Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 12/17/2020

Northwest:

Mt. Baker Backcountry on Saturday, December 12, 2020.

Sierra:

--The Access Fund is reporting on the need for trail work at Lover's Leap: "No formal trail system was ever developed for Lover’s Leap, and visiting climbers have created an unstable web of access trails across the mountainside, trampling sensitive vegetation and causing severe erosion in the loose granitic soils. Haphazard belay areas are also crumbling and becoming highly unstable. These issues not only threaten the ecosystem within the Eldorado National Forest, but they frustrate visiting climbers and have potential to hinder emergency response teams who need quick, direct, and stable access to the area." To read more, click here

Desert Southwest:

--The National Parks Traveler has some tips on how to visit Joshua Tree National Park over the holidays. Check it out, here.

Colorado and Utah:

--The Denver Post is reporting that, "A backcountry skier was “briefly submerged” in an “small” avalanche Monday on Marble Point near Carbondale. The avalanche, roughly 100 feet wide and 200 feet long, was trigged by a skier at about 10,400 feet in elevation." To read more, click here.

From the Colorado Sun Report on Ski Injuries in Colorado.

Read the article and see more graphs, here.

--Skiing is dangerous. Ski under control and look up hill when you traverse. From the Colorado Sun: "New statistics provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment offer a peek behind the resort industry’s curtain. A study of ski-season hospital admissions in 20 mountain ZIP codes shows as many as 55 skiers and snowboarders a day arriving at emergency departments. Another report shows 4,151 skiers and snowboarders transported to emergency rooms in ambulances or helicopters in 2018, 2019 and the first part of 2020, which is about 10 patients every day of the season. And a review of CDPHE statistics showed more than a third of the 1,426 skiers and snowboarders admitted to Colorado’s trauma centers in the 2017-18 season required immediate surgery." To read more, click here.

--The Ski Area Management magazine (SAM) is reporting that, "Robert Redford is selling Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah to Broadreach Capital Partners and Cedar Capital Partners, which are both real estate investment firms specializing in the hospitality industry.SundanceNight The transaction includes all assets of Sundance Mountain Resort, including the resort buildings, ski lifts, on-site dining venues, and event spaces. On mountain, the resort has 450 acres of skiable terrain spread across 44 trails, 2,150 feet of vertical served by five lifts, a year-round ZipTour, summer mountain biking, and hiking." To read more, click here.

--Vail Resorts is struggling. From Yahoo Finance: "Vail Resorts (MTN) came out with a quarterly loss of $3.63 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $3.59. This compares to loss of $2.23 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -1.11%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this ski resort operator would post a loss of $3.56 per share when it actually produced a loss of $3.82, delivering a surprise of -7.30%." To read more, click here.

--Winter Park will now require reservations for skiers.

--Mother Jones is reporting that, "President Donald Trump‘s legacy on public lands is a four-year war against protected wild places, which has included dismantling Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. That legacy will follow him long after he’s out of the White House. But many of the rollbacks are unlikely to survive the incoming Democratic administration. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President–elect Kamala Harris have vowed to not only restore the Utah monuments, but designate new protected sites to safeguard ecologically important landscapes and combat the global climate crisis." To read more, click here.

--We Know Outdoors is reporting that, "While reports of crowding and resource damage in Colorado’s public lands have been commonplace during the coronavirus pandemic, what unfolded over the summer in the spectacular Ice Lakes area of the San Juan Range near Silverton has to be among the most egregious. Campfires were built on sensitive high alpine tundra, fueled by wood pilfered from historic mining structures. Human waste was left around the perimeter of Ice Lake and neighboring Island Lake. Campers unable to find legal campsites near the trailhead below set up tents on roadsides or overstayed 14-day limits on legal sites." Land managers are currently considering the implementation of a permit system for the area. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--The iconic rock gym chain, Brooklyn Boulders, has an uneven relationship with its employees and members of marginalized communities. Some are working to change this. But change is slow and painful. Check out Outside's article entitled The Battle for Inclusivity at Brooklyn Boulders.

--After a five year closure, Saddleback Mountain Ski Area near Rangeley, Maine has reopened. To read more, click here.

--The Adventure Journal is reporting that, "the first winter ascent of K2 was supposed to be the last great prize in Himalayan alpinism. Now it’s starting to look a bit like a circus. As of today, four expeditions have set their sights on the world’s second-highest mountain this winter, including Seven Summit Trek’s 45-strong commercial expedition. Add to that a pair of elite all-Nepali teams and the trio of Icelander John Snorri Sigurjónsson and his guides, Pakistani winter ace Muhammad Ali Sadpara and his 21-year-old son Sajid, and the so-called Savage Mountain will play host to nearly 60 climbers this winter." To read more, click here.

--The Reel Rock film everyone is talking about is Black Ice. It's a film about a group of black gym climbers from South Memphis who go ice climbing in Montana with Conrad Anker. Forbes has just posted an excellent article on the piece.

--Inside Outdoor is reporting that, "Backcountry-related equipment sales in the U.S. grew a staggering 76% in the opening months of this year’s snow season (August through October 2020) compared to the same period last year." To read more, click here.

--Not to sound too elitist, but if you're buying your camp stove at Walmart, it's not that weird that there's a recall. From SGB Media: "About 20,600 Camp Chef portable stoves are being recalled. According to a statement from the U.S. CPSC, an internal part of the gas regulator component can have a sharp edge that can wear or tear a hole in the seal causing gas to leak out of the top of the regulator, posing a fire hazard. Camp Chef has received 26 reports of gas leaking from regulators. No injuries have been reported." To read more, click here.