Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 10/5/17

Northwest:

--A climber was killed last week on a route on Crown Mountain just outside Vancouver last week. To read more, click here.

--Go Skagit is reporting that, "For more than 40 years, Madrene “Tootsie” Clark was a staple of the annual opening of the North Cascades Highway. Every year since 1972, Clark was the first person in line when state Department of Transportation crews opened the highway in the spring. And every year, she would come bearing gifts — coffee and the whiskey sauce-glazed cinnamon rolls with which she’d become synonymous. “They’re to die for,” Tootsie Clark’s son Don Clark said. “They’re unique and wonderful.” On Sunday, Tootsie Clark, lovingly referred to by many as the “Cinnamon Roll Lady,” died. She was 95." To read more, click here. And here is a very nice blog written by the Washington Department of Transportation about Tootsie...

--Renowned helicopter pilot Tony Reece has also passed away at the age of 81. Tony was heavily involved in rescue and recovery operations throughout his career as a pilot. To read his obituary, click here.

--Seattle Patch is reporting that, "The lives of mountain goats living in the Olympic National Park are now literally in hands of humans. The National Park Service this week extended its comment period for options to remove the sometimes dangerous non-native mountain goats from the park. The four options include: transporting some goats to the North Cascades National Park and then killing others; relocating all of them; killing all of them; or leaving them be. The public now has until Oct. 10 to comment on the options." To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--There's been a lot of news coming out about the rockfall incidents last week in Yosemite. Here is a first person account of the first rockfall incident from below the mountain. Here's a piece about the climber who was killed saving his wife. And here's a piece on the science of rockfall.

Desert Southwest:

--Here's an interesting story about a family that found a stuck desert tortoise in Joshua Tree National Park.

Colorado:

--US News is reporting that, "Officials say a climber has died after falling 50 feet (15 meters) in Rocky Mountain National Park. Park officials say 66-year-old Henry Gholz of Fort Collins was killed Saturday when he fell while climbing Batman Pinnacle in the Lumpy Ridge area." To read more, click here.

--A climber was rescued last week from the Lime Creek area near Durango with an injured ankle. To read more, click here.

--To celebrate Aspen's 50th Anniversary, the resort will sell lift tickets for $6.50 on December 15th. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--The New York Times is reporting that, "Norman G. Dyhrenfurth, an explorer and filmmaker who in 1963 led the first expedition of Americans to reach the summit of Mount Everest, a feat that inspired generations of mountaineers, died on Sunday in Salzburg, Austria. He was 99." To read more, click here.

--During the month of October, donations to the American Safe Climbing Association will be matched by the Planet Granite climbing gym. To read more, click here.

--ABC News is reporting that, "Members of a Facebook hiking group are now calling into question the story of paralyzed hiker Stacey Kozel, who said recently that she'd completed the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada by herself. Kozel, 41, of Medina, Ohio, spoke with ABC News on Monday about the incredible feat, which was made all the more amazing because she is paralyzed from the waist down and because she says she hiked the trail with the help of braces." To read more, click here.

--Speaking of rockfall, some scientists rolled massiven red concrete blocks down a mountainside to study how rocks move down mountainsides. To see a video, click below. To read more, click here.



--Want to rent out an entire ski mountain? Here's what it would cost.

--The Banff Mountain Book Festival has announced it's finalists. To read about them, click here.

--And finally, an 87-year-old man has climbed Devil's Tower. To read about it, click here.