Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 8/30/18

--Friday was a sad day. Alpinist reports, "August 24, was a fateful day for the climbing world, as two of America's greatest climbing legends and icons passed away—Tom Frost and Jeff Lowe. Frost died of cancer at a hospice center in Oakdale, California, and Lowe died several hours later in Colorado after suffering from a prolonged illness that has been described as an "unknown neurodegenerative process" similar to MS and ALS. Frost was 81 and Lowe was 67.

Northwest:

--Freesoloing is incredibly dangerous. "A Lewis & Clark College sophomore survived a 150-foot fall during a "free solo" climb Sunday at Smith Rock State Park, according to authorities and the man's family. Benjamin Schulman, 21, was using no safety ropes or equipment as he scaled a rock face not typically known as a climbing route in the southern section of the park, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office told The Oregonian/OregonLive."According to the report, this individual was an indoor climbing instructor at his college. To read more, click here.

--KATU News is reporting that, "A Portland Police Officer, former KATU News photographer, and volunteer with Mountain Wave Search & Rescue died on Friday while on Mount Hood." To read more, click here.

Sierra:

El Capitan in Yosemite

Photo by Krista Eytchison

--The headline from this Ouside online article, says it all: "Yosemite Finally Reckons with Its Discriminatory Past: Pioneers, the government, even John Muir helped kick out Native Americans from their homes on national parks. But in Yosemite, the Miwuk Tribe is getting its village back." This is an engaging look at the dark side of our National Parks. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--The Spectrum is reporting that, "Rescue crews had to fly out a group of hikers by helicopter on Tuesday after a rockfall forced Zion National Park to close its popular Hidden Canyon trail. It was the third time in a little more than a month that the park has had to close the trail, which winds between towering red rock cliff sides just a few miles up from the park's main roadway. In some areas, the hike requires visitors to grasp chains as they scale the canyon walls." To read more, click here.

Colorado:

--The Stanley Hotel is famous for being the hotel where Stephen King's "The Shining" was shot. All the interiors were done at the Stanley, the exteriors were done at Timberline Lodge in Oregon. Last week the Stanley had a visitor that was not a ghost or a kid with ESP... See the video below, or read more, here.




--The Aspen Skiing Company can't hire enough people. As such, they are raising their starting wage to $13.50, up from $12 last season. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Outside online is reporting that, "For decades, women in the Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture have been trying to bring justice to those who have discriminated against them. A new investigation reveals that the inaction is due to a much larger problem: a system set up to make their complaints go away." To read more, click here.

--Jackson Hole News and Guide is reporting that, "a teenager has permanent injuries from an accident he was in during a pond skim event at Wyoming's Snow King Mountain, according to a complaint filed by his parents." Pond skimming is usually a late season thing that skiers do. They try to water ski across small pools, some of which are made by ski resorts. It appears that one skier skimmed on the water over the other skier's legs, slicing deeply into them, causing tendon and nerve damage. To read more, click here.

--In the French Alps, glaciers are melting so fast from anthropogenic climate change, that they're losing up to 130-feet of ice per year. To read more, click here.

--Outside magazine is asking if climbing Mt. Everest changes your genetic code? Twin studies have the answer. To read the story, click here.

--A pair of hikers who threw rocks down a popular climbing route in Canmore, have apologized. The pair posted a widely viewed video that generated hundreds of comments. To read more, click here.

--So Walmart is opening an outdoor gear store to sell high end gear... Here's the story.

--And in related news, Black Diamond is not happy. Outside is reporting that, "ne day after Walmart announced the launch of a new Premium Outdoor Store, Black Diamond has issued a cease and desist order, demanding that the big-box retailer remove all Black Diamond trademarks, logos, and copyrighted product photos from its website. The climbing- and ski-gear maker says Walmart’s use of brand logos and product images were “likely to confuse consumers into believing that Walmart is an authorized dealer of Black Diamond or that the new outdoor Walmart.com site is otherwise associated with or sponsored by Black Diamond.” In fact, Black Diamond says it has never sold through Walmart, never signed a dealer agreement with Walmart, and has no plans to sell through Walmart in the future." To read more, click here.

--The American Alpine Club has launched their #SafeOutside initiative. This is a response to sexual harassment and sexual assault in the climbing world. To read more, click here.

--There were 563 summits of Mt. Everest this year. To read more, click here.

--Metro is reporting that, The frozen body of a mountaineer has been discovered on Europe’s highest peak – 31 years after she vanished. Elena Basykina’s ‘wax doll-looking’ remains were brought down from Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus this week. Her body was encased in ice when she was discovered by a group of tourists 18,510 feet up the mountain." To read more, click here.