Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 3/10/16

Northwest:

--The well-known director of the Wallowa Avalanche Center was killed Tuesday by the catastrophe he had taught many students to avoid. Kip Rand was killed in a steep fall and avalanche while backcountry skiing near Chief Joseph Mountain, west of Joseph in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. To read more, click here.

--A snowmobiler will killed near Kelowna, BC this week in an avalanche. To read more, click here.

--It's busy in Bellingham this weekend. The Boulderham climbing competition will take place at Vital Climbing Gym and Splitfest, the splitboarder festival, will take place at Mt. Baker.

--On March 2nd, Mt. Baker broke 500-inches of snowfall! That's over 41-feet of snow. To read more, click here.

--The U.S. Forest Service plans to reopen the popular Monte Cristo hiking trail and historic townsite by the end of May. The trails and town were closed over summer and fall while crews cleaned up mine tailings contaminated with toxic minerals. To read more, click here.

--There is a new reservation system for Olympic National Park. To learn more, click here.

Sierra:

--It appears that the Incredible Hulk had it's first winter ascent. To read about it, click here.

--There was a lot of snow in the Sierra this week!

Desert Southwest:

--Family and friends are mourning the loss of 27-year-old Annabelle Follosco. She was found dead Monday afternoon at Red Rock Canyon after going missing during a hike on Turtlehead Peak. He spoke with family members and Red Rock Staff who are both wondering how this happened. Staff members at Red Rock say they are devastated. To read more, click here.

--Access Fund and Petzl have teamed up to bring the Future of Fixed Anchors II conference to Las Vegas, Nevada on April 1-2, 2016. The conference will address the issue of aging climbing bolts and outline a vision for the future of fixed anchor replacement in the United States. To read more, click here.

--The best climbing festival of the year is now accepting registrations. Red Rock Rendezvous will run from April 1-3. Come on out to Vegas and get your climb on! To read more, click here.

Colorado:

--A 23-year-old Telluride man was hurt after he began a descent of San Joaquin Couloir — the iconic chute in upper Bear Creek, visible from the top of the Telluride Ski Resort — around 11 a.m. on Saturday. To read more, click here.

  Notes from All Over:

--Rescue crews were called to the area of the King & Queen Seat rock formation in Rocks State Park near Baltimore Tuesday afternoon for a report of a climber in trouble. To read more, click here.

--A young skier was injured Saturday morning in an accident at Sunday River Ski Area in Newry, Maine. The skier was airlifted out. To read more, click here.

--The Access Fund has recently presented their annual Sharp End Awards. To see who the winners were, click here.

--The National Park Service has a massive backlog of unfunded projects throughout the country. To read more, click here.

--The second edition of the Youth Winter Olympic Games concluded in Lillehammer, Norway last week following a ten-day competition which crowned 70 different gold medal winners.While the next generation of athletes showcased their talents across the official competition programme in sports from biathlon to figure skating to snowboard, ice climbing continued its own development within the Olympic movement through its involvement in the Sjoggfest (snow festival). To read more, click here.

-Mountain High ski resort, 80-miles northeast of Los Angeles, closed its doors on February 28th and they’re hoping to open again at some point in March if they get snow. If they don’t get snow, the season could be over at Mountain High… To read more, click here.

--The National Park Service wants you to get out into nature. But the success of campaigns like the National Park Service's Find Your Park and others from state tourism offices has created a huge demand. Last year, a record 305 million people visited national parks. As the Park Service likes to point out, that's more people than went to every single Disney park, NFL, NBA and MLB game and NASCAR race combined. To read more, click here.

--Five climbers recently spent a week in a remote area of Quebec and climbed several large new mixed and ice routes. To read more, click here.

--Looking for a place that no one has ever skied before. Pluto has snow!