region rose to seven last week as military helicopters rescue the trapped, local officials said in a statement. A total of seven deaths have been reported in northern Xinjiang's Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture and southern Xinjiang's Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, while hundreds of others are still trapped. To read more, click here.

--The massive earthquake that struck Chile over the weekend hit the Southern Andes during the height of the climbing season. Many climbers felt the tremors on the flanks of Aconcagua, but the impact was minimal and climbers reportedly summitted the same day as the quake. To read more, click here.

--Two backcountry skiers were partially buried in a rare avalanche in the Adirondacks over the weekend. They were in the same slide path as that which killed a skier in 2000. To read more, click here.
--This year's Piolet d'Or ceremony will recognize three significant climbs: the most technical, the most committing and the most exploratory ascents of 2009. The nominations have recently been paired down from 52 to 5. The final awards will be presented in Chamonix, France, and Courmayeur, Italy, from April 7-10. To read more, click here.

--Europeans are bringing expertise on avalanche safety to Utah. A Swiss engineer and leading avalanche-safety expert Manuel Genswein was at a Wasatch ski resort east of Salt Lake City this weekend to show off a device meant for surviving a deadly snow slide — a set of air bags designed into a backpack for floating atop avalanche debris. Skiers hit a rip cord to activate the air bags. Genswein said the $1,000 air bag system is making its introduction in North America after years of use around Europe, where he says it has proven 98 percent effective. To read more, click here.

--Spanish mountaineer Edurne Pasaban said Tuesday she hopes to meet South Korean rival Oh Eun-Sun on Annapurna this April for a race to become the first woman to scale the world's 14 highest peaks. Pasaban leaves yesterday on a trip to conquer both the Shisha Pangma and Annapurna mountains this spring, the last two peaks in her record-breaking bid. To read more, click here.

Conditions Report - March 3, 2010

RED ROCK CANYON:

Hello, you. Archived photo by Dyan Padagas.

--Forecast and average temperatures for Red Rock Canyon.

--Webcam for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

--The late exit and overnight permit number for Red Rock Canyon is 702-515-5050. If there is any chance that you will be inside the park after closing, be sure to call this number so that you don't get a ticket.

--The entrance to the scenic drive had a parking area for those who wanted to carpool up until approximately April of 2009. That lot has now become employee parking and people who want to carpool are required to park at the lot outside the Scenic Drive exit.

--The scenic drive currently opens its gates at 6 in the morning.

--There are plans to change the fee structure for camping and climbing in Red Rock Canyon. To learn more about the proposed changes and to find out how you can help keep the fees as they currently are, please click here.

JOSHUA TREE:

--Forecast and average temperatures for Joshua Tree National Park.

--Webcam for Joshua Tree National Park.

NORTHWEST:


-- AAI Guide Forest McBrian completed the Pickets Traverse on skis! Check out the trip report here.

Forestland bouldering. Leavenworth was snowy but warm - dry rock was good rock. Photo Dyan Padagas.

-- Not a whole lot of trip reports this week. Ski conditions were somewhat sketchy. Check out this post - someone got a photo of a slab avalanche near Necklace Valley. "This last weekend (Feb 27-28), my friend Dave and I slogged up into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to Tank Lakes. On the snowshoe in, an rather sizable avalanche occurred at the head of Necklace Valley."


-- However, this party headed to Icicle Ridge for the day for some snowshoeing. This group found some good ski conditions on Colchuck (after switching to a northern aspect). Mostly clear skies all around!

"The "snow lake" trail into the Enchantments...."Photo by Taylor Westphal.

-- A super resource for Skykomish Valley Climbing can be found here.

--Forecast for the West Slope of the Cascades.

--Forecast for the East Slope of the Cascades.

--Webcam for Leavenworth and the Stuart Range.

--Sno-Park permits are available for purchase in Washington State. To purchase a permit and/or read more about them click here.

--Forecast for Mount Rainier.

--Forest Service Road Report for Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

--Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams conditions and recreation report.

--Webcams for Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, Leavenworth.

--An up-to-date ski and snow report for the Northwest may be found here.

--Up-to-date Pacific Northwest ice conditions may be found here.

SIERRA:

-- Mt. Whitney lottery info can be found here.

--For up-to-date avalanche and weather reports in the Eastern Sierra, click here.

--Webcams for Bishop, June Lake, Mammoth Mountain, Mono Lake, Tioga Pass.


ALPS:

--Chamonix and Mont Blanc Regional Forecasts may be found here.

--Webcams for Chamonix Valley, Zermatt and the Matterhorn.

ALASKA RANGE:

--The American Alpine Institute is now accepting applications for the 2010 climbing season. Please call our office at 360-671-1505 for more information.

--Forecast for Denali.

The Alpine Quickdraw

There are two ways to stow a shoulder-length runner. The first way is to simply sling it over your shoulder; and the second is to "triple-it" or turn it into a an alpine quickdraw.

If you prefer to keep runners slung over your shoulder, you should keep them oriented the same direction so that they don't get tangled. You should also consider leaving one carabiner on each runner. If they are pre-rigged with carabiners, then it is easy to simply clip the other end directly into a cam. Cams should also all be racked with their own carabiners to make this a quick and simple operation.

I usually carry some of my slings over my shoulder and others on my harness. Those on my harness are set-up as alpine quickdraws so that I can easily extend them.

Michael Silitch worked as an AAI guide for many years in the Cascades and Alaska Range and now guides for the Institute part time in the French and Swiss Alps. He has put together a nice, short video on how to make an alpine quickdraw. Check it out below:



Some climbing skills -- such as rope tricks and knots -- are best practiced on the ground. I like to refer to these skills as "TV watching skills." In other words, these are things you should practice while zoning out in front of the boob tube so that you have them completely dialed. The alpine quickdraw is just such a skill. Get it wired when it's not critical and it will be easy to make or open up when you are in cruxy situation on the sharp end of the rope...

--Jason D. Martin

Coming soon to a theater near you

So it sounds like Chuck Fryberger is finished editing his new film "Core". I worked with him a lot for this film and it should have some good clips of me including footage of Cheating Reality and the Bandersnatch. I'm really excited for the premiere of the film which will be on April 7th at the Boulder Theater. I have a trailer here for you to watch. I'm sure you'll recognize right away that the quality is top level and that the whole film is going to be a visual feast. Check this out:



In other news, you may have noticed that the logos have changed a bit in my blog title bar. As of today, I'll be part of the Mountain Hardwear climbing team. I'm really excited to be partnering with this company that makes very high quality gear and clothing. I enjoyed working with the North Face over the past 3 years and will continue to think highly of their great line of products. I chose to make the switch primarily because I believe the goals and aspirations of Mountain Hardwear are more closely aligned with my personal climbing goals. I know my climbing will benefit from Mountain Hardwear's support and I'm sure that the company will find value in my promotion of their product. I'm very enthusiastic about this new opportunity and am confident that this will be a great relationship that extends far into the future.

You my have also noticed that the Clif logo is missing from my title bar. I am no longer sponsored by the company. I suppose they dropped me though communication was not very clear. It seems that Clif's primary focus is on endurance sports and as a consequence places less emphasis on marketing to the climbing community. They are a great company that makes excellent and tasty energy bars and I will continue to use their product though now I will have to pay for it. I'm open to developing a relationship with other companies that make energy products if they think it will benefit their product.

"Frozen" A Ski Movie with Horror Themes

A horror film about skiers?

Makes sense to me. Every time I pay for a lift ticket, I am truly and deeply horrified.

But that's not what we're talking about. A new film was recently screened at the Sundance Film Festival about a trio of twenty-somethings that get caught on a ski lift. But unlike the standard situation where the ski lift stops for a few minutes while a group of people are untangling themselves from either the top or the bottom of the lift, in this film, the skiers are stranded for a very long time. The lift is shut down and it's not supposed to open until the following week.

Surprisingly, a version of this just happened for real. In mid-February, a 22-year-old German skier suffered hypothermia after being trapped for six hours on a chair lift that had been closed down for the evening. The man got on the lift 20 minutes after closing to descend to the Kaltenbach-Hochzillertal ski resort in the Austrian Alps. At that time, the lift was still running for maintenance, but it was shut down shortly afterward. The man was rescued by a cat driver that saw the glow of the man burning dollar bills.

The Adam Green horror film takes this much further. Nobody has cell phones, there's a storm, and the resort isn't supposed to re-open for a week.

Frozen looks a lot like the 2003 film Open Water when a pair of scuba divers get left behind in the middle of the ocean. Open Water was a very good film, filled with psychological horror that never really let up. Hopefully the tension in Frozen can live up to its predecessor. Unfortunately, the critics in Park City didn't think it did.

One of the Frozen movie posters that has recently hit the Internet

The reviews from Sundance are mixed. The New York Times liked the film. Other reviewers gave it mediocre reviews. The Hollywood Reporter isn't so kind to even give it a "it's okay" type review:

Frozen delivers enough thrills and gory chills to satisfy the horror-film crowd, but is not written, directed or acted well enough to be a first-rate thriller. A great premise in which three friends are stranded on a chairlift in the dead of winter is squandered to satisfy the expectations of the genre. The film should scare up reasonable returns in theatres and after-markets from the usual suspects, but not beyond that.

In theory, this film is already out at theaters. But it's premise feels a lot like something that will be on DVD very quickly. It is not playing locally here, but rest assured, when I finally get a chance to view it, I'll give you a review from a climber/skier's perspective.

In any case, without further ado, I give you a pretty good film trailer that will leave your palms quite sweaty.



--Jason D. Martin