Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 11/3/16

The 2016 election is only days away. And the most important issue of our time has seen almost no coverage. We work in the mountains and see the devestaing impacts of climate change every day. Please, think about the mountains. Think about the glaciers. Think about the future of our planet. And please vote...!

--Here's a piece from Climbing magazine on the cadidates and their views on climate change and public lands...

Northwest:

--Here's a great article on the revival of the Mount Baker Marathon. This will be a race from the town of Concrete up onto Mt. Baker and back.

--The final stretch of Mt. Baker Highway between the ski area and Artist Point is closed for the winter. To read more, click here.

--It could be an early start to the ski season this year!

--Ski historian Lowell Skoog will be speaking at the Awards Banquet for the Everett Mountaineers this week. To read more, click here.

--Here's a nice profile on the Northwest climbing legend, Fred Beckey.

Sierra:

--A massive boulder fell down on El Portal road in Yosemite last week. As of this writing the road has been reopened. To read more, click here.

--The Sierra Wave is reporting that, "After more than a week of searching for hiker Robert “Bob” Woodie, the mission has been put on hold due to a series of incoming winter storms forecasted for over the next week. All search teams were taken out of the field Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of the significant weather event, which was forecasted to bring two to three feet of snow at elevations above 8,000 feet and high winds, with gusts up to 75 mph." To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--Red Rock Rendezvous will take place from March 24 to 27. This is the premire climbing event of the year. Early registration is now open. Early registration allows you to save money and while also providing you with better clinic options than when you register closer to Rendezvous! To register for the event, click here.

--The Press Enterprise is reporting that. "Joshua Tree National Park is on track to get back a little of what it lost in the 1950s. Officials with the U.S. Department of Interior have begun a process to bring 22,500 acres of the Eagle Mountain area back into the iconic park. The property is currently under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management." To read more, click here.

Colorado:

The Denver Post is reporting that, "Durango investor James Coleman is continuing his southwest spending spree. The Texas-bred businessman who last year acquired Purgatory ski area this week bought Colorado’s largest snowcat skiing operation. San Juan Untracked — formerly the San Juan Ski Co. — has a permit to access almost 36,000 acres of backcountry ski terrain just beyond the boundary of the Purgatory ski area, about 35 miles north of Durango." To read more, click here.

The Denver Post writes, "With Colorado resort economies roaring amid a dire shortage of affordable housing, ski-area operators are getting creative in the search for thousands of seasonal workers. Companies are deploying online videos, hip social media posts and employer branding strategies while casting the net for employees, pitching their snowy resorts as not just vacation destinations but inspiring workplaces." To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--NPR is reporting that, "More than 40 years after she became the first woman to climb the world's highest mountain, Junko Tabei has died at age 77, according to Japanese media. Tabei was just 4'9", but she was a giant in mountaineering, as the first woman to conquer the "Seven Summits" — the tallest peak on each continent." To read more, click here.

--Fox 13 is reporting that, "Search and rescue personnel responded to the Snowbird area of Little Cottonwood Canyon (in Utah) Sunday night after a climber fell and suffered injuries that include a punctured artery." To read more, click here.

--Science Daily is reporting, "Paleontologists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Park Service found the first dinosaur bones in Denali National Park during an expedition in July. They also discovered several new dinosaur trackways, which are fossilized impressions left by ancient animals walking through mud that eventually became rock." To read more, click here.

There are a number of health benefits to having climbing gyms in schools.

--New research shows that having a climbing wall in a school not only boosts children's climbing grade, there are amazing benefits to health, academic performance, and social skills as well. But not only that, it opens the door to an array of career pathways. To read more, click here.

--Kelly Cordes wrote a beautiful piece about climbing in the New York Times. Check it out.

--A massive new ice line was climbed in the Ghost River Valley of the Canadian Rockies. To read more, click here.

--A new grant has been created to promote cutting edge female ascents. To read more, click here.