Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 7/30/20

Northwest:

--A husband and wife team suffered a serious fall on Mt. Hood on Sunday, tumbling nearly 700-feet. The pair survived the incident with non-life threatening injuries after falling from the "Hogsback" ridge. To read more, click here.

--News Channel 21 is reporting that, "Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday identified an experienced climber from Kennewick, Wash., who slipped and fell hundreds of feet to his death on Saturday while traversing a glacier high on the slopes of Mount Jefferson with a group of fellow climbers." To read more, click here.

--The Northern Light is reporting that, "non-essential travel between the U.S. and Canada is expected to remain blocked until at least August 21st." To read more, click here.

--A new permit system is being implemented for the Stawamus Chief in Squamish. These permits can be obtained, here. However, in a Facebook Post, the Squamish Access Society writes: "We've been in contact with BC Parks to clarify how the new permit system being introduced on Monday will affect climbers. There is no need for climbers descending from the top to have permits but they will be required for climbers hiking the trail to access climbs on the backside (eg. White Cliff, Sunbeam Wall)."

It's best to email them, as this was taken from their FB page.

--KOMO news is reporting that, "A coalition of state and federal agencies, with support from local tribes, will begin the fourth and final relocation of mountain goats from Olympia National Park to the northern Cascade Mountains." This project began on Monday. To read more, click here.

--It sounds like Sasquatch hunters should head to Idaho. From East Idaho News: "The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization has 93 reports of Bigfoot encounters in Idaho, meaning for every 100,000 people in Idaho, about five of them have seen or heard a ‘Squatch. That per capita rate earned Idaho fourth place in the ranking of most Bigfoot sightings." To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--The Sierra Club and the outdoor industry as a whole is taking a hard look at itself, especially at one of its primary founders. John Muir notably made derogatory statements about minorities and maintained friendships with avowed white supremacists. Other early leaders had questionable opinions as well. To read more, click here.

--The New York Times recently reported on Pentagon investigations into UFOs. You can see that report, here. With UFOs in the news, it's probably not a big surprise that people are noticing odd things in the mountains. Here is a video that was taken from Big Bear Ski Resort on July 5th:

--The Sierra Wave is reporting that, "Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will release higher-than-normal water down the Owens River Gorge August 3-9, 2020, in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Mono County." To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--Here's an unusual rescue. A pig was rescued in Red Rock Canyon last week. What was originally thought to be a feral pig, was likely a former pet. To read more, click here.

Colorado and Utah:

--The Tacoma News Tribune and others are reporting that, "a Missouri man hiking with a gun in his backpack was shot in the leg, National Park Service officials said. The 70-year-old man was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park with a handgun in his backpack, park officials said in a Tuesday news release. When he set the bag on a rock, the gun fired a round and shot him in the leg." To read more, click here.

--Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold recently linked up 35-miles and 17 peaks on the "Continental Divide Ultimate Link-Up." To read about their adventure, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Jerry Roberts, a well-known Southern climber, a "godfather of hard climbing," recently died from a heart attack at the age of 54. To read an obituary about this climber's extraordinary life at Rock and Ice, click here.

--CNN is reporting that, "A climber died at Glacier National Park in Montana after falling several hundred feet from a ridge known as the Dragon's Tail. The 20-year-old man, identified as Josh Yarrow, was attempting to retrieve a backpack on Tuesday evening when he fell, the National Park Service said in a statement." To read more, click here.

--Climbing is reporting that, "The Piolets d’Or jury has chosen Catherine Destivelle to be the recipient of their 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award. Since its inception in 2009, the Lifetime Achievement Award is meant to honor climbers who’s careers serve as inspiration to following generations, and has been awarded to legendary climbers such as Walter Bonatti, Reinhold Messner, and John Roskelley. Catherine Destivelle is the first female recipient of the award." To read more, click here.

--Crosscut is reporting on the MountainProject flagging controversy and the web developer at the heart of the story: "n December 2019, Boulder, Colorado-based web developer and climber Melissa Utomo approached Seattle’s Recreation Equipment Inc. (REI) with a proposal to change the functionality of its Mountain Project app, a crowdsourced climbing route finder. Utomo read an article about sexist climbing route names, and realized Mountain Project (of the Adventure Projects suite of apps) had been allowing climbers to label routes with racist or violent names without offering an easy way for other users to report them. She felt compelled to create a basic reporting tool REI could easily integrate into its app." To read more, click here.

--Outdoor Sportswire, and many others, are reporting that, "On July 22, the U.S. House of Representatives took the final vote on the Great American Outdoors Act, sending it on to the president’s desk to be signed into law. The Great American Outdoors Act will dedicate $900 million annually to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and direct revenue from federal energy development into our public lands’ nearly $20 billion deferred maintenance project costs. This vote represents the end of a decades-long funding debate and marks the beginning of a new era for trail maintenance, public lands stewardship and outdoor enjoyment." To read more, click here.

--Outdoor Sportswire is reporting that, "Snowsports Industries America (SIA) unveils a robust, new, year-round educational platform designed to provide its current and new members the tools and programs instrumental to short-term recovery during COVID-19 and long-term success well into the future." To read more, click here.

--There is little question that drones have changed the ballgame around climbing, but what about climbing some of the world's most dangerous mountains? The following video shows how drones were used to document the first full ski descent of K2, while also providing information to climbers and skiers, as well as rescue services:

--Gym Climber magazine is reporting on an innovative technique to increase cleanliness in climbing gyms. "As climbing gyms begin to reopen, discussions about the best ways to mitigate risk of COVID-19 continue. Plantd Climbing, a newly formed volume manufacturer based out of Durham, North Carolina, has proposed an innovative idea for keeping climbers safe: a hand-sanitizer-dispensing volume, a.k.a., the Clean Send. The volume is currently in a prototype stage." To read more, click here.

--And maybe chalked up holds at gyms aren't that bad. A new study seems to indicate that chalk might actually reduce the spread of coronavirus. To read more, click here.