Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 8/25/16

Happy Birthday National Park Service!!!!

If you weren't already aware, today is the National Park Service's birthday. One-hundred years ago today, America had a great idea. And today, we are the beneficiaries of that idea with our Park Service and all that they do!

August 25-28 will be fee free days in all National Parks. So it's time to Find Your Park! And if you're not already following the NPS on social media, check them out:

• Twitter: @natlparkservice
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice
• Instagram: @nationalparkservice
• Flickr: www.flickr.com/nationalparkservice
• Photo resource: www.nps.gov/media/multimedia-search.htm
• Centennial Campaigns: www.findyourpark.com and www.encurentratoparque.com

Northwest:

--A 27-year-old La Grande man died Sunday in a climbing accident on the north side of Oregon's Indian Rock area. The accident claimed the life of Warren Lynn Webb, who died after his rope broke when he was 10 to 15 feet from the top of the rock he was climbing, according to Sgt. Nick Pallis of the Union County Sheriff’s Office. To read more, click here.

--The 5Point Film Festival is coming to Bellingham from this evening thorough the 27th. In addition to all the films, there will be lots of other events going on around the Festival. Authors Brendon Leonard (Sixty Meters to Anywhere), Ian Nicholson (Washington Pass Supertopo) and Dave Costello (Flying Off Everest) will all be making presentations at the event. AAI will be providing a self-rescue seminar at 1pm on the 27th. And there's a whole lot more! To see everything that's going on, check out the 5Point webpage!

--State biologists spotted something unusual while counting mountain goats near Mount Baker earlier this summer: a group of 66 adults and 24 kids traveling together up a snow field. Aerial photos released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife show 90 goats about 5 miles from Artist Point, on the northeastern side of the volcano. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--At the inception of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, the Park Service’s first director, and park managers wanted to expand facilities to attract more visitors to its parks. Now in the Park Service’s centennial, many park managers no longer need to attract more visitors as they come in droves without coaxing and nowhere is this more true than at Zion National Park. As a result, park managers today face a much different problem than their counterparts of a century ago. The question they are trying to answer is how the park can ensure visitors get a quality experience in the midst of crowded conditions. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Climbing magazine has published an awesome article about the rise of adaptive climbing. To check it out, click here.