Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 4/15/21

Northwest:

--News 21 is reporting that, "a Beaverton man climbing South Sister alone called 911 for help Monday morning when he got stuck on a small, precarious ledge at 9,800 feet elevation, prompting a challenging, day-long rescue effort in which an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter crew hoisted him to safety, officials said. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--The Tahoe Daily Tribune is reporting that, "a rock climber was reportedly severely injured last week when he fell about 100 feet down sharp rocks in a remote area off Silver Fork Road near Kyburz. The man was accompanied by another climber who called 911 but, according to California Highway Patrol Valley Division Air Operations, due to accessibility challenges rescue crews requested the assistance of a helicopter." To read more, click here.

--The Sierra Wave is reporting that, "Yosemite National Park to Re-Implement a Day-Use Reservation System Beginning on Friday, May 21, 2021. Yosemite National Park – Beginning Friday, May 21, visitors to Yosemite National Park will need a day-use reservation to enter the park. The temporary day-use reservation system will allow the park to manage visitation levels to reduce risks associated with exposure to COVID-19." To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--AZ Central and many others are reporting on the death of a congressional staffer in Death Valley. "One of two missing campers from Tucson who were found on a remote, steep ledge in the Willow Creek area of Death Valley National Park died, officials said Friday afternoon. Alexander Lofgren, 32, was pronounced dead and Emily Henkel, 27, was hospitalized after the two were removed from the ledge at about noon on Friday, the Inyo County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook." To read more, click here.

--The Access Fund needs your help to save Oak Flat! Please urge Congress to repeal the law that allows the transfer of Oak Flat in Arizona—an Apache ancestral territory, premier climbing destination, and national forest—to a foreign-owned mining company. To read more, click here.

Colorado and Utah:

--This is unacceptable. Bolts should be nowhere near petroglyphs:

--In an update, the individual responsible has apologized and has stated that he's received death threats over this.

Notes from All Over:

--A woman faked her death at New River Gorge to avoid prison. "Last May, Rodney Wheeler dialed 911 with a frantic plea for help: His wife had just plunged hundreds of feet over a steep cliff in a West Virginia national park. Authorities quickly launched a massive search for Julie Wheeler, 44. For days, hundreds of volunteers, police, and professional rescuers trekked along the base of the New River where her husband said she had fallen, aided by helicopters and rescue dogs. But Julie Wheeler had never gone missing. Three days after she supposedly fell off a cliff, authorities found her hiding inside a closet in the couple’s Beaver, W.Va., home." To read more, click here.

--Climb United is a task force that has been put together by the American Alpine Club and a number of outdoor brands to look at diversity and inclusion in climbing. They are also looking carefully at the "offensive route name" issue. "The Guiding Principles will serve to establish an agreed-upon philosophy toward publishing climbing route names, while the Guidelines provide an evaluation and management system for addressing discriminatory route names. The AAC will host a public forum on the draft guidelines on April 21 at 6 p.m. MDT to engage the community and encourage questions and feedback." To read more, click here.

--Everybody is getting excited for climbing in the Olympics...even though it was supposed to happen last year. The Climbing Business Journal has a piece on the recent "reintroduction" of the American Olympic climbers to the media. Read it, here.

--Patagonia will no longer be adding logos to their clothing. From SGB media: "we’ve learned is that adding an additional non-removable logo reduces the life span of a garment, often by a lot, for trivial reasons. People change jobs, and the extra logo makes for an awkward re-gift. People tend not to pass logoed gear down to their kids, and not everyone wants to be an advertisement on weekends, even if they’re proud to go into work on weekdays. The result? Perfectly good gear ends up forgotten in the closet—or worse, gets tossed in the trash." To read more, click here.

--And finally, in a heartwarming video, we watch Jacob Smith at the age of 12, ski Big Sky Resort's Big Couloir. Oh yeah, and he's blind....