Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 10/19/22

Northwest:

--The Seattle Times is reporting on the Bolt Creek Fire near Index and the future of wildfire on the west side of the Cascades: "Thinning fuels on a hand crew in the first few days of the Bolt Creek fire, Cassandra Brazfield recalls hearing thuds as trees hit the ground. Early on, the fire — that for weeks has smoldered and smoked out Western Washington — behaved in interesting ways, she said. “It would just burn when it was super humid.” It would light up the “duff,” a dense, peaty layer of partially decomposed moss and litter, and the understory would catch fire. Trees would fall unexpectedly. 'It was scary,' said Brazfield, a firefighter with the state Department of Natural Resources." To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--Gripped is reporting that, "Alex Honnold has established a roughly 60-kilometre traverse that included 14 Red Rock multi-pitch routes, hiking and scrambling for well over 7,000 metres of vertical in a 32-hour push. He called the traverse Honnold’s Ultimate Red Rock Traverse or HURT." To read more, click here.

--Z107.7 is reporting that, "Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith provided Gary Daigneault with an update about the Park’s new West entrance. Smith explained that the entrance would help mitigate crowding at the entrance in Joshua Tree, and ensure that park rangers spend less time selling tickets to eager Park visitors. Smith said that funding for the new construction has been raised, entirely through entrance fees, but that contracting for the project has proved to be the most serious delay." To read more, click here.

Colorado and Utah:

-From the New York Times: "President Biden on Wednesday announced the creation of the country’s newest national monument, protecting tens of thousands of acres in the mountains of Colorado from mining and development and delivering an election-year gift to Michael Bennet, one of the state’s two Democratic senators. Standing on the grounds of Camp Hale, a World War II military installation that was used to train the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, Mr. Biden said he was designating 53,804 acres of rugged landscape as the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument." To read more, click here. Here's more from Climbing.

--SnowBrains is reporting that, "The snowboarder who was involved in a hit-and-run collision that killed famed instructor Ron LeMaster at Eldora Mountain Resort, CO, last year has pleaded ‘not guilty’. Nicholas K. Martinez, 28, entered the plea during his arraignment in Boulder County Court on Friday. A court hearing will take place in January 2023." To read more, click here.

--SnowBrains is reporting that, "Aspen Skiing Co. (SkiCo) is asking the public to help name the trails at the resort’s new Pandora terrain, set to open 2023-24. An online form asks people to submit their suggestions under five categories: local people, local history, mining history, notable terrain, or greek mythology." To read more, click here.

--Climbing is reporting that, "after weighing several proposals to minimize winter ski traffic in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah’s Department of Transportation (UDOT) announced on Wednesday that it plans to ferry skiers to and from Alta and Snowbird in the world’s longest gondola. UDOT was also considering a road-widening plan, which would have added two bus-only shoulder lanes to SR-210, the avalanche-plagued road that winds its way up the canyon. Local climbing organizations have staunchly opposed both proposals, noting that the traffic is only a real problem for some user groups, and only on the snowy weekends." To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--The story about the Iranian climber that didn't wear a headscarf while competing over the weekend is changing by the minute. By the time you read this, the story may have evolved more. From CNN on October 19th: "a female Iranian rock climber, who did not wear a hijab at an international competition in South Korea, has returned to Iran as Iranian groups based abroad raised alarms over her fate back home. Elnaz Rekabi, 33, competed without a hijab during the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asian Championships in Seoul on Sunday. Videos of her wearing a headband with her hair in a ponytail while competing spread on social media." There are reports that this individual may go to jail for this infraction. But it is much more complicated, as Iran is currently seeing significant civil strife around women's rights. To read more, click here.

--Gripped is reporting that, "the 2022 Piolets d’Or awards will take place from Nov. 18 to 20 in Briançon, France. The award will go to two ascents, with one being by Archil Badriashvili, Baqar Gelashvili and Giorgi Tepnadze from Georgia for their first ascent of the northwest face of Saraghrar Northwest in Pakistan. And the other award will go to Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll of Belgium for his Moonwalk Traverse of the Fitz Roy Range in Patagonia. A special jury mention goes to Nikita Balabanov, Mikail Fomin and Viacheslav Polezhaiko from the Ukraine for the first ascent of the southeast ridge of Annapurna III (7,555 m)." To read more, click here.

--Speaking of bears...if you haven't seen the viral video of the bear attacking the climber on fourth class terrain in Japan yet (don't worry, the climber fights it off) then check it out, here.