Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 11/12/15

Northwest:

--The trail leading to the Big Four Ice Caves will likely reopen next year, according to the U.S. Forest Service. But the agency is planning to bring together trail builders, landscape architects and social scientists to look for ways to keep hikers out of the deadly caves. The trail has been closed since July 6, when rock and ice fell and killed 34-year-old Annalisa Santana, of California. Five other people were injured, including her brother, a Lynnwood resident who died of his injuries in October. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--It appears that there was a fatality on Yosemite's Snake Dike Dihedral, a popular 5.7 route. There is limited information at this time, but it has been noted that the accident may have happened on the descent. To read more, click here.

--There was another fatal accident on the Royal Column in Yosemite. To read more, click here.

--The Sierra is getting some real snow this year!

Desert Southwest:

--A drunken British woman saved from a Grand Canyon cliff edge late Sunday night greeted her rescuers with scorn and spit, rangers say. Charmaine Isaacs, 36, whose hometown was listed as the small village of Ilton, England, was arrested by National Park Service rangers on suspicion of disorderly conduct (creating a hazardous condition), public drunkenness, and "interfering with agency function" after an hourlong night rescue at the South Rim. To read more, click here.

--A rented Lamborghini worth $180,000 suffered a rollover crash just outside the Red Rock Scenic Drive. There were no injuries...except the car...which is totaled. To read more, click here.

Colorado:

--The town of Breckenridge recently passed a 4.5% tax on ski lift tickets. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Canadian professional skier Ian McIntosh somehow survived a 1,600-foot head-over-heels-over-head-over-heels tumble lasting nearly a minute in Alaska’s Neacola Range about 120 miles southwest of Anchorage, an area pockmarked with numerous 3,000-foot couloirs. The video, with audio of his gasps, is frightening. To see the video, click below. To read more, click here.

--Peter Metcalf, the CEO and founder of Black Diamond, wrote an editorial about the economic power of the outdoor industry in Outside. Metcalf argues that a new bill that tracks the industry will be good for outdoor users because policymakers will have to respect the economic power of the industry. To read the editorial, click here.

--The Banff Mountain Book Competition has announced its winners. To read about them, click here.

--An editorialist in Alaska agrees with the Denali name change, but argues that geographical name changes should not be the new norm. To read the article, click here.

--A skier was buried to his chest in an avalanche in Alaska last week. To read more, click here.

--Two hunters were caught in an avalanche near Bozeman, MT last week as well. There were no fatalities. To read more, click here.