Climbing, Coronavirus and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 6/4/20

Northwest:

--A climber died after sustaining a 40-foot fall at the Little Si climbing area in North Bend last week. The 22-year old climber was at the British Aisles crag when the accident happened. It is not clear what lead to the accident. To read more, click here.

--This jogger spent hours in a tree in British Columbia after being chased and charged by a black bear.

--A climber got his knee stuck on the approach pitches to St. Vitus Dance in Squamish late last week. SAR assisted him. There have been no updates.

Desert Southwest:

--Taos News is reporting that, "A recovery team trekked into the West Basin of Taos Ski Valley on Wednesday (May 27) and recovered a set of human remains believed to be those of John McCoy, a 72-year-old skier who disappeared while skiing alone on Jan. 2." Top read more, click here.

Colorado and Utah:

--It appears that the BLM is considering the closure of a large swath of desert near Moab to climbing. Here's a link to a mountainproject article about it. And here's a link to the BLM scoping of this proposal.

Notes from All Over:

--It's possible that the height of Mt. Everest will change. From Outside: "A group of eight researchers from China finally summited Mount Everest on Wednesday, May 27. One of only two climbing teams on the mountain this year, they were there for a very specific purpose—to take the most accurate measurement to date of the world’s tallest point." To read more, click here.

--The Outdoor Industry is responding the the violence against people of color in many different ways. Here is a round-up of what industry leaders are doing.

--Here is a breakdown of which national parks are now open for climbing.

--The headline from the article in Gripped says it all: "Canada’s First Reopened Climbing Gym: Closed

Toronto's The Rock Oasis closes a week after reopening. The Ontario Climbing Federation releases a statement the same day as the closure." To read the piece, click here.

--So in some good news, the coronavirus doesn't really like altitude.